Comments on: Plastic-free Feminine Hygiene. It had to happen enventually.

By: joylfelix

joylfelix — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 16:23:06 +0000

A lot of silicone is mixed with natural rubber as well. Health wise, silicone is probably much safer than plastic (better to rub sand and vinegar on your skin than petroleum right?) but it doesn’t break down either, though it is easily recycled.

By: joylfelix

joylfelix — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 16:16:53 +0000

@Rosa its not plastic. Silicone is made from silica – which is a derivative of sand. Its mixed with acetic acid (derived from vinegar) neither will hurt you. Some are mixed with other things, but those are the basic components.

By: joylfelix

joylfelix — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 16:11:38 +0000

Silicone, is made from silica (sand) and acetic acid (found in vinegar) its not plastic anymore than glass (also derived from silica) would be, which is also why its heat resistant, but the other chemicals that make it flexible would be where the question would come in.
In general, given a choice between silicone and plastic, go with silicone. Of all the things on the beach to worry about, the sand shouldn’t be high on the list.

By: BethTerry

BethTerry — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 02:11:05 +0000

I haven’t had personal experience with the sponges so can’t tell you. I love cloth pads, and I love that nowadays there are so many styles to choose from.

By: liz

liz — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 04:06:48 +0000

i cant use internal products, at least tampons and cups do not agree with me. but i did try the cloth pads and lets just say they are fantastic. I got some in organic bamboo velour which is really soft stuff. off of etsy which i highly recommend because of the great customer service.
i would be interested to try the sponges but im hesitant, are they hard to take out? are they difficult to sanitize/clean?

By: liz

liz — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 04:00:45 +0000

you are awesome. im a college student too (or was, im between under grad and grad lol) and everyone of my female buddies was disgusted with this idea of cloth… sadly. because cloth is so much better!

By: Monica

Monica — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 15:11:50 +0000

I purchased some Glad Rags pads and panty liners a few years ago for myself and my daughter (now 15.) I love the panty liners! The pads are more difficult to prevent leaks. My daughter doesn’t like either because they make her feel like she is leaking on her clothes even when she isn’t. I like the idea of custom made, but must use what I have already purchased. I do like Nutracare pads for wearing to go out places.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 06:25:18 +0000

I love how many comments there are on here :) Just throwing in my vote (four years later) I am a college student and I proudly use cloth pads that I made myself out of old fabric we had around the house. It really is amazing the difference it has made – makes that time of the month much more bearable, it is a billion times comfier, and is not creating any plastic crap or costing me money! And it is surprisingly not weird to have to rinse out the pads and everything – feels way more natural and I don’t mind at all! I can say right now – any babies in my future will totally be cloth diapered!

By: Nadia

Nadia — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 08:52:15 +0000

I would like to add my voice to those in favour of cups. I have had a Lunette (a Finnish made menstrual cup similar to the Diva) for about half a year, and wish I’d discovered it a decade ago!

I believe it has several advantages over any other methods:
1) It avoids all the waste associated with disposables
2) Once you have one, you avoid the ongoing costs of disposables
3) It is much quicker and easier, and uses less water than washing out reusable pads (which I have also used)
4) It doesn’t leak!!
5) You only have to empty it once or at the most twice a day – in the shower is the easiest

The other thing I would like to point out is that silicon is not a plastic, it is an element, and one which is known to be very stable (ie. it is difficult to get it to react with other chemicals) which is why it is used. Yes, there is a certain amount of energy and raw materials which go into its production, but this is the case for any solution to the monthly problem.

In using one Lunette, I may be saving 2000 tampons* from being produced and flushed away. I believe this to be the most startling reason for choosing to use it.

Whether you call a silicone cup plastic or not, you have to decide the reasons why you are reducing your plastic use in this case. There are 2 as far as I can see:
1) To reduce the demand for oil
2) To reduce the impact plastics have, both hormonally on humans, and at the end of their useful lives as waste in landfill and waterways.

I am sure that the amount of raw material used to make one cup is less than that of a thousand tampons, especially once you take transport into consideration, and it certainly wins in terms of waste reduction.

* For the sake of calculation: 1 period = 4 tampons x 4 days = 16 tampons; 12 periods per year = ~200 tampons. If a Lunette lasts 10 years = 2000 tampons not used! That’s a lot of money spent, resources used and waste produced. I would rather wear the organic cotton as t-shirts and underpants than use it only once for tampons!

By: Deb

Deb — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 04:54:59 +0000

This is my second cycle as a cup-and-cloth-pads user, and I think it’s fantastic.
if you really want “the convenience and cleanliness of disposable pads and tampons” but without the full trash basket or the monthly cost, I highly recommend this route. The cup has a learning curve (mine’s a Mooncup), but once you’ve got it, it’s quick, easy, and leak-free – and completely painless. I made my pads, so they’re the size and shape I want (and pretty, too!), comfy, and probably more sanitary than a plastic pad. They were also virtually free to make.

So if you’re on the fence about reusable pads and cups, here’s one more encouragement to give them a try. There are very supportive communities (try LiveJournal) for these products – come over and ask questions. :)