Share & Voice: Having an Eco Friendly Period

So, it never occurred to me until my Women's Health Issues class last Tuesday how much waste is accompanied by our monthly periods.  We went to the Women's clinic in Duluth where our speaker was talking to us about birth control methods and how it can seem unnatural to have something way up next to your uterus (Nuvaring, IUDs). This is an understandable barrier that some women face before deciding on a certain type of birth control.  This brought about the conversation of periods and how many women use tampons, which we don't really see as unnatural.  However, our speaker brought up the point that tampons really aren't naturally.  Often they are made with synthetic materials (the applicators), pesticides are used in the growing of the cotton, and lets face it, they're white because they are bleached.  I mean we've come a long way since the 1930s when toxic shock syndrome was a serious concern, but we still have to be concerned with the amount of waste we're producing. I found this statistic: In your life, you will probably use around 11,400 tampons (5 days X 5 tampons X 38 years).

Here are some eco-friendly alternatives to tampons and pads: (click on them to learn more)

Our speaker also mentioned something she called a Tulip that was kind of like the keeper and the Divacup, but it closed up like a tulip when you pulled it out, therefore less mess.  I wasn't able to find it on line anywhere, but it sounded like something worth looking into!