With Monday’s celestial spectacle now a memory, millions of Canadians have their protective eclipse glasses lying around the house.
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Local students don’t want you to just throw the glasses out.
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A number of Grand Erie schools are collecting the glasses, which will be sent around the world so that others can enjoy a safe view of eclipses yet to come.
Students at Bloomsburg Public are bringing in glasses by the bagful after Grade 5-6 teacher Michelle Stewart initiated a recycling effort at the rural school.
“We wore them once and they’d be going to landfill,” said Stewart. “Single use is never a good thing. Now they’ll be shipped out around the world to other places experiencing a solar eclipse.”
Dave Smouter, manager of communications and community relations at the Grand Erie Districts School Board, said several schools, including Bloomsburg, St. George-German Public, Walsh Public, Langton Public and Valley Heights Secondary, are recycling glasses through an organization called Astronomers Without Borders. As part of Earth Day, Grand Erie is also collecting glasses at its Education Center on Erie Avenue.
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Several local Catholic schools are also collecting.
Astronomers Without Borders, a US-based organization dedicated to spreading astronomy throughout the world and connecting people through this universal interest, will vet donated eclipse glasses for safety and authenticity at regional hubs, then package and store them for future distribution.
“There are two solar eclipses per year, and we will be actively seeking homes for these glasses,” says the organization’s website.
The group collected millions of glasses for the 2017 eclipse, which it vetted down to 300,000, all of which were distributed.
Eclipse glasses have gone to Africa, Asia, North and South America to “people who may not otherwise have a safe way to view the eclipse directly.”
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The 2026 total solar eclipse will be visible over Greenland, Iceland, Spain, Russia and a small portion of Portugal and appear as a partial eclipse in parts of Europe, Africa and North America.
Stewart said recycling glasses fits in with Bloomsburg Public’s commitment to being Earth friendly. A certified Eco-School, Stewart has led students through a long list of environmental projects, including school recycling and compost programs, roadside cleanups, and battery and marker recycling efforts.
The timing of Monday’s eclipse was ideal, said Stewart, because space is one of the Grade 6 science units.
“I was so hopeful the weather would be good because I really pumped it up,” she said.
Grade 6 student Nolan Howe said his class made pinhole eclipse viewers from toilet paper tubes and tin foil, but he used glasses when he watched the eclipse with his family in their backyard.
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“It was really cool,” Nolan said. “I liked the totality when it got dark.”
Grade 5 student Owen Wagenaar said he was playing soccer with his family and next-door neighbors during Monday’s once-in-a-lifetime event.
“We’d stop playing and grab our glasses and go, ‘Whoo,’” said Owen. “I brought in a bunch of peers (to donate) from our little party.”
Kurtis Bergen, also in Grade 5, watched the eclipse with his immediate family and some cousins. He donated 10 pairs of glasses to the collection.
Stewart said the public is also welcome to donate glasses to Bloomsburg Public.
Tracey Austin, manager of communications and public relations at the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board, said a collection process for staff and their families is happening at the Catholic board office. The glasses will be taken to William Street Eye Care, a collection point for Astronomers Without Borders.
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