We spoke to Jo Skelton from Peep Eyewear to discover why we should be recycling our glasses

I’ve always thrifted, collected and worn vintage even as a school girl and couldn’t bear the thought of all these fantastic frames going to waste. So Peep was born from a love of vintage and a passion for quality eyewear. I wanted to create an eco-friendly business that allowed me to be creative – I have a lot of fun styling and playing with lens tint colours, and get some balance around family life.

I wanted to showcase the craftsmanship, quality and design of these pieces from the past within a curated collection. All our frames are hand-picked and selected on quality and design, and all of the styles have the most beautiful detailing. Our approach to vintage has a modern twist as we upcycle the old, adding new lenses and tints. Many of the pieces have a contemporary feel, as designers today take inspiration from the past.

From the outset I knew adding to the global plastic crisis was not an option, so we try to look at every angle of our business and make it as eco-friendly and sustainable as we can. From using vintage clothing and props for our styling and shoots, to the multiple recycling bins in the studio, we reuse and repurpose as much as we can. We changed up our glasses cleaning cloths last year to ones made from recycled PET plastic bottles and this year we’re swapping our glasses cases to sustainable ones. It’s a work in progress, but we’re a small business so we can move quickly when we discover new greener solutions.