It is 2022 and we still talk in a ‘whisper’ about it!
Menstruation is an uncomfortable topic with even the most educated and progressive women hesitant to talk about it. The cultural taboos and stigmas around it are ingrained in us by the society that talks about it in hushed tones, where sanitary pads are covered in newspapers before they are handed out at pharmacies and stores, and where men find it awkward to buy them.
This is all quite odd for what is an inevitable and natural part of life for about half the world’s population! As Gloria Steinem says bitingly in her seminal essay, ‘If Men Could Menstruate’ – “Clearly, menstruation would become an enviable, worthy, masculine event: Men would brag about how long and how much.”
But busting the cultural and patriarchal notions of shame around menstruation is a conversation for another day. Let us talk instead about the massive ecological impact of single-use disposable menstrual products and what sustainable periods are all about.
The Environmental Impact of Single-Use Period Products
A woman has an average of about 450 periods and uses close to 16,000 single-use menstrual products in her lifetime. Across the globe, almost 1.8 billion women menstruate, with close to 300-350 million women menstruating in the world on any given day. It is estimated that India alone generates 12.3 billion disposable sanitary napkins every year.
These are staggering numbers when you consider that the bulk of these is non-biodegradable. According to the Menstrual Health Alliance India, one sanitary napkin can take 500 – 800 years to decompose because of the plastic content in it.
Add to this the fact that not all waste is disposed of responsibly or sent to managed landfills. For reasons of ignorance, shame, or just carelessness, people resort to incorrect means like flushing them down the toilet, burning them, and burying them, thus contaminating water, air, and soil.
Source: The Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation
Simply put, single use period products like disposable non-biodegradable sanitary napkins and tampons are damaging the environment and switching to environmentally friendly alternatives is the way forward.
Simply put, single use period products like disposable non-biodegradable sanitary napkins and tampons are damaging the environment and switching to environmentally friendly alternatives is the way forward.
Sustainable Period Products
Though sustainable period products have been around for several years now, large scale adoption of alternatives to single-use products has been slow. This is because of ignorance about the alternatives available as well as the taboos that discourage women from exploring their options.
Nearly 70% of women in urban India use disposable sanitary napkins. This is not surprising when you see how mass brands with big marketing budgets, but little concern for sustainability, have managed to convince us that expensive sanitary napkins are the most comfortable and modern solution to menstruation.
The good news is that this is beginning to change! Driven by conscious consumers as well as responsible brands, green solutions, that are long-lasting, safe, comfortable and hygienic are now within reach. And did we say that the cost savings are significant too!
Let’s look at what female hygiene products choices you have to make your periods sustainable –
Menstrual Cup and Disc – This is perhaps the most effective and eco-friendly menstrual product. Made from medical-grade silicone, menstrual cup is inserted in the vagina where it collects menstrual blood. It can be worn for 6 – 12 hours and each cup can be used for up to 10 years. A menstrual disc is more or less like a menstrual cup, except it’s shaped like a shallow disc, and doesn’t use suction to stay in place. Both these products are safe, don’t generate waste, and are cost-effective as you don’t have to buy expensive napkins every month. It may take a little time to get used to the idea of insertion, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll wonder why you didn’t make the switch earlier!
Period Underwear– Period underwear or panties are like regular panties structure-wise, but they’re designed to soak up the fluids. It has layers of sheets and fabric that aid in securing the moisture in place until it is washed. This product is also reusable and can last for years. Though not ideal for heavy flow days, they work well on other days. Many users use this together with biodegradable sanitary pads or reusable cloth pads depending on their personal requirements and reduce their overall environmental impact.
Reusable Cloth Pads – This is about going back to the basics of what women have been doing for generations! Reusable cloth pads are not very different from disposable sanitary pads, except that they can be washed and re-used. They also don’t have toxic plastic chemicals, with all its attendant problems of rashes and irritation that disposable pads have. Brands like Eco Femme offer well-fitting and absorbent reusable cloth pads that can be used for more than 3 years. Reusable cloth pads is a growing movement globally and it is time to, in Eco Femme’s words, “Join The Cloth Pad Revolution”!
Biodegradable sanitary pads – If the above options sound daunting, the first step in your journey to sustainable periods can start with simply shifting to biodegradable sanitary pads. These are made of organic cotton, bamboo, corn starch, plant-based material, natural fibres like bamboo, and bio-plastics. They are just like sanitary napkins but don’t take hundreds of years to decompose. Carmesi is one brand that has caught our attention for taking a holistic approach by offering plant-based pads in sustainable packaging.
A word of caution for first-time users of all products – always read and follow the instructions that come with the products carefully.
There was a time when disposable sanitary pads and tampons were a great advancement that made women’s lives easier. With the environmental cost of these now mounting, many brands have risen to the challenge and offer a spectrum of sustainable menstrual products at affordable prices. Several Indian brands like Carmesi, Eco Femme, Sirona, Boondh, Lemme Be, Saathi, Heyday, The Woman’s Compan and Azah offer a range of sustainable period products that are safe for women’s health and are kind to the planet.
Let’s Encourage More Conversations
In India, we have the twin problem of ‘Period Poverty’, the lack of access to safe and hygienic menstrual products for a large population of women because of ignorance and the prohibitive costs of most products, and of disposable pads used by the vast majority of urban women generating masses of non-biodegradable waste. Both these issues can be addressed by encouraging the adoption of long-lasting and safe products like menstrual cups.
As conscious consumers, we can drive this change by having candid and unapologetic conversations with our families and friends, raising awareness, and exploring and experimenting with alternatives with an open mind. It is our bodies and our planet, let us be mindful and responsible!
