Pull up a chair and listen to Francesca Blackmore and Clare Pearce from Cardiff’s Pearce & Blackmore Opticians, winners of Sustainability Practice of the Year at the Optician Awards 2024.

The serial award winners will tell host and Eyes on Sustainability chair Simon Jones what initiatives and polices have been put in place at their practices. Among them, is pre-loved frames display called New to Me where second-hand, reconditioned models offer an eco-alternative to conscious spectacles wearers. Elsewhere, stocking brands with sustainability at their core, such as Feb 31st, Coral and Eco, has had a real impact on the practice. But some unconventional thinking has also been implemented, not automatically give out a case with new frames to reduce waste and the recent addition of a refillable lens spray station. The practice has also looked inwards at the measures it can apply to itself. Staff were encouraged to leave cars at home, with salaries adjusted to include public transport. In addition, the practice turned the tables on its suppliers, grilling them on things such as unnecessary packaging. Francesca and Clare will give a warts and all account of their journey to Eyes on Sustainability delegates on Monday October 6.

Have you ever had to put your sustainability ambitions on hold while you address a bigger issue?

And then, had a new, bigger issue appear not long after? Between the economic crisis, rising geopolitical tensions, public health pandemics, exponentially growing inequalities…. And the “more conventional” sustainability challenges like the ubiquity of micro plastics, forever chemicals, biodiversity collapse and the climate crisis, it’s true to say that we are living in a poly crisis and it can be overwhelmingly hard to know what to do about it! In this session Andrew Clark, Environmentalist and Founder of Net Zero Eyecare, will show you had to clarify your practice’s impact on life on earth and embed your social and environmental values into the heart of your business. We’ll overcome the overwhelm as we strategically map your practice’s place amid the crises, and assess ways in which you can do your bit - and your best - with confidence.

From Materiality Assessment to Carbon Reduction Planning, this session delivers real tools for scaling-up positive impact.

Developed for anyone in optics wishing to use their platform to make the world a tangibly better place.

3 CPD Peer Review points

Learning outcomes:

Communication

By the end of the session, registrants will be able to communicate management plans to patients that integrate environmental sustainability into clinical and dispensing decisions, (s2). By the end of the session, registrants will be able to demonstrate appropriate communication strategies when responding to patients with concerns about new spectacles or contact lens wear, incorporating discussion of environmental sustainability, (s18).

Leadership & accountability

By the end of the session, registrants will be able to identify and apply best practice approaches to maintaining a safe clinical environment that also supports environmental sustainability, (s12)