| Just for the moment, we will forget how much | | | | But, not all western women use applicator tampons, |
| better for you, using a menstrual cup is. We will not | | | | so lets not just blame them. All those used tampons |
| mention the reduced risk of thrush, or toxic shock | | | | and sanitary pads have to go somewhere too. The |
| syndrome. We will not even think about how | | | | waste consultants Franklin Associates found that 6.5 |
| convenient moon cups are, without all those boxes | | | | billion tampons and 13.5 billion pads ended up in landfill |
| to buy each month, or carrying around spare | | | | or the sewage system just in 1998 in the United |
| tampons and towels all week. | | | | States. Am I starting to make you want a menstrual |
| For now, we will just think about the really obvious | | | | cup yet? |
| impact menstruating women have on the planet. Well, | | | | So, we've made the beaches very colourful with lots |
| those women yet to start using mooncups. | | | | of plastic tubes, and we have filled the sewage |
| The thing is women in the west have enjoyed the | | | | treatment and landfill systems with absorbent cotton |
| luxury of making their periods 'disappear' from sight. | | | | and rayon. But, we haven't finished yet! All those |
| Unlike women in large parts of the world who have | | | | boxes, plastic wrappers, and now even individual |
| either rags, to be washed and re-used, or literally | | | | plastic sheaths from each individual pad! Add all that |
| nothing to absorb their flow, we have been able to | | | | lot to the 6.5 billion tampons and 13.5 billion pads and |
| use disposable pads and tampons for nearly one | | | | you can see we menstruating women cause a whole |
| hundred years. Lucky us I say. But, though it means | | | | heap of waste, period. |
| our periods have disappeared for us - no messy cloth | | | | To put things on a more personal level. It is |
| to wash for example. For the planet, our periods | | | | estimated that each woman in the United States |
| have become all to visible. | | | | throws over sixty five pounds of garbage in landfill or |
| Simply looking at the waste from our sanitary | | | | the sewage treatment system, just to manage her |
| protection makes some scary viewing. For example, | | | | periods. That is in ten years! When you realise that |
| one of the most common forms of rubbish found on | | | | one menstrual cup should last ten years it really does |
| American beaches are tampon applicators from | | | | make a huge difference to the amount of waste we |
| sewage outlets. In fact, the Center for Marine | | | | produce. |
| Conservation recorded that over 170,000 tampon | | | | Changing to the moon cup, or any brand of |
| applicators were collected along the United States | | | | menstrual cup means you could simply throw away |
| shore in 1998. That is a whole lot of totally | | | | four or five latex or silicon cups in your lifetime of |
| unnecessary plastic. All those applicators used once! | | | | menstruating. That really would make your periods a |
| Surely it is enough to make you want your own | | | | whole lot more environmentally friendly. See, a moon |
| menstrual cup? | | | | cup really does make your period green! |