This one is for the ladies...

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog, 

Today I am targeting this post specifically to the ladies, so sorry lads. Today I am going to be going into sanitary wear.

I have spoken about this briefly on my blog before, but I thought it was worth reiterating this point as, if you are a lady, and if you only make one swap in your life, make this one. Because the facts about sanitary wear are a bit worrying...

The facts (so far as I know):

• A plastic sanitary pad takes 500-800 years to decompose.
• It is estimated a women uses 10,000-11,000 menstrual products in her lifetime.
• Made partially from cotton, which is bad to produce as it uses 6 pints of water for just one bud of cotton.
• Pads use polyethylene plastic (used to stick them to your pants) which is a harmful chemical to the environment.
• Tampons and pads, as well as their packaging, produce more than 200,000 tonnes of waste per year.
• Most pads are 90% plastic.
• Tampon applicators are single use plastic.
• In 2010 a UK beach clean up found an average of 23 sanitary pads and 9 tampon applicators
• The process of making tampons and pads uses lots of resources and chemicals.
• In the UK two billion period products are flushed down the toilet (causing 75% of blocked drains)
• Tampons and Pads have been tested many times for harmful chemicals. They have been found to contain a variety of chemicals including glyphosate (a cancer causing chemical in certain quantities)  and other chemicals (that are not proven to cause health risks yet). 

It is unknown whether chemicals in one-use sanitary wear cause us health problems such as cancer. The chemical glyphosate has been proven to be cancer causing when exposed in large quantities over a long period of time. Whether your sanitary wear would cause that, I could not say.

However, whether these chemicals cause you bad health or not, when you are done with them and send them to landfill, or worse down the drain or into the ocean. All of these chemicals are left to slowly seep into the environment causing massive problems. Basically, they are pretty bad.

There are several solutions to this problem:

1) Reusable Cloth pads

2) The cup

*Honourable mention - Pants that are very absorbent but only cater for light-medium flow.

1) Reusable cloth pad

Pros:

Lasts up to 5 years.

Less waste sent to landfill.

Less chemicals used in production and in actual product.

Saves you a lot of money in the long run.

Less chemicals getting into the environment.
Less bad odours than one use pads
More comfortable and kinder to your skin than one use pads.

Cons:

Made from cotton, fairly bad for environment in production.

Can be awkward to wash and dry (though once you get into the routine they aren't bad at all)

High start up cost.

Note: If you are worried about what to do with your used pads when you are out of the house for long periods of time. As they fold up this keeps everything contained but it is also wise to carry a water proof zip bag of some sort for storage until you can get home and wash them.

2) the cup.

Pros:

Lasts 10 years or more.

Made from medical grade silicone which is fairly green to produce.

Sillicone does go back to its original components which are not harmful to environment.

Can be used during swimming and other leisure activities easily.
Lasts up to 12 hours at a time before having to be emptied.
Some designs can be emptied without taking cup out 

Cons:

Some people may find them uncomfortable, but look around for different shapes and sizes to find one to suit you.

It depends on what you get on with. Personally I do not get on with tampons, which are similar to the cup in the way that they work. So the cloth pads are the best option for me. Below are some photos of these products. I really hope you consider making this switch. As women we have the power to significantly reduce waste going to landfill with this simple life style change. Think about it.  

Drying my reusable pads on the line.

They fold up for easy storage.

Can be purchased in an array of sized and patterns.

The menstrual cup can be bought in a variety of shapes, sizes and colours.

Some menstrual cups can be emptied whilst still inserted.

Thank you SO MUCH for reading. I really do appreciate it. Have a wonderful day, and I hope you are making changes in your life for the good of the planet, even if they are small, they still make a difference.

Sources:
https://medium.com/one-future/sustainable-menstruation-the-environmental-impact-of-menstrual-products-eba30e095cda