ecorazzi on 3-d glasses

25 march 2010




Whether people enjoy the experience or not, studios are seeing big green dollar signs by expanding films to include 3D versions. The extra dough people are coughing up for the feature is boosting profits substantially. Avatar raked in more than 70% of its take through 3D — with an average ticket price north of $13.50.

As we mentioned earlier in the year, all this demand is creating waste from used 3D glasses; something theaters have attempted to combat with aggressive recycling efforts. With more than 10 millions pairs of glasses shipped to movie theaters across the globe for each 3D movie, however, recycling makes but a small dent in what eventually heads to the landfill.

One company named Cereplast has found an answer to keeping waste low by creating the world’s first biodegradable and compostable 3D glasses. They’ve partnered with a company called Oculus3D, which makes 3D film projection technology, to introduce the green shades this summer in theaters around the country. According to a release, If discarded at a compost site, the 3D glasses will return to nature in less than 180 days with no chemical residues or toxicity left in the soil.


The benefits are huge. Traditional 3D glasses are made from fossil fuel-based plastic and are not biodegradable. The CO2 emissions for the more than 10 million plastic glasses is equivalent to the harmful emissions generated by burning 50,000 gallons of gasoline or 917 barrels of oil.

We hope the Cereplast glasses take off and replace the standard variety quickly. We love arrows and sharks flying in our face at the theater — but it would be nice knowing that such a cheap thrill doesn’t carry with it a big price for Mother Earth.