Initially published on 8/06/2011
Today I wanted to tell you about what helped me to reduce (or suppress) my biggest source of waste.
Each woman uses about 10 000 tampon or sanitary
towels in her life. It's a lot of waste, of money but also of pollution
if you include the production of those sanitary protections.
A menstrual cup or "menskopp" in Norwegian is a
feminine protection that you place in your vagina so that it collect the
menstruation blood. You just have to empty it - which is not as
disgusting as one could think - twice a day and reuse it again and
again.
Environmental-friendly
When I first heard about the menstrual cup, it was
completely - accidentally - on a forum that was not even dedicated to
it. I already cared about environment at the time but I had never really
thought about this, or neither knew there were other solutions.
I immediately liked the concept, especially because there was no waste anymore, at all!
Body-friendly
I adopted it for its ecological aspect and I will
sure keep it for its comfort: the menstrual cup is incredibly
comfortable, on many aspects! (I have been using it for two years now).
First I don't have to run to the toilet several
times a day to change my towel. You can keep the cup in you 12 hours a
day. I seldom spend more than 12 hours at work, which means that I put
it in the morning and I forget it during the next 12 hours, until I have
to empty it back home.
Actually it is so comfortable and forgettable that
it happened to me more that once to take it out on time (and no
secondary effects by the way)! So apart from these two moments it is
just like a normal day for me; except that some days, it pushes on my
bladder and I have to urinate slightly more often (still better than
changing a tampon in public toilet).
I had to empty my cup away from home sometimes, it
is not as practical as in my own bathroom but with organization and a
bottle of water (to rinse it, I'll explain how to proceed later) it is
perfectly fine. And you might consider this option if you bleed a lot:
you don't want the cup to be to full.
Health-friendly
It is also body-friendly because of it's made of
silicon. Have you not been scared before, reading that your tampon could
provoke the toxic shock syndrome? Yeah, the chlorine and other
chemicals contain in the conventional protections are not that safe. The
silicon of the cup, on the contrary, cannot hurt you. I even read a
woman who said that the rash of pimples she used to have at every period
disappeared when she dropped tampons.
In that regard biodegradable towels are an
improvement: it still cost a lot of energy and resources to produce
them, but at least they are not whitened with chlorine.
Boyfriend-friendly!
It's still complicated to have sex (or even more),
but since you are as clean as any other day (and with no tampon
string!), you can still "pleasure" each other ;)
Money-friendly
No need for a big demonstration here. A cup costs
about 300-400 kr. Count how much money and how often you need to buy
throwable protection to see that it does not take long to make it
profitable!
Some tips
- Choose it well; there are several brands with different
characteristic (like rigidity) and very often two sizes per brand. One
for woman who had children or who bleed a lot, and a smaller one. Before
you use a cup, it is hard to see how much you do. Another advantage is
that is changes your relation with your period and your body.
Mine is a "lady cup". I chose it after reading a lot of messages.
Every cup has pros and cons: a flexible one (as lady cup) is easy to
put, a bit less to take out. It's the contrary for a more rigid one. I
don't have problems to take out my flexible lady cup and that is true it
is very easy to put in (easier to fold).
So my advice is, read other opinions and make up your mind.
- Cut the stem until you don't feel it (you don't
feel anything at that point) anymore. Don't cut too much at the same
time, and be careful not to cut the bottom of the cup.
The stem is supposed to help you take the cup out. I do not use it at all, I grab directly the cup.
- Contracting your abdominal muscle makes it go
down and so it is easier to take it out. You'd rather not go to the
toilet right after you've put it on (it takes some minutes to "go up" by
itself).
- To put it on, fold it, insert it and then pass
your finger all around it to make it "round" (it fills itself with air).
It holds thanks to the little holes on it. You might not (or you might)
succeed the first time but with some practice it will go very fine.
- To take it out, I grab it and pull. It does not
hurt. Just be careful not to pinch too much the moment it gets out (and
hold it right), so the blood stays in it.
- Empty it in the bathroom sink whether than in the
toilet: it is easier to clean, you don't have to flush 8 liters of
water and you know that some toilets can be tricky! Of course you can do
it anyway if there is no sink in the room!
- Wash it every time you empty it. To wash the
holes, fill it with water, pinch the top so that no water can go out but
through the holes. When you pinch the part filled with water, the water
splashes through the holes, cleaning them with the pressure. You'd
better do that in the shower ;)
- For each period I wash it before the first and
after the last use with a special soap designed for cup ("ladygel"). You
can also use a small piece of disinfecting-baby bottle pill. During
your period, water is enough.
- If you don't feel comfortable the first time or
the days you bleed more, you can use a panty-liner. Ecological
biodegradable panty-liners are better than the conventional ones. You
can also use reusable panty-liner in textile. It won't be that hard to
clean since it is just as prevention. It's the cheapest solution if you
make them yourself with fabric leftovers. I also recommend this solution
for towel if you are not ready to adopt a menstrual cup.
I use my panty-liners when I assume my period will
begin, or a day before, as prevention, but you can actually use the cup
for that: contrary to tampon it is ok to wear it outside of the period
(think about it next time you go swim and you are not sure about when it
starts!).
I did not use any pattern, it is quite easy to draw and to add ribbon, Velcro or snap.
What you need is waterproof fabric for the bottom,
the rest of an old shower-towel (middle), and cotton fabric for the top.
Don't forget to sew the three parts together (you don't want the towel
fabric to move;).
You can find a pattern here. It's in French but with pictures.
I think I made it pretty clear that the menstrual
cup has many many advantages and that I wouldn't for anything on earth
go back to throwable, uncomfortable, wet and smelly protections. I hope I
convinced you. I you have questions I'll be more that glad to answer.
Here is a list of website where you can find information and buy the cup.
http://www.bleieboden.no They have 4 different brands, including mine, the ladycup.
http://www.mammabutikken.no/ Mooncup
http://naturkopp.com Dedicated to the brand Naturkopp
http://ladycup.dk/ Ladycup Denmark
http://www.krusedull.net/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=38_40 I did not exactly find cups but reusable towels
Have a nice revolution!
03.jan.2012 kl.17:55
ReplyDeleteI really didn't like the name menskopp! Sounds horrible. Though I have been thinking about bying one, but I just got a p-stav(it's like the pill cerazette, but it's an implant that's put under the skin on you upper arm), and I no longer menstruate..
If I start again I will definately buy one! And I loved your french link, I want to try to make one of those. (I get some small bleedings once in a while, and it's a so small amount that I feel like wasting pads).
And I wanted to know if you know about lush? They make some fantastic shampoo bars. As you have written. Shower gel makes more waste than soap.
They do smell much(I had one in my suit case in a plastic bag, but still my clotes still smell of it), but I don't think they contain more parfume then other shampoos. And I've heard some of them are good to dry scalps(hodebunn?).
BUT - they are imported from England.
Sofie - I really admire your pursuit(?) of ecological and viromental friendly alternatives! And you didn't make it easy for yourself moving to tromsø ^^
09.jan.2012 kl.13:43
ReplyDeleteSofie: Hei and thanks for very encouraging comment! That's great that you feel like making pads yourself (it's so expensive to buy them already made!).
I don't really know the Lush products. Actually I am so used to my home made soaps (I definitely have to write more about this) that the few Lush bars I've seen smelled chemical to me. And I've just read a survey about different soaps that says that they can not be called natural soaps because of a polluting substance in them(EDTA); at least in the one described, which is Lemslip (http://www.laveritesurlescosmetiques.com/themen_052_fr.php). I would say it's the same with other products.
Even if I don't know Lush very well, I think it's a bit like The Body shop: a bit more environnemental-friendly than the average but can way do better.
At least you don't make waste with your shampoo bar; which is not my case. I have psoriasis on the scalp and it's really hard for me to only use my homemade liquid shampoo.
England is still ok, my boyfriend just bought whisky from Japan...pfff ^^
Hope to see you again on my blog.
I love my "menskopp" (mine is "mooncup"). One of the best things invented ever. It is so comfortable and I have used it now more than 4 years. Think about how many boxes of Tampons I`d have had to buy and throw away. Really great, great thing.
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