#period products

[luminarai]

hey, hi, I was just on the former bird app and came across this info from a brand new study and now I cannot stop screaming internally??? what the actual fuckkkk

theres' an article from the guardian here and here is the actual study:

[incognitopolls]

We ask your questions so you don’t have to! Submit your questions to have them posted anonymously as polls.

[reasonsforhope]

"Spain’s Catalonia region rolled out a pioneering women’s health initiative [at the beginning of March, 2024] that offers reusable menstruation products for free.

About 2.5 million women, girls, transgender and nonbinary people who menstruate can receive one menstrual cup, one pair of underwear for periods and two packages of cloth pads at local pharmacies in northeast Spain free of charge.

The Catalan government said that the initiative, which is called “My period, my rules,” was meant to “guarantee the right to menstrual equity.” The regional government cited statistics that said 23% of women polled by Catalonia’s public opinion office said they had reused hygiene products designed for a single use for economic reasons.

Tània Verge, Catalonia’s regional minister for equality and feminism, called the program a “global first.”

Scotland’s government passed a law in 2020 to ensure period products are available for free to anyone who needs them. But in comparison with the Catalan program, in Scotland the products are for single use and are distributed through schools, colleges and universities, not pharmacies.

“We are fighting menstrual poverty, which affects one in four women in Catalonia, but is also about gender justice. We are fighting the stereotypes and taboos about menstruation,” Verge told The Associated Press. “And (...) it is about climate justice. We need to reduce the tons of waste generated by single-use menstrual products.”

The distribution of reusable products is also aimed at reducing waste. The regional government said that Catalonia produces about 9,000 tons of waste from single-use menstrual hygiene products.

The reusable products are acquired by the public health care system, which covers the entire population, and distributed by Catalonia’s 3,000-plus private pharmacies. The program cost the regional government 8.5 million euros ($9.2 million).

“I am completely in favor of this initiative,” 29-year-old graphic designer Laura Vilarasa said. “It will give women a product that is absolutely necessary to have for zero cost.”

Spain’s national government passed a law last year granting women with debilitating menstrual pain the right to paid medical leave."

-via AP News, March 5, 2024

[rapeculturerealities]

Catalan pharmacies hand out free reusable period products | Catalonia | The Guardian

The Catalonia region in Spain has begun providing free reusable menstrual cups, period underwear and cloth pads at pharmacies, in one of the first initiatives of its kind in the world.

The programme is part of a drive by the regional government to reduce period poverty after a survey found 44% of women using menstruation products in Catalonia could not afford their first-choice product and 23% said they had to reuse items designed for single use.

[joan-of-feminism]

Girls are losing access to education all around the world due to period poverty.

1 in 4 teens in the US has missed class because they lacked access to menstrual products.

850,000 Afghan girls have been prevented from going to school since the Taliban took over (NPR).

That’s why I’m fundraising for The Pad Project’s Back to School campaign to help girls continue their education by providing desperately needed period products.

$25 provides 100 pads to US students

$50 provides 200 pads to US students

$100 supports 25 US students for a school year

$290 supports a full year of university for 1 woman in Afghanistan

$500 supports an entire 5th grade class in the US

$1,200 funds 1 woman in Afghanistan earning a bachelor’s degree

My goal is raise at least $100 dollars to support 25 girls in the U.S for this upcoming school year. If every single one of my followers donates just a dollar, we can raise over $300! You can donate by clicking the link below. Anything helps!

[tailsandco]

hey i didnt see anyone talking about this until i stumbled upon a video this morning on instagram, and this blog has more of a platform than my others, so im gonna talk about this here. feel free to scroll on if it doesn't apply.

thinx period underwear were found to contain PFAs, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances which are, "human-made chemicals that are found in many consumer and industrial products, do not easily break down and have been linked to adverse health effects." per this NPR article. One of the quotes in this article does go on to have a unnecessarily gendered quote so my trans and nb friends who experience periods, read on with caution.

I do want to say that the lawsuit isn't supposing these PFAs are linked to any known cases of harm or diagnosed issues and Thinx, but their prior marketing made them out to be a safe and environmentally conscious choice. they have since had to retract a lot of prior statements, and other studies have been done on PFAs that are linked to some scary health stuff in people.

as a result of this suit and just generally preferring this type of period product to others (i understand that corporations are leaders in pollution and that i as one person cannot change the world, but i can make better decisions for myself and my personal waste production), here's what i found for my period experiencing friends to continue to use these types of products:

here's an article i used to find multiple brands that do NOT have PFAs and their pros & cons.

im also going to single a couple of these out for my friends on here to weed through. i didnt do a suuuper extensive deepdive, but i checked out a couple of these that are worth listing out i feel.

the period company had the cheapest single pairs i found at $9. i was unable to order from them because they currently dont have my size, but hopefully yall will be more fortunate, since im a pretty popular size. these guys only come in black.

tomboy x is gender neutral and donates to trans people which i love. they're pretty competitively priced and you can get 6 in a couple different colors at $110 before tax and shipping, which was pretty fairly priced. if you have the money to spend a little extra on a great cause or want a gender neutral experience this place is great.

i ultimately ordered from ruby love because they had bundle options (which i really wanted since id love to replace my tampon usage at home altogether and only keep them for emergencies/guests) and they had a 10 pack for $90, which came out to $100 after taxes and shipping. ill warn my nb and trans friends that this site is pretty gendered so tread with caution, but it did have the best bundle price that i cross shopped.

anyway i know this blog is about snakes but i was kind of horrified to find this out this morning and want to make sure that yall are shopping safe and able to make informed decisions on your hygienic products. i love you and you matter. be safe and be well.

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Dalhousie University is supplying many of its washrooms with free menstrual pads and tampons.  The university announced the initiative on Oct. 4. It is intended to improve student access to menstruation products and will provide the supplies in 106 of its washrooms, including men's, women's and gender-neutral washrooms in 56 buildings across its four campuses. The university will install signs below gender symbols on bathrooms to indicate that they have the products. Before, students who needed pads or tampons could access them through the Dalhousie Student Union Building, but the free products weren't available in bathrooms.

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @politicsofcanada

[littlesistersti]

How do you battle a terf period product brand?

If you look up the period product brand Garnuu, they campaign for period poverty, green earth, charity for women, and all that typical stuff. However, their main campaign is "girls only club"

Discuss: either we all boycott this terf company or gather up all the trans individuals who have periods to buy their products and advertise it to really drive it in.

Ps. I'm not trans so any trans people out there want to provide their input?

[futurebird]

Cheap silicone menstrual cups.

I love silicone cups for my period. But, when someone starts buying these products you will encounter a confusing landscape. You can spend anything from $4 to $40. I've tried a variety of expensive and cheap cups and the biggest issue is finding a fit and design you like that's comfortable. For me that's a $4 cup that has the advantage of having no "lip" (it's uncomfortable)

I've heard people tsk tsk that buying the cheap ones isn't safe and wondered if there was any evidence about this. The fancy brands come with so much more packaging and BS like little cloth bags that I do not need. And they have worse designs that are less comfortable. (for me, you gotta find what fits your body)

The extra stuff that comes with the fancy ones makes me think they aren't safer, just trying to justify the extra price.

Also, it's a myth that these products "last forever" they are reuse-able, but after a year they get soft and don't work as well. Also I worry about micro scratches collecting yeast and bacteria. I replace mine every year and have two that I alternate so they get to rest for a month. Even the expensive ones soften up so it's not worth it. IMO.

It's still a lot less waste than pads. I use a washable snap on pad with the cup on heavy days in case of overflow...

Having the cost of period products under $20 for the whole year is awesome.

[incognitopolls]

This goes for all sizes and flow levels.

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We ask your questions so you don’t have to! Submit your questions to have them posted anonymously as polls.

[lake-creature]

considering reusable period pads. It's cheaper, more environmentally friendly and the disposable pad brands I have access to all support israel and have chemicals in them. Idk. What period products have yall used and what was the experience? Pros and cons?

I don't think I'd like using cups cuz I don't like inserting stuff, I don't like the idea of having a cup of blood inside me that I'll have to empty and I don't wanna have to boil it in cookware, nor buy cookware specifically for that

[everybodysinvited]

A Beginner's Guide to Menstrual Cups

Menstrual cups are great little devices, but a lot of people are put-off from using them because they're not sure how to use one; what shape they should use, and most importantly, how to clean them! So here's a handy little guide for beginners or anyone who's curious about them and getting one!

I recommend the put a cup in it website for additional info and quiz to find which shape might work for you!✨

Menstrual cups are a great option if you're looking for a more environmentally friendly 💚 and cost-effective period product and they're reusable so you don't need to buy product every single month! They also super compact and portable so you'll never be caught off-guard when your period starts!

However it is important to note that menstrual cups aren't for everyone and that's okay, each body is different and only you know what feels right for your body. If suffer from vaginismus or another condition which made inserting things painful, a cup may not be for you.

Image & text descriptions in ALT

[idrinkwetcementasproteinshakes]

my new favorite type of TikTok/YouTube videos are men discovering how tampons and menstrual cups work

[joan-of-feminism]

Hey Gyns!

I’m sure we’ve all seen a ton of posts asking about how to actually do the on the ground feminist work in our communities, so here is something I’d like to share with y’all that will help you do exactly that.

It’s called The Pad Project. They began in 2013, originally to create a documentary about period poverty in a village in India, but they quickly grew into a worldwide organization to help educate about menstruation and provide women and girls access to period products. They offer a ton of ways to help your community fight period poverty with their Pad Project Toolkit which the screenshots below are taken from. To download the toolkit you can go to their Take Action page and click on the link.

I’ve been donating to them for some time now and I really wanted to do more, which is how I ended up discovering the Toolkit and signed up to be a fundraiser for their BacktoSchool campaign. It’s a U.S campaign to provide girls here in the States period products for the upcoming school year. They also have international campaigns to help raise money for Afghan girls to attend school which I absolutely love. If you go to their donation page it will show all the campaigns you can donate to. $100 will support 25 U.S girls for an entire school year. $290 will help a woman in Afghanistan through an entire year of university and $1,200 will support her throughout undergrad. Other ways you can help in your own community are period product drives and hosting a screening to watch the documentary (this last one is also a good way to connect with other feminists in your community!)

I’ll of course be putting a link down below and will be posting something later about my fundraiser so that you can donate if you are able to. If you want to become a fundraiser as well, there is a link on the donation page that will send you to GiveSmart.com. Al it asks for is your name and an email address. You can then post your fundraiser on your socials and have people text the number to donate :)