No Trash Periods!
I live in Portland, Oregon, a city so awesome that we even have a non-profit dedicated to reducing the stigma of menstruation - called PERIOD. This should serve as a caveat to any reader that I don't have any damn shame talking about a major event which happens to my body every four weeks.
This week, I am celebrating the closest-to-zero waste period of my ENTIRE LIFETIME.
For reference, I started menstruating at the age of eleven. I am now 41, which is... oh my god, thirty years THIRTY FRACKING YEARS
In the beginning, my period meant pads the size and shape of a small fire log. Apparently "absorption technology" didn't exist in 1993, and it was all I had to survive by (my mom being very uncomfortable with the entire subject, to the point it was technically never discussed: boxes of pads appeared on my bed one summer after some weird, rust colored stuff began to mysteriously appear in my underpants. Welcome to puberty!).
Lacking guidance and rather confused by the cartoon diagrams laid out in TEEN magazine, I didn't even consider tampons an option until college. College! And even then, I used those plastic thingmabobbers that inserted it for you because... well, because I had no idea what was going on down there, and to trust myself to insert something into its depths seemed a medical emergency waiting to happen.
Maybe five years ago I finally had the epiphany that the plastic thingmabobber was completely unnecessary, and I should be trying O.B. tampons instead.
I've never gone back! I mean, from a zero-waste perspective, they're pretty good. They come in a recyclable cardboard box, and while they do contain some small plastic per tampon, it's a major improvement from the days of overpackaged Tampax.
My one beef with them is that they are bright white, indicating bleach. My snatch seems like a terrible fucking place to put bleach, doesn't it?
I also looked at cups, but for me this isn't really an option. I am on Mirena for birth control (definitely zero waste, ha ha), and according to my doctor they don't always play nice with other. I haven't quite worked up the nerve to buy a cup and just hope they get along.
But since 2018 I've been accumulating tools to complement my OB buddies and further reduce my trash. This week, my entire period will generate two tampons, and that is IT for trash. May I introduce/recommend this wonderful combo to all the people with periods:
This week, I am celebrating the closest-to-zero waste period of my ENTIRE LIFETIME.
For reference, I started menstruating at the age of eleven. I am now 41, which is... oh my god, thirty years THIRTY FRACKING YEARS
In the beginning, my period meant pads the size and shape of a small fire log. Apparently "absorption technology" didn't exist in 1993, and it was all I had to survive by (my mom being very uncomfortable with the entire subject, to the point it was technically never discussed: boxes of pads appeared on my bed one summer after some weird, rust colored stuff began to mysteriously appear in my underpants. Welcome to puberty!).
Lacking guidance and rather confused by the cartoon diagrams laid out in TEEN magazine, I didn't even consider tampons an option until college. College! And even then, I used those plastic thingmabobbers that inserted it for you because... well, because I had no idea what was going on down there, and to trust myself to insert something into its depths seemed a medical emergency waiting to happen.
Maybe five years ago I finally had the epiphany that the plastic thingmabobber was completely unnecessary, and I should be trying O.B. tampons instead.
I've never gone back! I mean, from a zero-waste perspective, they're pretty good. They come in a recyclable cardboard box, and while they do contain some small plastic per tampon, it's a major improvement from the days of overpackaged Tampax.
My one beef with them is that they are bright white, indicating bleach. My snatch seems like a terrible fucking place to put bleach, doesn't it?
I also looked at cups, but for me this isn't really an option. I am on Mirena for birth control (definitely zero waste, ha ha), and according to my doctor they don't always play nice with other. I haven't quite worked up the nerve to buy a cup and just hope they get along.
But since 2018 I've been accumulating tools to complement my OB buddies and further reduce my trash. This week, my entire period will generate two tampons, and that is IT for trash. May I introduce/recommend this wonderful combo to all the people with periods:
THINX brand underwear.
+
Lunapads washable cloth menstrual pads.
I don't even know which to start with, I love both so much.
Lunapads were my first investment, and allowed me to stop buying any and all kinds of disposable pads. They are additionally illustrated with majestic horses and kitty cats, which is a nice thing to see in an otherwise draggy week. Mine have been going strong for two years. I have not needed to replace them, nor struggle to get them clean.
Thinx are also so wonderful. There was a bit of a learning curve in that I did have to order online, making perhaps overly kind assumptions about how my ass-shape would fit into the offered underwears. I still use those first pairs, but the fit is a little bit off. But I went back for more because damn, these pants are full of the legendary ABSORPTION TECHNOLOGY about which I could only dream in 1993. It's crazy how well they work and how they are easy to clean.
I don't have any kids, but if I had a daughter, I'd be ordering her all this good shit so she could grow up having a happy, healthy, non-trash generating period.
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