Enough Is Enough. Period.
Enough is Enough. Period. These words can refer to a lot of things and feel pretty relevant these days. Interpret them as they suit you. For me, right now, they refer to a lot of current events, they refer to a message I convey to my kids almost on a daily basis when I am at my wits’ end, they refer to the year 2020, and in the context of this blog, they refer to a literal period—AKA menstruation. This particular post is clearly more relevant for women and may also be TMI for some so please be forewarned. But I think it is a super important topic when trying to reduce waste.
I first started really thinking about period waste when I was a grad student and on a super tight budget of $40/week after all of my living expenses were paid (rent + bills). This budget was for groceries, going out (nearly impossible), toiletries, and anything else I may have wanted. Needless to say, it was tough. And there was one week when my period started and I realized that buying tampons was going to eat up a hefty chunk of my budget. I was pissed off. I was pissed off that women HAVE TO spend money on something that is as much part of their physiologies as breathing is. So I first started to think about why there are not sustainable and reusable menstruation products that would significantly reduce the cost of something that happens generally every month for many, many, many years. I went to researching it right away and unbeknownst to me, I discovered some products. I didn’t feel ready/interested enough to try a reusable pad as I hated pads anyways but I was super interested in a natural sponge. The second thing my research made me think about was the environmental impact. I was imagining how many women there are in the world and how most of them use some type of disposable menstruation product, several times a month, every month, for many, many, many years. A quick internet search can lead you to various articles about the environmental impact of how we tend to our periods. So to make a long story short, motivated by financial and environmental factors, I used a natural sea sponge for many years. The thing about sea sponges is that you have to be quite comfortable with your body and blood. Because there is not a string (unless you put one on), sometimes you have to reach for it when taking it out and then when you rinse it out there can obviously be a lot of blood on your hands, quite literally. You also need to have a decent water source near you for rinsing which makes it less than ideal in bathrooms with multiple stalls and just a few sinks, especially when a bathroom is full of people. I found myself in some awkward situations but surprisingly never had any embarrassing catastrophes. I also begun carrying a water bottle with me whenever I was on my period for the purpose of rinsing.
I think I stopped using a sponge after my first pregnancy, I can’t really remember. But my periods seemed heavier after having a baby and sponges just didn’t feel sufficient unless I also wore a pad and that essentially defeated the purpose. I also seemed more swayed by the potential risks of sponges that didn’t seem to affect me as much before, probably because any risk seemed more risky to me since becoming a mom. So then I started using tampons again. I didn’t have the same financial considerations anymore but I still thought a lot about the environmental impact so I used tampons without applicators, preferably organic. I did use panty liners on heavier days/nights but I tried to always buy the ones that were not individually wrapped in plastic. Once you start thinking about it there really is a lot of waste between the products themselves and the packaging. I read one statistic that said that it takes 500 to 800 years for an average nonorganic pad to decompose whereas a cotton tampon takes around 6 months. I didn’t fact check this and I don’t really need to, to know that it just makes sense that nonorganic materials will take A LOT longer to decompose. I also didn’t actually need any statistics to be motivated to make changes because I know myself how many products I need for one period then multiply that by 12 months (a year) and then by the average number of years a women menstruates and then by the average number of menstruating women there are on the earth (and more females are born every day)—it’s enough to realize that period products MUST generate an enormous amount of waste.
Fast-forward to present day. Over the last year I have been shifting to a more zero-waste way to tend to my period and I feel good about my system. FIRST, I bought some Thinx. I love Thinx. However, they definitely do not work for me as well as they are seemingly advertised (meaning I can’t use them alone except on exceptionally light days). But I don’t need to buy panty liners anymore and that is a big plus. SECOND, I started used a menstrual cup. I don’t know why it took me so long. I also don’t know why the first time I tried last year I couldn’t get it right, but I have the hang of it now and it works well. Although just as with a sponge, you have to be comfortable with your body and blood. And also just as with a sponge, I think I will be carrying water with me for use in public restrooms, just in case, as they can be messy sometimes. This is also where having the bidet is helpful. I realized though that I seemed to need to empty the cup on heavy days more frequently than I would need to change a super absorbent tampon so I still felt like I needed a bit more support than just the Thinx, especially at night. THIRD, I made some reusable pads. As I said before, I hate pads and I wasn’t ready to try reusable ones before but I thought for this purpose, as just a back-up, I could get onboard. I had a bunch of bamboo charcoal cloth diaper inserts which worked really well as diapers so I figured they would work well enough as back-up panty liners. So I cut some up and made panty liners. I rinse them out if they get soiled and then drop them in the laundry. So on my heavy days/nights I use a cup, Thinx, and a reusable pad. On medium days a cup and Thinx. And on light days, just Thinx. I still have some tampons around and probably will always make sure I do have some around for situations where I might feel better/safer using them. And I don’t feel bad or guilty about it. But it sure does feel good when I go through a whole period not having used any disposable products and not generating a single piece of waste. Period.
As a final note, the good thing about the plethora of menstruation products available is that there is a whole spectrum of changes that you can make to reduce period waste—you can create your own combo according to your own comfort level. These are the changes I can think of:
use tampons with cardboard or biodegradable applicators instead of plastic applicators
use tampons without applicators instead of with
use tampons individually wrapped in paper instead of in plastic
use a menstrual disc or menstrual cup or some other reusable product instead of a tampon
use pads/liners that are not individually wrapped in plastic
use reusable pads/liners instead of disposable one
use period panties instead of disposable products
use organic products if you are using disposable products
Happy Perioding.