Sanitary can be sustainable!!

I woke up with sweats yesterday morning and it can only mean one thing…that I am due for that time of the month. I shouldn't complain as I am not one of the many women who have the ‘joys' of experiencing painful side effects but still a part of me dreads it, why? Because I have other things to look forward to such as; hormonal breakouts, my lady lumps feeling heavy and tender like I strapped a bag of sand to them and I become incredibly hot, irate and snappy.   

The truth is periods are not my favourite thing and I can't think of one woman who has ever said: "I love being on my period", do you know someone? - Because I sure can't.  The ugly truth is we would do anythingto prevent leaking and therefore we stock up on sanitary towels and tampons – anything to prevent the blood bath we experience.  

Until recently there is much more on awareness on living greener and being more aware of sustainability – especially surrounding the topic of plastic – the qualities that make it so great (durable, affordable and malleable) is the very thing that makes it so devastating to the environment.

DID YOU KNOW??

It takes 500 years for any plastic to breakdown. I started my period when I was 14, I used on average 3 sanitary pads per day and my periods last on average 4 days, multiply that by 12 months and factor the age I am now (30 years old) – I have used 2,304 sanitary towels till this very day and all of which have barely begun to breakdown. My very first sanitary towel (16 years ago) is sitting in a landfill barely beginning its journey of natural decomposition and that really doesn't sit well with me.  

Our trusty pads and tampons come in a variety of shapes and sizes, there are ones that look high tech with blue middle strips or aeration, and there is even ‘plain' cotton ones. But I have discovered that even the kind that says 100% cotton has some synthetic fibres on the string and woven into the pad for strength. Finding alternatives can be difficult, and my research of different choices lead me to products such as the ‘Moon cup' or ‘Diva cup' which are great for those who can get on with them. I am elated that I have found that there is an alternative which suits my level of comfort – Flo. Flo boast on using “natural, plant-based, biodegradable and hypoallergenic materials like organic cotton and organically-grown bamboo” making it incredibly kind to your most intimate regions and the environment. Win, Win! They have a range of Tampons and sanitary towels. If you are interested feel free to pop over to our Eco Friendly feminine care section to check out more! 

I have made a personal choice to find a product that suits my monthly needs as well as being kinder to a world where waste should breakdown and not pile up on a landfill or floating in the sea. I hope that every lady out there takes a moment to contemplate whether plastic has to be part of our cyclical needs, we already are inundated with how reliant we have become on plastic that I feel if we have a choice to avoid and prevent that it should be truly considered. After all, seeing how much I already dislike the whole process I wouldn't want to leave my ‘bloodied plastic' footprint for the next hundreds of years.  

By Panda 

Photo by Jannes Jacobs on Unsplash