The Naturale Yogi

Going zero-waste in the washroom isn’t always easy especially when it comes to our periods! Now we must talk about the non biodegradable trash women create when we are on our cycles. Consider this, if a woman has 5 days of bleeding and for each day she uses 5 regular pads and 1 over night pads and then multiply that by 60 days for a year for just one person that means that person would have thrown away 60 overnight pads and 300 regular pads then some people use tampons with those plastic applicators and also panty liners. If a person uses 300 regular pads for a year and multiply that over four decades and that gives us approximately 12,000 pieces of sanitary napkins in a lifetime and that is just a rough estimate. Now consider that piece of sanitary pad that is made up of non organic bleached cotton lined with non-recyclable plastic and individually wrapped in the same plastic and wrapped again in plastic to form a package and a person bringin it home in another plastic bag!

I would like to remind people that plastic takes a long time to decompose and it could take from 450 to 1000 uears before a piece of plastic is fully decomposed and before it could decompose it gets torn up into tiny pieces called microplastics and be eaten by fish or livestock and in turn ingested by humans. Just type “plastic found in fishes” on Youtube and you’ll see what I’m talking about. Think about the 12,000 pieces of sanitary pad waste just being there, what can we do? Luckily there are a range of products that are alternatives to these single use products which I would discuss below.

1. The Washable Pad.
This is the first and the easiest product to use because its a cloth pad that has a button that you clasp around your regular panties. Attach it to your regular panties and once it’s full take it out and keep it with you in a bag and wash it once you get home. I will be posting another essay on how I wash my period panties and reusable pads.

2. The Period Panty.
This item is my favorite period product because they are panties that have built in pads that you just need to wear it and forget about it. Similar to the reusable cloth pads all I need to do is to bring extras and once I feel like the current one I’m wearing is full then I switch to a new one.

3. Organic cotton tampons and reusable tampon applicator.
I have used tampons before and those plastic applicators that make it easy to slide it in are so wasteful that I had to switch to ones without the applicator but then it became difficult to insert. I’m so glad I found the re.ta by Thinx ( https://www.shethinx.com/products/thinx-reta-reusable-tampon-applicator ) so whenever I feel like my flow is extra heavy I would bring my Natra Care Organic cotton tampon and my reusable applicator. After using the applicator I just wash it with mild soap and water until I get home and am able to sterilize it in boiling water.

4. Plastic free sanitary pads.
I also tried using Natra Care pads that are plastic free but due to my heavy flow it cannot contain as much as the cloth pads or panties so I only use them on light days or when I am traveling and am not able to wash my reusable pads or panties. I would also have to keep buying them so I’d rather buy the other products that I don’t need to replenish.
https://www.natracare.com/products/pads/

5. Menstrual cups.
These are soft silicone cups that come in different sizes for all sorts of people with different types of vaginal canals they are inserted into the vaginal canal and stays there to collect the blood until you empty the cup 8-12 hours later depending on your flow. You wash the cup with mild soap between emptying and sterilize it before and after each cycle. It takes a few cycles to get used to it and you might not even always use it as in my case but this is best for water sports or anything that gets you wet. You also get to use 1 cup for 5 to 10 years depending on how you take care of it. Some brands are the Lunette, Organicup, Diva Cup, and a lot of other brands that you can check out.

6. Menstrual discs.
I personally have not yet tried these as I’m still waiting for my Nixit to arrive, but there are a lot of videos and articles about this.

It can take a while to get used to all these alternatives but choose which one you feel the most comfortable with and you might just find that as you go along your sustainable journey your preference would change. I’m here to present alternatives that you can consider and slowly transition into so we don’t further pollute the planet with our plastic.

References:
1. http://storage.neic.org/event/docs/1129/how_long_does_it_take_garbage_to_decompose.pdf
2. For reusable menstrual pads: https://www.lazada.com.ph/products/pack-of-6-washable-reusable-cloth-mama-pads-menstrual-sanitary-napkin-2-overnightheavy-flow-2-regular-flow-2-panty-liners-assorted-designs-i135570638.html
3. Period panties : https://www.elitedaily.com/women/period-panty-buying-guide/1515410
4. Alternative menstrual products: https://www.bustle.com/articles/124170-i-tried-6-alternative-menstrual-products-and-there-were-2-clear-winners