The joint venture will see commercial gill nets transformed into a range coined "ReefCycle" sunglasses, which will be sold exclusively on Vision Direct. You can check out the range here.
Commercial grade gill nets pose a significant threat to marine creatures. Sealife like dugongs and other endangered species were often accidentally caught in the nets and would quickly drown. So in 2018, WWF and thousands of supporters pooled together to buy the licence for the last commercial gill net operating full-time in the northern Great Barrier Reef. And in owning the licence, WWF was able to retire it.
But when WWF received the 600-metre-long net, the company was faced with a dilemma: what to do with the net because WWF did not intend to fish with it. Enter eyewear brand, REMAKEHUB has a great opportunity to help develop a plan to upcycle the retired ocean net into the fabulous "ReefCycle" sunglasses in terms of recycling fishing net and manufacturing the sunglasses.
And if VisionDirect can sell 1,000 pairs, both WWF and VisionDirect have planned to continue the project – recycling more harmful ocean plastic and fishing nets into stylish eyewear. Considering that eight million tonnes of plastic are dumped into the ocean every year (including fishing nets), this is an initiative we need. So, there's never been a better excuse to buy yourself a new pair of sunnies.
The collaboration called WWF & Arise Collective ReefCycle – Arise Collective being one of VisionDirect's brands – will go on sale 4 July. Head to Vision Direct to read more and to shop. The sunglasses will be priced at $89 for regular, $139 for polarised, and a prescription option will be available. The first 1,000 pairs sold are a limited edition – embossed with a marine animal whose future depends on a Net Free North.
People purchasing ReefCycle sunglasses will help protect local marine life with 50% of the proceeds going back to WWF for conservation work like advocacy for a #NetFreeNorth, also they will be able to scan a QR code system called "REFUTURE" which is powered by REMAKEHUB to see the entire journey of how fishing net was turned into sunglasses.