Contacts changed my life. I wear glasses still, but contacts let me comfortably participate in activities that bring me a lot of joy.

Depends. My nearsightness is so bad that even the insanely expensive ultra thin lenses are too heavy to wear for more than a few hours at a time and give me a raging headache from the weight. It's no exaggeration to say that contact lenses have had the single greatest positive effect on my life out of anything.

I was just cleaning my shop and was constantly between fogged glasses behind eye protection and tons of dust accumulating on the lenses. I’ve worn glasses for 30 years and that aspect of wearing them is vastly inferior to corrective procedures or contacts.

I would stick with contacts but, like this topic suggests, there are legitimate health concerns, and I can’t justify how disposable they are with no consideration of environmental impacts. I wish that wasn’t the case.

I'm pretty sure that I could package up all of my used contact lenses over the past decade into a single jam jar.

If we consider the cases as well, I might need to go up to say, a gallon bottle of milk.

I'm deliberately overestimating here by the way.

What is the waste problem here?

They might be referring to single-use lenses.

The level of waste from monthly contact lenses is surely less than a grocery trip where you forget your reusable bags. I wouldn't even consider that aspect personally, they're tiny.

I suppose the way I look at it is that any practical option I have to reduce waste is likely worthwhile, and contacts falls square in that category.

I find that a ridiculous viewpoint.

Contacts are, as addressed, tiny. The amount of waste you generate from these things is almost nothing. I compared to a plastic bag earlier, but just imagine how much shit is wasted on a single private jet flight. Don't torture yourself when the people in position to enact change don't.

Contacts also have an insane value prop. Vision assistance is more of a need than a want in a modern society where one has to work for money.

Not the OP, but I can't wear glasses. Contacts are a lifesaver.

I hate wearing glasses.

Having something constantly on my face, on my nose, behind my ears, in front of my eyes, so my peripheral vision is constantly a blur, chromatic aberration around the edges, you’ve got to be careful not to smudge or scratch or bump or bend them… plus that heart-stopping moment when something hits you in the face, knocks them off, and suddenly you are BLIND and there’s nothing you can do about it…

I hate wearing glasses.