Disposable Feminine Products versus Menstrual Cups

The mooncup or the menstrual cup needs a lot of investigation before its adoption. Although, it is not disposable, one needs to buy one and use it anytime. After using it, what next? I think it will be reused by those females in question. But its sanitation to prevent further infection is highly anticipated. How many females would take the pains to keep it in a hygienic ways? Especially those who are not educated. It needs more education before one can think of introducing it. Lets take it for instance the use of female condoms, how many women use this preventive tools? The same thing will happen to the mooncup if care is not taken.

Isaac Addo
Mr

Hi Julian,

Good question - The Diva Cup provides an estimate of 300-420 pads/tampons per year per woman if that helps (and don't forget about packaging, applicators, adhesive backings) http://divacup.com/community/eco-divas/

The Keeper uses a (somewhat conflicting) lifetime figure of 12000 products per woman. http://www.keeper.com/articles/menstrual-products.html

I know that my personal experience has been that there is significantly less waste involved with the cup, but that the waste reduction was not my personal primary motivator for making the switch - it was financial!

I do have some other observations that I would be happy to share with you if you want to drop me an email [email protected] or call 250-263-8691 :-)

Karen Mason-Bennett
Program Coordinator
NEAT
Canada

Without getting into too much detail, there is very little extra work that needs to be done in terms of keeping the cup clean. It can easily be cleaned with soap and water and left to air dry after the completion of a cycle or dipped in vinegar or a bleach solution if you so choose. I used one while backpacking through West Africa and figure if I can keep it clean there, it should be doable in a Canadian city.
I would be careful with drawing parallels between the female condom and the menstrual cups as they are two completely different products designed for very different situations (ie. men likely have more input with the condom than with the cup).



Karen Mason-Bennett
Program Coordinator
NEAT
Canada

Just in support of Karen's comments, I'd say there is no question that the menstrual cups are less wasteful, and you can just wash them out when showering. My understanding is that, unlike tampons, the cups are not associated with toxic shock syndrome, which is quite a bonus.

They are, however, more difficult for some people to use, because they are a lot wider than tampons; women who are not sexually active may not find it especially easy. Women need to be comfortable with their bodies, and women who currently use applicator tampons won't be enthusiastic. (In Australia, applicator tampons aren't very popular, but I've heard they're very common in North America (??).)

Also, finally, when considering the waste, you might also want to consider what cups / tampons are made from. I've seen cups made of both medical-grade silicone and of rubber. Tampons are made from anything from organic cotton through to synthetic fibres.

Katherine Lustig
Corporate Sustainability Coordinator
Parramatta City Council
Australia

To Katherine's point about size, I think it is the silicone Diva cups that are available in two sizes.

Ruben Anderson
smallanddeliciouslife.com

They are indeed available in two sizes, the larger one is for women who have had a baby or are over 30. They are still large compared with a tampon.

Katherine Lustig
Corporate Sustainability Coordinator
Parramatta City Council
Australia

They are available in two sizes and are bigger than a tampon, however, they are -or can be- more convenient than tampons or pads. As there's no risk of TSS, you can actually leave them in for extended periods of time (at what point to we get to TMI here?!) which is obviously one less thing to worry about as women go about their day.
To get back to the original question (sort of) I think the main push here could successfully be less environmental and more financial/convenience with the added side effect of less sewer mishaps and less waste in landfills. Although the one thing that will need to be tackled at some point is transitioning to a product that may require a bit more 'input' than some women find tasteful. Tampon users should be good, I expect, but those that prefer pads may have other barriers that need to be addressed.

Karen Mason-Bennett
Program Coordinator
NEAT
Canada

For women who are accustomed to using tampons, menstrual cups are a viable alternative. For pad users, there are re-usable cotton pads available in organic and non-organic versions. They can be put in the wash with other clothes after use (although personally I rinse them in a sink first).

As an aside, choosing to avoid tampons or cups can be more than an issue of being comfortable with your body. For example the debilating menstrual cramps that come from diseases like endometriosis can cause any kind of penetration to be intolerable, including tampons and cups.

As another aside, if you're running a campaign to encourage women to switch away from disposable tampons and pads, the chemicals used in those products can also increase menstrual pain. I would expect most women would not alter their choice of menstrual products on the basis of reducing waste (although there are some who would and I expect that's a side benefit, but I don't have any data on it) but they may change for health reasons or financial reasons, depending on the womens specific issues.

Margaret Bailey
Public Works and Government Services Canada
Canada

Margaret has really hit the complexity of this issue, and all waste issues, and all environmental issues.

If you are crazy about garbage, you can probably overcome discomfort with your body.

But if you aren't crazy about garbage, discomfort with your body, or "ick factor" or whatever story seems reasonable will be good enough.

So, the question is, is there a narrative that will make people crazy about garbage.

Or, is there a narrative that is more powerful than garbage--toxic shock, chemicals, international megacorps, DIY self-sufficiency, cost savings, etc.

I actually think all those narratives are good for their segment, and none of them them are good for all segments--which is pretty much the story of our life in pro-environmental behaviour change.

So, is there a way to tell this story that allows many of those narratives to be rolled into one? Certainly, chemicals, megacorps, DIY, and cost saving would play nicely together, with a bonus of reducing garbage.

Ruben Anderson
smallanddeliciouslife.com