I had gone to see Journey to The Center of The Earth this past weekend, I had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed the 3D in the movie. However what I could not stand was watching all the customers simply tossing the 3D glasses in the trash on the way out of the theatre, as 3D movies become more popular this could pose a huge environmental problem as our land fills get loaded with "spent" glasses. In rides at amusement parks the glasses are collected at the end and reused why not these? Or at very least theatres should be required to have separate glasses recycling bins at the exit to 3D movies for those who do not wish to keep them. How about giving them some value and charging people a couple of dollars for a pair on top of the movie price, which should make people save the glasses for the next 3D film that they plan to see, something that is given freely at every movie makes no sense for people to carry around but having to shell out once may make them think twice about scraping them afterwards. I maybe in the minority of people who care about the environment but I do believe that times are coming around when steps like this to help the environment could cause a stir in the media about how environmentally conciense a company like yours could be.

My 2 cents, until then I will hold onto my pair for future viewings.

RPeers

I totally agree with you that this issue needs to be addressed, but I think it's more complicated. While a better system might be a price break for those who already have glasses, implementation is always a problem. What do you do with the guy who buys the cheaper ticket then gets to the theater and says he forgot them? As an exhibitor, you don't want him to start bad-mouthing your theater because you didn't let him in.

Recyclable is good, but can you recycle plastics? How much does it cost to pick up the materials and deliver them to the recycling plant?

Since these glasses are using circular polarizers, keeping one's head level is not a concern, so why not go back to cardboard frames with no printing on them. That way, there is far less deleterious material to deal with. And, if it's possible, why not a biodegradable lens material. The glasses are only going to be used for a few hours, so they don't need a three hundred year shelf life.

So, a possible solution:

two prices for two tickets, one has a printed YES and the less expensive one the word NO.

YES ticket holders get a pair of cardboard, biodegradable glasses.

NO ticket holders get nothing, no matter what.

The concession stand sells glasses, perhaps like the plastic ones, for a few dollars more than the difference between the two tickets so that people will be more inclined to hold on to them.

And dozens of 3D films are released to make it all work!!!

I think you guys are definitely right about the glasses being a problem.  I have a couple of thoughts. 

First, my movie theater already charges more for 3-D movies,  but I think it would make more sense for them to charge more just if you need new glasses, that way there would be an incentive to bring them back and I wouldn't have to pay $2 more per a film!  The issue is, that the theaters are not at this point having to pay for the glasses, according to a recent issue of Variety, Real D is giving out the glasses, for theaters the extra cost is in the screen that Real D requires. 

I also think that it would make sense, especially as 3-D becomes a bigger hit to manufacture stylish 3-D glasses.  If 3-D becomes something that is used in more films than just ones aimed at kids it is easy to imagine the creation by glasses companies, or sunglasses companies of 3-D glasses.  These would definitely cost more but would come with "personality" and could be marketed as accessories.  These kind of fads are big in Hollywood and I think that even with just kids movies it would be possible.  For example, Disney could market some with they're characters on the side, you could make it specifically for an upcoming film, but it could also just follow general marketing trends. 

The slate just for Real D movies is pretty ambitious so I definitely agree that something needs to be done, both to protect the environent and to keep the prices of movie tickets down!