The Environmental Impact of Disposable Period Products
Why make the switch to reusable period care?
The truth is, no disposable period product is recyclable – it all ends up in our landfills and waterways. Unfortunately, plastic can take hundreds of years to break down, and because of this, it will never really go away or fully decompose. Often, even the packaging of disposable period care is partly made of, or entirely plastic.
Some hard truths about disposable period care:
- In North America, close to 20 billion pads, tampons and applicators are used and disposed of every year.
- The average menstruating person uses 12,000 – 15,000 pads, tampons and liners in their lifetime, which is equal to 250 – 300 pounds of waste!
- The Centre for Marine Conservation claims that over 170,000 tampon applicators were collected along U.S. coastal areas in a one year span.
- It’s estimated that up to 90% of a period pad and 6% of a tampon is plastic, and that one pack of menstrual pads is equivalent to 4-5 plastic bags.
- Plastic tampon applicators, and even some tampon strings, are made from polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP). These plastics break down into smaller and smaller pieces, entering the waterways. Marine wildlife confuses these plastic pieces for food, which when ingested cannot be regurgitated. As a result, the wildlife stop eating due to a false sense of fullness and eventually starve to death.
- Plastic free or not, flushing disposable period products leads flushes plastic into our waterways and clogs up our sewage systems. Because of this, disposable menstrual products are the fifth most common type of waste washing up on beaches.
- The production of disposable products – plastic-free or not – uses more fossil fuel and has a larger contribution to global warming compared to a reusable period product.
How to Have a Plastic Free Period
If you’re new to the idea of having a plastic free period, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. In addition to making the switch to reusable period care, you can make other small changes to better your period experience overall.
1. Choose Plastic Free Period Products
There are many great alternatives to single-use tampons, pads and liners. Our favorites are the DIVA Cup, DIVA Disc and DIVA Reusable Period Underwear. By switching to reusable period care, you can prevent an average of 240 disposable period products from going into landfills each year. And with proper care and cleaning your DIVA reusable period care products can last for several years.
Check out our helpful guides for DIVA Cup, DIVA Disc and DIVA Reusable Period Underwear to find the product perfect for your period routine.
2. Clean up Your Beauty Routine
Whether you’re up for a night out or a night in, taking care of yourself with products free form plastic and other chemicals is crucial. Endocrine disruptors, often found in plastic, confuse your hormones, and disrupt the balance needed in each phase of the menstrual cycle. Limiting exposure to hormone disrupting chemicals found in beauty and personal care products can lead to a better period experience overall.
Swap your plastic beauty and personal care products for waste free option like shampoo bars, plastic free sunscreen, makeup and deodorant as well as makeup remover products.
3. Plastic Free Stain and Laundry Tips
Period stains happen. Menstrual cups and discs can make it less likely, but when trying something new, leaks can happen, especially if you don’t have the right fit or are still getting the hang of things (And if this is the case, please contact our Consumer Experience Team). Additionally, reusable cloth pads and liners and period underwear need regular washing after each wear.
For fresh stains and period wear, we recommend rinsing with cold water and giving it a good scrub with stain remover laundry soap. For a plastic free option, you can use a laundry soap bar like this one and then toss in the wash using laundry eco-strips (in place of plastic detergent containers).
Let’s Go Plastic Free!
Earth is our shared home and we all have a part to play in protecting it. By choosing to go plastic free during your period, you’re making a big difference.
Will you be part of Plastic Free July by choosing to refuse single-use plastic period products?
