A weekly roundup of ophthalmic news from around the web.   For the first time ever, the majority of medical students are women. The proportion of women in medical school has been on the upswing, according to a new report, increasing from 46.9% in 2015 to 49.5% in 2018. This year, that percentage reached 50.5%. The continued growth in applicant numbers indicates that the interest in a medical career remains high, which is crucial as the United States faces a projected shortage of 122,000 physicians by 2032. Association of American Medical Colleges   The NEI is seeking your input on future research goals. Members of the public—including physicians, patients, caregivers and the scientific community—are asked to comment on 2 separate initiatives: NEI’s 2020 Vision for the Future and a new research program called the Anterior Segment Initiative (ASI). The former will look to better define the institute’s research opportunities and areas of emphasis, while the ASI plans to address current knowledge gaps about the anterior segment and barriers to research. National Eye Institute   A presumed case of familial retinitis pigmentosa quite literally got the best of physicians. The patient and her father had all the typical symptoms: nyctalopia, mild microcornea, slightly arrow anterior chamber angles without hyperopia and 1+ anterior vitreous cells. Genetic testing, however, revealed a missense mutation in the BEST1 gene, confirming a diagnosis of autosomal dominant vitreoretinochoroidopathy. The patient, whose case was described in the latest issue of Ophthalmology, is expected to have a stable visual prognosis. Ophthalmology   Contact lens wearers and dog lovers unite … sort of. The Guide Dog Foundation just received a shipment of training modules including benches, tables, waste stations and agility ramps made from recycled contact lens materials. So far, the ONE by ONE Recycling Program—the only contact lens recycling program in the United States—has collected more than 95,000 pounds of waste such as contact lenses, blister packs and top foils since its inception in 2016. “We are grateful for the efforts of Bausch + Lomb and TerraCycle in reducing the environmental waste of contact lenses while also making this critical donation to help improve the lives of those who are blind or visually impaired,” said John Miller, CEO, Guide Dog Foundation. Bausch + Lomb, TerraCycle   Prefilled aflibercept syringes are now available in U.S. markets, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals announced. The single-use 2-mg syringes were approved back in August, and is indicated for 4 conditions: wet AMD, macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion, diabetic macular edema and diabetic retinopathy. Regeneron

What’s the first thing you do when you get out of bed in the morning? A well-rounded morning routine sets the tone for the day and gets you prepped—both mentally and physically—before diving into a packed schedule filled with emails, chores, happy hours, workouts, and more. Our series Morning Person profiles those who have mastered the art of the morning routine. Tune in every Monday morning here and on our Instagram to learn exactly how the pros get it all done before the sun comes up, from their go-to breakfasts to their a.m. workouts.   Of all my hobbies and pastimes, one of my favorites is discussing with my boyfriend which brands we'd invest in on Shark Tank. It's never just a simple "I like it" or "I wouldn't use it" but a full analysis of the target audience, how we'd market it, and in which ways we'd imagine the brand expanding. (We're a really fun pair, I know.) While I'm obviously no expert—and really have no authority to speak on this whatsoever besides the fact that I simply enjoy it—all the products I always root for have one thing in common: They're relatable. Take Blueland, for example. It replaces single-use plastic cleaning products with reusable bottles and eco-friendly soap tablets. You might have been unfamiliar with the brand (it only launched less than a year ago) until recently when its founder and CEO appeared on an episode of Shark Tank and won (!) a deal with Mr. Wonderful. Like many of us, Sarah Paiji was frustrated with the amount of plastic pollution that constantly floods our environment and wanted to create an easy way to cut back on waste. On a personal level, one of her biggest concerns was the high amount of microplastics that were found in the water she was using for her baby's formula. Amid recent reports on the rapid escalation of climate change and its scary impact on the environment, it seems that protecting our Earth has become even more top of mind for many of us as of late. States have passed legislation to replace plastic straws with paper, Greta Thunberg has taken environmental activism by storm, even our own office has recently replaced plastic utensils and cups with reusable mugs and utensils in an effort to cut back on waste. In conclusion: Blueland is completely on point. As you might expect, the company's founder is on her own personal journey to be more sustainable, and her morning routine certainly reflects that. Whether you want to be inspired by someone who runs her own company or a person with an eco-friendly morning routine, keep scrolling for all the ways Sarah is a sustainable morning person.       6:15 A.M.   Every morning, I wake up before my husband and 2-year-old son, Noah, and I head straight into the kitchen to hydrate. I have a glass of water and fix myself a cup of coffee to enjoy while taking a few quality moments for myself.     6:30 A.M.   With my coffee in hand, I sit down with my gratitude journal and write one to two things I’m thankful for before starting my day. This is an important routine for me as it’s so easy to lose sight of all the things I have to be grateful for in this hectic mom and startup life. Journaling helps me set the tone for the day and helps me channel the positive energy I need to take on the world as a mom and leader!     6:45 A.M.   Time to get ready! First things first, I wash my hands with Blueland Hand Soap and put in my contacts. Living a low-waste lifestyle and being mindful of recycling has been a personal mission of mine and is now what I’ve built my business on. Many contact-lens wearers are not very conscious of the plastic waste accumulating from daily use, but we can change that! I collect my contact cases to recycle in bulk with TerraCycle.     I get ready in our guest bathroom, as it’s right next to Noah’s room so I can keep an eye on him in his crib as I put on my makeup. I keep my makeup routine simple and quick. I swear by The Ordinary’s 100% Plant-Derived Squalane serum and Kjaer Weis’s organic mascara and blush, and I never leave the house without sunscreen!        7:30 A.M.   Back in the kitchen! This time I’m feeding Noah breakfast so we’re both ready to take on the day! Today he’s having cereal and pears. 8 A.M.   Out the door! Noah and I take a morning stroll to the farmers market at least twice a week to drop off our compost. I collect food scraps from the week in the freezer (which eliminates any risk for foul smells or bugs) and empty it at the composting station at the Union Square farmers market.     Did you know that when we send food to landfills, it can’t properly break down? Instead, it emits methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change! Composting in a large urban city might seem tricky, but there are foolproof ways to compost your food scraps such as dropping them off at your local farmers market.     8:30 A.M.   Next, Noah gets dropped off for school. I love having school drop-off duty, as it allows me to have those extra precious moments with my son and see him in his school environment with his friends. Running a startup gets to be demanding, and an unpredictable schedule comes with the job, making it more likely that I’ll miss out on the afternoon pickups for Noah.   After I drop off Noah, I head for another coffee fix, always in my reusable Byta. Most coffee spots offer a discount if you bring your own reusable cup. Pair that with saving the planet, and it’s a win-win!   The commute to the Blueland office, albeit short, provides a momentary escape since I listen to my favorite podcasts. Depending on the day or my mood, I’ll use this time to catch up on world news, listen to fellow entrepreneurs’ journeys on series, or continue to educate myself on sustainability and environmental impact initiatives. My favorite podcasts include Girlboss, Town Haul, and Product Hunt.  

9 A.M.

Just got to the office! Time to build a better future with the amazing Blueland team!  

                                                     

When we think about what contributes to microplastics in our waterways, plastic bags and single-use packaging come to mind. However, there is another product often overlooked: contact lenses.   Americans use more than 3 billion contact lenses a year. Of those, 45,000 pounds of them end up in our waterways as one out of five Americans flushes them down the toilet – and even more end up in landfills. Both water treatment plants and standard recycling systems cannot process the contact lenses due to their size and malleability, as explained last year in The New York Times.   The good news is that there is a more sustainable option—as in the One by One Recycling Program, in which consumers here in the U.S. can responsibly dispose their contact lenses and packaging such as blister packs and top foils.   The One by One Recycling Program offers more than 4,000 drop-off locations across the United States for consumers to dispose of their used contact lenses and packaging. The program was born from a partnership between TerraCycle, the U.S. recycling and upcycling company that has long repurposed hard-to-recycle post-consumer waste, and Bausch + Lomb, the 166-year-old eye health products company.  

One by One, more contact lenses are ending up in recycled products

  Once the consumer disposes his or her lenses and associated packaging in a recycling bin at a participating location, the waste is sent back to TerraCycle. From there, the contact lenses are separated from the blister packs. Then, the contact lenses and plastic components of the blister packs are melted and made into recycled products; the metal layers are recycled separately, according to Terracycle.   Most recently, the One by One Recycling Program contributed to the manufacturing of training materials, including benches, tables and agility ramps, which in turn are donated to the Guide Dog Foundation, a nonprofit that trains guide dogs for the blind and visually impaired.   “Before the One by One Recycling Program, contact lenses were one of the forgotten waste streams that were often overlooked due to their size," said Tom Szaky, CEO and founder of TerraCycle, in an interview earlier this month with Invision Magazine. “Together, we are helping to preserve our environment and transitioning these materials back into the world in a positive way – it’s a win-win for all.”   Since its inception in 2016, the companies behind the One by One Recycling Program said they have collected 16 million used contact lenses, blister packs and top foils. In an interview with TriplePundit, Bausch Health Companies’ Kristy Marks explained that the program’s leaders plan to scale the number of U.S. drop-off locations through exploring partnerships with retailers outside of the eye-care industry as well as growing the number of participating eye-care professionals.  

Consumers are showing more interest in recycling used contacts

  Additional companies are launching their own contact lens recycling programs. Johnson & Johnson has launched a recycling program for its branded contacts in the United Kingdom through a different partnership with Terracycle, while CooperVision is testing a similar program in Sweden.   As the daily disposable contact lens market share continues to grow at 9 percent annually—the fastest-growing segment of contact lenses—more consumers are showing an interest in recycling their contact lenses. For example, one study found that 77 percent of British contact lens wearers would recycle their contact lenses if they could.   “Patients are pleased to hear about it during their appointments, especially those who wear daily disposable lenses and have expressed concern about the added waste they create,” said Gina Wesley, O.D., from Complete Eye Care, Medina, MN, in a public statement. “I applaud Bausch + Lomb for leading the way in providing this solution for my practice and patients and helping to minimize the waste these materials generate."   Image credit: Hubble/Unsplash

Bausch + Lomb has partnered with TerraCycle to donate custom training modules made from recycled contact lenses to the Guide Dog Foundation.   TerraCycle, which specializes in repurposing hard-to-recycle post-consumer waste, will create benches, tables, waste stations and an agility ramp made from used contact lens materials collected through Bausch + Lomb’s ONE by ONE Recycling Program, according to a press release.   The headquarters of the Guide Dog Foundation in Smithtown, New York, will receive the training modules, which will be used to train guide dogs for blind or visually impaired individuals.   “At Bausch + Lomb our mission is to help people see better to live better by delivering critical resources and advancements that help improve vision health,” Joe Gordon, U.S. president, Bausch + Lomb, said in the release. “We are proud to further build upon the ONE by ONE Recycling Program with TerraCycle in providing this donation to the Guide Dog Foundation — an initiative that not only supports the health of our environment, but also provides the precious gift of sight through the training they provide guide dogs for those who are blind or visually impaired.”   The ONE by ONE program encourages contact lens wearers to bring their used lenses and packaging to participating eye care professionals’ offices for recycling. More information can be found at www.bauschrecycles.com.  

In anticipation of the Global Climate Strike, final documents were drafted to establish a new Eco Belles club on Wednesday, which aims to encourage Belles to make sustainable choices and lead recycling and other sustainability initiatives on campus.   Rebecca Klaybor, a Saint Mary’s junior and president of Eco Belles, said she was inspired to start the club after she took a costume shop class taught last semester by Melissa Bialko, professional specialist in costume design in the SMC Program of Theater and now faculty advisory for Eco Belles.   “This class discussed ethics in the fashion industry so that’s what sparked my true interest in the environment along with climate change complications,” Klaybor said.   Saint Mary’s junior and Eco Belles vice president Emily Emerson said she noticed a lack of sustainability clubs on campus and wanted to change that.   Emerson, Klaybor and Bialko began to work together last year to develop sustainability initiatives for the Saint Mary’s community, which eventually culminated in the founding of Eco Belles.   “We’re working with a group called TerraCycle,” Emerson said. “They have a whole bunch of free recycling programs, and eventually we would like to be able to use their boxes, where you can put anything besides food waste in and they will figure out a way to recycle it for you.”   She said though the program is great, buying and shipping boxes is expensive and they are trying to raise the money to participate in the box program. However, other recycling initiatives led by the group are already active on campus.   “We’re also currently working with Nike and H&M,” Emerson said. “Nike will take any kind of shoes in any condition and make them into different clothes, new shoes and even basketball courts. H&M recycles fabrics and is working with the theater department because we use a lot of different fabrics and we have a lot of scraps.”   TerraCycle has multiple different recycling programs that Eco Belles are participating in, she said, including programs to recycle used Brita filters, contact lenses, razors, oral hygiene, clean makeup products, personal products and the packaging in which all of these items are sold.   “You don’t really think about [the waste] until you see that there are ways you can recycle [these products] instead of just throwing them in the garbage,” Emerson said. “I hope this makes the campus much more sustainability-minded and recognize where things are being just thrown in the trash when they don’t need to be. And just being more conscious of how much waste we produce as a campus is huge. This is a necessary step to take as a school, because it can be broadened across the tri-campus community and to other colleges across Indiana.”   The main way that Saint Mary’s students can get involved, Klaybor said, is to start collecting items to donate and recycle. On campus, there are bins outside of the costume shop where students can bring donations or recyclable items. Eco Belles will then organize and send that collection to the proper place.   Eco Belles meetings are every other Wednesday at 8 p.m. in the Saint Mary’s costume shop in Moreau. Klaybor invites everyone to bring their own mugs for coffee and tea, as well as whatever donations and recycling they may have.   “I hope that people will learn that being eco-friendly is easier than what people think,” Klaybor said. “People just need to be taught how easy it is to recycle throughout their day. I hope that campus can learn that being eco-friendly isn’t that difficult, and there are small things that can make a big difference in the long run.”