The Book of Rubbish Ideas

Don’t panic love - I’m not throwing all the toys out of my pram - I’m talking periods.

And before you read any further, I warn you, this isn’t going to be like those laughable adverts that show menstrual products with blue liquid on them (who on earth thought that gem up), this posting is going to be fact-packed and will tell it like it is.

I’m talking belly cramp, backache, the ultimate nightmare of getting caught short, the irritation factor of VAT on sanitary wear, chemical intervention to give us whiter than white products, biodegradation in landfill and the ever rising costs of a box of your monthly whatsits!

Most of the above used to cause me great angst, but a few years ago, I changed from alternating between a couple of common brands of disposable sanitary protection items to a washable silicon choice and more recently, I added organic cotton washable pads to my knicker drawer too. It’s the best thing I’ve done in years and I only wish I’d had my eco-awakening years ago - I’d have saved a fortune for a start.

But before I tell you more about them, here’s an interesting extract from the Wikipedia page on tampons.

Tampons may contain pesticides used on the cotton and chlorine which is used to bleach them. Some of the substances used to bleach tampons have been implicated in the formation of dioxin. A study by the FDA done in 1995 says there are not sufficient amounts of dioxin to pose a health risk; the amount detected ranged from undetectable to 1 part in 3 trillion, which is far less than the normal exposure to dioxin in everyday life. Additionally tampons not using bleaching or chemical treatment are available to those concerned with potential dioxin exposure.

Fiber loss along with damage done to the vaginal tissue from fiber has also been a concern. Furthermore, as tampons are absorbent and placed within an area such as the vagina, this significantly increases the risk of bacterial infections.

100% cotton tampons contain lower levels of dioxin than using tampons with a cotton and rayon mix. Some researchers such as Dr. Tierno claim that switching to a 100% cotton alternative, such as Natracare, greatly reduces the risk of TSS or toxic shock syndrome, a rare but sometimes fatal disease caused by bacterial infection.

Here’s extracts from the Wikipedia on Sanitary Napkins/Towels.

Disposable menstrual pads appear to have been first commercially available from around 1888 with the Southall’s pad. Until disposable sanitary pads were created, cloth or reusable pads were widely used to collect menstrual blood. Women often used a variety of homemade menstrual pads, which they crafted from various fabrics, leftover scraps, grass, or other absorbent materials, to collect menstrual blood. Even after disposable pads were commercially available, for several years they were too expensive for many women to afford.

Menstrual pads are made from a range of materials, differing depending on style, country of origin, and brand. One brand lists the materials used in their Maxi and Regular disposable pads as being made “mostly of wood cellulose fibers“, the “outer cover and the moisture-proof shields are made with a moisture-proof plastic such as polypropylene or polyethylene“.

Here’s extracts from the Wikipedia page on Menstrual Cups, a significantly less mainstream product, but worthy of a place on the shelves of chemists up and down the country.

A menstrual cup is a type of cup or barrier worn inside the vagina during menstruation to collect menstrual fluid. Unlike more common methods, such as tampons and pads, the cup neither absorbs the flow nor catches it outside the body.

There are two types of menstrual cup currently available. The first is a soft, flexible, disposable cup, which is made of latex-free polyethylene and resembles the contraceptive diaphragm(although it is not a contraceptive device). The second type is a bell-shaped cup made ofrubber (latex) or silicone. It is reusable and designed to last for up to 10 years. Current brands include “Mooncup” (manufactured in the United Kingdom), “DivaCup” (Canada), “Keeper” (USA), “Softcup” (USA) “LadyCup” (Czech Republic), “Lunette” (Finland), “Moon Cup” (USA), “Miacup” (South Africa), and “Femmecup” (United Kingdom).

I’ve used both the DivaCup and Moon Cup and found both amazing. After a few attempts at getting used to using them I was fine and instantly rewarded with no backache, no major stomach cramp on dear old Day One and more importantly, no spills. With a retail price of around £20 these little fellas soon pay for themselves too, which is an added bonus.

The organic cotton towels are a useful alternative and great for catching the tail end of a period, although they are perfectly capable of dealing with a heavy flow. They are gorgeous too and can fold down to a very discrete square fastened with a popper so nobody would even know what it was if they saw it, making them ideal to have in your handbag at all times, just in case. They wash up a treat, don’t need boiling to within an inch of their lives and can just go in on a regular wash with other items.

You simply need to get over the fact that you are dealing with a bit of blood! It’s as simple as that!

But I know it’s not everyone’s bag, despite the fact that from an eco-common sense point of view, it’s pure brilliance. Also, if you think about it in terms of how long it will take for used conventional items to biodegrade in landfill, it might horrify you into making a change!

Towels aren’t the same as nappies of course, they are smaller for a start, but some do contain similar chemicals used to absorb the blood and stop it leaking. Disposable nappies can take up to 400 years to break down - that fact still rocks me every time I see it. Even if towels took a quarter of the time, that’s still a phenomenal period, if you’ll pardon the pun.

I’m on a mission to convert as many of my own friends and know that a little under half of them just won’t entertain the idea at all - that’s fine, periods and how you deal with them are personal choice and that’s it and all about it!

The only way to see if either of these washable and reusable, inexpensive and sustainable options are for you, is to try them and I recommend you contact the guys at Baby Kind who also stock a great range of washable nappies and other products too.

Go on, you know you want to…

Rubbishly yours,

TSx

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