How to Switch from Tampons and Sanitary Pads to Menstrual Cups

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by

James Walters
in
How to Switch from Tampons and Sanitary Pads to Menstrual Cups

Here we look at; The Cost of Disposable Sanitary Items; Period Products with Pesticide Residues, Fragrances, and Plasticizers; and Switching to Reusable Menstrual Cups or Plastic Free Periods. This is one of over 40 ideas in our Sustainability Roadmap with Solutions to Climate Change, and part of our series on Living Sustainably.

If you already know you want to avoid plastic pollution and health implications from non-organic products, here are the options to switch to reusable menstrual cups:

  1. Eliminate waste by trying the Lunette Menstrual Cup*
  2. If menstrual cups aren’t for you, try Natracare Organic*

If you want some more facts before making any decisions, let’s get into the details:

Sanitary items are one of the 10 single-use plastic items most commonly found on European beaches. How do sanitary items end up on our beaches? They get flushed down the toilet and become somebody else’s problem.

Period products should never be flushed down the toilet in the first place. They block sewage pipes that overflow into our rivers and seas, creating environmental pollution. The plastics in these items can stay in ecosystems for an extremely long time, damaging the environment! Contributing to climate change.

Imagine being a fish, having to live in water that’s filled with sewage! Imagine going to the beach and finding tampons and sanitary pads. Imagine playing in the sea, in the sewage that the fish have to live in…

Flushing period products down the toilet doesn’t actually become somebody else’s problem. It’s our problem, financially.

It costs £88 million a year to unblock sewers blocked by menstrual products (combined with fats, oils, grease and food waste) in the UK. That sounds disgusting. It’s also a complete waste of money. Money that could be put to much better use.

One way to help reduce the cost and environmental damage caused by flushing sanitary products is to only flush the 3Ps: Pee, Poo, and Paper.

Another way to help is by considering the products you’re using.

The Cost of Disposable Sanitary Items

Disposable period products cost almost £5,000 in a lifetime for someone with a period. That’s based on:

  1. £4 on tampons
  2. £4 on pads
  3. £2 on panty liners
  4. That comes to £10
  5. x 12 months a year
  6. x 40 years
  7. = £4,800

That’s almost £5,000 for each person with a period. But then there’s the total cost with an estimated 1.5bn to 2bn sanitary items flushed down Britain’s toilets each year! That’s a HUGE amount of money being flushed. Consider all of the consumption and waste that goes into producing, transporting, storing, selling, and buying 2 billion sanitary items, every year. All just to be flushed down the toilet.

That’s also a HUGE amount of environmental damage from products that cause blockages and send sewage into our rivers and seas. Rivers and seas that we may well play in. Rivers and seas that fish have no choice but to live in. Fish that we may end up eating!

Instead of £4,800, isn’t £100 + zero waste better?

As well as the cost and environmental damage, there’s also health to think about.

Period Products with Pesticide Residues, Fragrances, and Plasticizers

That’s not a nice list of ingredients for any product, especially when we’re talking about ingredients used by big-brands in their non-organic tampons.

Let’s take a look at some of the main findings from the WECF International report on Toxic Free Periods:

Plastics are produced from oil, extracted by fossil fuel companies. One sanitary pad can contain up to 90% plastic. Plastic is a problem because it eventually breaks-up into microplastics that pollute nature and affect biodiversity. The effects of microplastics on our health are not yet sufficiently known.

Non-organic cotton is not environmentally friendly. It requires a LOT of land and water. Large quantities of dangerous chemicals are used to grow non-organic cotton. As much as 90% of the worldwide pesticides are used to grow cotton! Pesticides pollute drinking water and food, causing a lot of health problems. You can read more about these issues, and the reasons for organic, biodynamic, and regenerative agriculture at our page on Growing Sustainably.

It’s not just our food and water that’s exposed to these toxic chemicals, it’s also the farmers and their children.

If you fancy a deep dive into the cost to people and planet of the damage caused by non-organic cotton production and the fashion industry, take a look at The True Cost movie, here’s a trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaGp5_Sfbss

Rayon can involve risks of bacterial growth and, if used for a very long time, can result in a rare but serious infection called Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS).

Plasticisers have been linked to the disruption of hormone function that lead to health problems.

Fragrances can be made from a cocktail of up to 3,900 chemicals that disturb the balance between good and bad bacteria. Some fragrances have been identified as carcinogenic, neurotoxic, and endocrine disrupting and reprotoxic (harmful to reproduction). For many people fragrances trigger allergic reactions or alter the pH balance of the body.

BFRs (or brominated flame retardants) have been found in tampons. BFRs have been linked with neurological disorders and may adversely affect the development of immune systems and thyroid hormones.

Bleaching agent (or hydrogen peroxide) has been used on tampons and sanitary napkins since the 1990s.

That’s a horrible list of ingredients to be associated with products that are so intimately used for a significant part of a person’s lifetime.

Switching to Reusable Menstrual Cups and Plastic Free Periods

If you’re concerned about the health and environmental impacts of non-organic disposable sanitary products, you might like to take a look at menstrual cups.

Lunette Menstrual Cups*

A menstrual cup is reusable for many years and will only cost between £23 and £73, depending on what you buy.

Benefits of using menstrual cups:

  1. Menstrual cups can be cleaned and reused
  2. The cup is funnel or bell-shaped
  3. Made from flexible silicone
  4. You could wear a menstrual cup for up to 12 hours
  5. An eco-friendly alternative to disposable sanitary products

I’m including Lunette because it’s recommended in the City to Sea Plastic Free Period campaign.

The Lunette website says the menstrual cup is easy to clean, comfortable to wear, easy to insert and remove, and easy to empty and clean, with various sizes to suit each person.

How to Use Lunette Menstrual Cups

How to Use Lunette Menstrual Cups
SOURCE: Lunette Menstrual Cup, How to use*

Learn More About Lunette Menstrual Cups*

If menstrual cups aren’t for you, you can switch to organic sanitary products.

Natracare Organic Tampons, Pads, Liners, and Wipes*

I’m including Natracare* because they’re included in the WECF International report on Toxic Free Periods as a company that was created to provide eco-friendly period products.

They produced the world’s first organic cotton tampon and they’ve won a lot of awards:

  1. The highest possible ethical rating by The Ethical Company Organisation
  2. Certified vegan by The Vegetarian Society of the United Kingdom
  3. 100% certified organic to the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS)
  4. Plastic Free Certification Mark

Learn More About Natracare Organic Tampons, Pads, Liners, and Wipes*

Here Is What You Can Do

Want to Continue Your Journey?

Where Next?

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Sources Used to Create This

  1. Single-use plastics
  2. Plastic-Free Periods
  3. Half of UK women flush tampons away – this has to stop | Kate Blincoe
  4. Dealing with sewage
  5. LONDONASSEMBLY
  6. Half of UK women flush tampons away – this has to stop | Kate Blincoe
  7. Bloody Good Period: HOME
  8. #Eco-friEndly HEaltHy Plastic-frEE PEriods
  9. Lunette Menstrual Cups*
  10. Natracare Organic Tampons, Pads, Liners, and Wipes*

Production Notes

This was produced by me, James Walters, as a personal project to help stop climate change by inspiring others to grow, eat, and live sustainably.

Any advice given is the opinion of those involved and does not constitute medical, financial, or legal advice.

* We include links we think you will find useful. If you buy through those links, we may earn a small commission. It’s one way to support our work and to inspire as many people as possible.