Woodzee Recycled Whiskey Barrel Sunglasses: How I Wear Eco Fashion
As you may know, we at Eco Chick take our product-testing seriously. We get asked to try lots of stuff, but first, it has to meet our ethical guidelines, and then it has to be awesome for use/wear to write about it. And boy are we excited about this one!
Woodzee sunglasses not only passed our standards, but surpassed them! I tried the Trinity style made from (get this!) recycled oak whiskey barrels from the Columbia Barrel Company!
I’m loving them—they are lightweight and have these wonderful spring-loaded hinges, so they push out slightly (which makes them perfect for wearing on your head—they fit but don’t stretch out the hinges while doing so!). The wax finish means that they are smooth, and I think they are really flattering and great-looking.
I’ve been wearing them for several weeks now, and have gotten nothing but compliments. And when people hear they are made from whiskey barrels, they always ask to sniff them (no, they don’t smell like a distillery!)
Woodzees feel sturdy and durable—I even wore them when I was recently in Mexico when I went up into the Sierra Madre mountains (above two pix) and went ziplining, hiking, and mule-riding in them. They stayed put, even when I was sweating (unlike plastic, the wood, which is sealed over with wax, stays in place better).
And of course, I wore the Woodzees when I was on the beach in Sayulita too!
I love that the company has a really well-organized give-back program:
Through Our World Program, we team up with various organizations to plant trees, protect watersheds, save animals, and support people on every continent. It begins during the checkout process with the customer deciding which continent and organization they would like to contribute to. Then for every item purchased, Woodzee will donate a portion of the profit to the chosen non-profit organization.
The company will even take back your old Woodzees and recycle them when you’re done. Talk about thinking full-circle.
Related on Eco Chick:
Starre Vartan
Starre Vartan is founder and editor-in-chief of Eco-Chick.com and the author of the Eco-Chick Guide to Life. She's also a freelance science and environment writer who has published in National Geographic, CNN, Scientific American, Mental Floss, Pacific Standard, the NRDC, and many more. She lives on an island in Puget Sound with her partner and black cat. She was a geologist in her first career, and still picks up rocks wherever she goes.
