A Greener Period = A Greener Environment
So the reasons menstrual cups are better for your body in comparison to single use menstrual products are really quite vast; they contain less plastic and chemicals, they don’t have the problematic side effects of using tampons, you can keep them in for longer periods of time etc. …. the list goes on and on and on…
But did you know that by purchasing one these cups you’re literally doing a world of good? By picking up a menstrual cup that will cover your back for the next ten years (meaning no more nasty tampons), you will be contributing to these three things!
Cutting down on your waste: By using a menstrual cup over using single use sanitary products, over your lifetime you will massively cut down on your individual waste. In your lifetime it is thought that you could be using around 11,000 tampons. Throw away sanitary products can’t be recycled meaning they end up in rubbish tips until they eventually decompose which can take around 6 months! Plastic applicators that come with tampons can’t be recycled either.
Stopping the need to produce: There are a huge range of environmental issues linked to the production of tampons. The chemicals used in the production process such as pesticides can cause great harm to the environment in which they are being produced in as well affecting the people inhabiting that land area. Cotton production can poison water streams, the air as well as the soil it is being grown upon. By using a menstrual cup, you will be changing the need for single use menstrual products to be produced.
Changing the way you dispose of your period: It is thought that half of UK people who experience their period, still flush their tampon down the toilet. This has detrimental impacts for our surrounding environment as it effects a multitude of things. Tampons can’t always be effectively removed from water treatment centres meaning they can often end up in coastal river damaging wildlife. By switching to cups, disposing of a tampon won’t be an issue anymore.
By pledging to make the switch today to change from single use sanitary products to a menstrual cup you could make your period a greener one!
For more information about anything written above, check out the links below!
http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/about_freshwater/freshwater_problems/thirsty_crops/cotton/
http://www.safecosmetics.org/get-the-facts/healthandscience/cumulative-exposure-and-feminine-care-products/
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/sep/21/flushing-tampons-toilet-blocks-drains-sanitary-products
