5 ways mainstream period products damage our planet.

June 03, 2020By Alec Mills

5 Ways Mainstream Period Products Damage Our Planet

1. WHAT A WASTE

Every year, a jaw-dropping 100 billion period products are thrown away globally, most of which are single-use and cannot be recycled. That’s tonnes of waste - enough to circle the planet 250 times. When there’s reusable pads, reusable applicator tampon applicators, menstrual cups, biodegradable tampons and period pants out there, maybe we can rethink our addiction to disposables.

2. FLUSHING THE UNFLUSHABLES

Speaking of throwing period products away… it’s estimated that every day in the UK 700,000 pantyliners, 2.5 million tampons and 1.4 million period pads are flushed down British loos. Even eco-friendly tampons are not made for sewage systems. They become entangled with all the other items and millions of pounds are spent to address major blockages and damages.

3. LIFE'S A BEACH

The average sanitary pad contains up to 90% plastic - the equivalent of 4 plastic bags. Then you’ve got tampons. Most contain 5% plastic and that doesn’t even include the applicator! No wonder period plastic is now the fifth most common type of plastic waste found on UK shorelines. That’s even more than single-use cutlery and coffee cups. Time for #plasticfreeperiods

4. TOXIC CHEMICALS

Mainstream pads and tampons are made with synthetic materials, often treated with harsh chemicals like bleach, dyes & glues. Not only are they bad for our vaginas, but when thrown away, they leach nasty chemicals into landfill and our oceans. The benefits of using planet friendly period products such as organic tampons are swimmingly obvious.

5. BIG PRINTS

If you compare the carbon footprint of a single reusable applicator vs. disposable cardboard or plastic applicators over a lifetime, there’s no comparison. A reusable applicator produces a mere fraction of the carbon produced from single use plastic applicators - around 100kg Co2E. While cardboard applicators generate close to 200kg CO2E.

Making the simple swap to our reusable tampon applicator can save you 12,000 single-use applicators over your lifetime: the equivalent of a minibus worth of period plastic waste.