We live increasingly in a “throw-away” culture. We demand that things are available to us immediately and then want to dispose of them as easily as possible. And our menstrual cycles are no exception. Many women don’t want to think about their periods at all and tampons makes this very easy – you can do everything you usually do without your period (even ride a horse) and then just flush it down the toilet – like it never happened! I’ve written previous blog posts about how ignoring our periods can affect our self-esteem, but what other affects can this throw-away culture have on us?
Our disposable menstrual products have a very definite environmental impact. Approximately 20 billion pads, tampons and applicators are thrown away in North America every year, mostly ending up in our landfills. Each individual woman will throw away approximately 16,800 disposable pads or tampons throughout their lifetime – with a total weight of about 2 grown men! That’s a pretty big carbon footprint. And it doesn’t even taking into account the environmental impact of harvesting the materials, the manufacturing plant, and the chemical run off from the bleaches and other chemicals used to make our products “super absorbent”.
You may be thinking – well it’s my period, what can I do? There are actually a number of alternatives in the reusable menstrual products market:
1) Reusable menstrual pad – same concept as a cloth diaper, it’s a pad that is made of cloth that you can wash in the laundry and reuse over and over. There are a lot of companies making these including a Canadian company called Luna Pads.
2) Menstrual cup – the DIVA cup is the most popular one. A flexible cup that is inserted like a tampon and catches your menstrual flow. You just pull the tab to empty it into the toilet and reinsert. The DIVA cup is medical grade silicon and is supposed to last you a lifetime!
Not only will these products help us reduce our environmental impact, but will have a huge impact on your wallet and your health as well. There has not been single reported case of toxic shock syndrome with menstrual cup use, and because it doesn’t have any chemicals that can increase inflammation in the vaginal tract, your period will likely become a bit lighter and much less painful. I’ve seen women come off their monthly Midol regimens just from switching to a DIVA cup.
So do your body, your savings account, and the environment a favour and explore alternative menstrual products. We are also now stocking the DIVA cup at the clinic. If you have any questions or would like to see a “sample” one to see the size and flexibility, pop in to the clinic!
Naturopathic Doctor
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