Getting personal

Welcome back to my blog, friends! If you haven't gotten the memo yet, this blog post will be about all things periods and how to keep them sustainable. If you are not a period-experiencing individual and you want to skip this one, you are more than welcome to do so. You are also more than welcome to keep reading if you want to learn more about sustainability in all aspects and/or pass on ideas to period-experiencing individuals in your lives.

Yesterday was a pretty eventful day for a couple of reasons. 1, it was my 23rd birthday! And 2, my period started! So I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to tackle a very personal topic that just so happened to be one of my first zero-waste obstacles. In theory, it is pretty easy to make this time of the month zero waste. However, there are a couple hurdles to getting there, mainly a somewhat high upfront investment, and the mental and physical adjustment to trying new products.

I guess I'll just jump right in to my journey!

In 2018 I purchased a menstrual cup online, I have no recollection of what brand it is and I didn't even attempt to use it for probably 6+ months. I was headed off to Costa Rica and I said to myself "no way am I trying to learn how to use this thing while studying abroad." So! I left it at home and took my trusty disposable pads and tampons and I am glad I did cause there were more than enough nerves going into that experience already. Anyway, I bought this cup for under $30 and I still use the same one nearly three years later. For reference, $30 would cover about three normal boxes of tampons and three boxes would not even last a full year, according to a trusty source (three years not using tampons and I already forgot how many I used to buy).

Just like any other low-waste swap, menstrual cups can vary greatly in price and quality. As I have only tried one brand, I don't feel qualified to give suggestions on the various brands out there, but here is a link for anyone that wants some comparisons on the most popular brands. I do think mine was on the cheaper end, and it definitely wasn't a super well known brand, but it has served me well none the less.

Let's talk about why menstrual cups are so great! Cups are a direct swap for tampons, but with added benefits. I remember being absolutely terrified of tampons and going more than a few hours without changing mine. I thought anything past 4 hours would give me TSS (toxic shock syndrome) and that is not fun to think about as a teenager. I would also be so stressed they would leak and I'd be walking around school with stains on my pants! With my menstrual cup I don't think about any of that! I can easily keep the cup in for 8+ hours and experience no discomfort or stress. On a heavy day, sure I'll need to rinse it out a few times and I still worry about little leaks here and there, but overall I think about my period basically zero times a day now. When it comes time to rinse the cup out, I just pop it out, dump any contents right into the toilet (sorry is this too much detail?), rinse it out in the sink and pop it back in, easy peasy. The rinsing process can be inconvenient if you aren't at home or somewhere you feel comfortable, but I just try my best to plan this part out before going about my day. In addition to the cup itself being reusable, there is no need to bring extras on the go, worry about crinkly wrappers (this used to embarrass me for some reason), or throw anything away on trips to the restroom !! After my period is done for the month I will boil my cup to kill any possible bacteria and then pop it in a dry bag for safe storage until my next cycle rolls around. I also feel this swap removes a lot of stress leading up to my period because there is no need to rush to the store to stock up on supplies and even if my period shows up on a day I am not expecting it, I am always prepared and never short on the necessities.

I want to interject real quick and emphasize I am in no way trying to pressure individuals into using menstrual cups, I fully understand that it is a tough transition and not for everyone. This is just my personal process and what I have found works best for me and my body. It took me months to get the hang of it, but I am super happy with my process now and would not go back.

I do feel like that covered cups pretty well, but if anyone has specific questions about how to use them or need help making any decisions, I am happy happy happy to help. I don't want to go into too much detail here just in case there are some readers that might feel uncomfortable.

Anyway, along with my menstrual cup, I also use cloth pads and period underwear when I feel like I need some extra coverage. The pads that I use were made by Aisle Period Products, formerly LunaPads. I have the panty liners and I mainly just use these as backup at night. I also have one other from GladRags that I won in a raffle at college, but I do personally prefer the Aisle ones. I'll usually sleep with my cup in and a pad for the first couple nights just in case and then usually switch to just a pad towards the end. These pads are so easy to clean and can be washed along with the rest of my laundry. I also sleep so soundly with no worries of leakage onto my bedding or pajamas. Like I mentioned, I also use period underwear! I have two pairs from the brand Knix. I typically break these out on my heavier days for daytime wear, I just always feel more comfortable with that extra layer of protection despite my trust in my menstrual cup. Knix has so many different styles and they outline the absorbency level of each which makes it super easy to figure out which ones to get. I went with light absorbency and I have had no issues thus far as I just use them for backup. Just like the cloth pads, these can be washed with all of my regular laundry which makes everything so so easy.

The benefits of cloth pads and period underwear are very similar to the benefits of a menstrual cup. No need to worry about loud wrappers, throwing anything away, and they are a complete 1:1 swap for disposable pads.

For the last three-ish years now I have been using these products and have been able to make my period completely zero waste. Once I found a system that worked for me, I stuck with it and I will likely not be making any changes. I hope this information has been useful to a couple of people (period-experiencing or not), but as always, any questions or comments are very much welcome. I tossed in links to the brands I currently use, but there are so many others out there that are just a google search away! I have even heard of many people making their own reusable pads or reinforced underwear, could be interesting to check out for any crafty folks out there.

I think that is all I have for today, see y'all soon for some more sustainability content :) Have a good weekend!