WHY DID WE CREATE IT?

Most fashion industry rating systems focus on a brand level when it comes to sustainability. This is great, we welcome more transparency, but it isn't ideal when it comes to eyewear.

Why? Because eyewear is made up of multiple parts – the frames, the lenses, the case – that are often made by various suppliers who all have different processes and levels of sustainability practices.

Therefore, we need to look at each individual product and understand its journey from manufacture to sale.

  • “Brand level rating systems don’t take into account that many of the fashion brands sunglasses are actually made by a different company who may have different attitudes and processes around sustainability. Just because their dresses meet certain standards it does not mean their glasses do as well.”

    Fergus Stoddart, Co-Founder of Folkal Eyewear

HOW WE CREATED THE SYSTEM

The Folkal team reviewed several different rating systems across different industries and consulted with sustainability experts within the eyewear industry and outside this niche.

The framework was developed based on recommendations provided by Edge Impact, one of the largest independent environmental consulting groups in Australia.

The Folkal Team then utilised these recommendations and EPD data to develop a scoring system based on various data points to identify which products rate better for sustainability.

Products are either rated GOOD, BETTER or BEST when it comes to the planet.

But, we are pretty picky - only products that meet a minimum criteria are eligible for sale on Folkal.

how it works

  • 1. EPD & LCA DATA

    The first step is to review each product's independently verified Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) document.

    This then gets fed into the Folkal data points and criteria for sustainability.

    Learn more about the data we use

  • 2. Score

    Each product is then scored within 3 major categories including: Product, Case and Packaging.

    Scores are weighted depending on the impact each product has on the environment.

    Learn more about the criteria we use

  • 3. Rating

    Each pair of sunglasses receives a rating corresponding to how it scored within the 3 sustainability categories.

    A rating of either GOOD, BETTER or BEST is then applied and displayed on the product page.

    Learn more about how the ratings work

Shop consciously

Lots of eyewear brands are beginning to assess the environmental impact of the glasses they make but it can be hard to know which claims to believe, what materials are best for the environment and where to spend your hard-earned cash when you want to buy more sustainably.