Do you know the costs of disposable menstrual products – to Mother Nature and to your own pocketbook? It’s never too late to switch to eco-friendly menstruation.
Recently I did an online poll asking, “What do you use for your menstrual flow?”
42 people participated. Among them, 64% use disposable pads, 29% use tampons, 5% use menstrual cups, and none use reusable pads.
So it seems the 95-5 percent rule prevails here: 95% disposable and 5% eco-friendly.
I was a little surprised at the result, initially, because I was expecting at least some representation in the reusable pad category. But after some thought, it’s not really that surprising.
Why Use Eco-friendly Menstrual Products
After all, it’s only recently that I myself have learned the following facts and switched to reusable pads – and a more eco-friendly menstruation.
- 12 billion pads and 7 million tampons pollute landfills annually in the US.
- An average woman throws away 250 to 300 pounds of tampons, pads and applicators in her lifetime. The great majority of these products end up in landfills, or as something sewage treatment plants must deal with.
- In a woman’s lifetime, she is likely to use 15,000 sanitary pads or tampons. And there are 85 million women of menstruating age in North America.
- So do the math! This will amount to a whopping 1.275 trillion disposable pads and tampons (weighing 12.75 million tons) from all the menstruating women in North America alone. And sadly, all this waste has found or will find its way to our landfills.
- Let’s forget about the environment for a second and just look at the economics. Let’s say that an average pad or tampon costs about 20 cents. This means you’ll probably spend about $3,125 on disposable pads and/or tampons during your entire menstrual history.
This may not seem like a lot if you’re relatively well off. And perhaps this is one of the reasons why most of us are still using disposables, despite their extremely high environmental costs. But I for one could find more fun and constructive uses for $3,125.
Other possible explanations?
We’re highly influenced by a disposable culture for the most part. The costs of production have been driven to historical lows thanks to the technological advancement and the advent of mass production. Why keep it? It’s so cheap anyway. Just use it and throw it away!
Also, the environmental costs are, for the most part, invisible to us. It’s so difficult to know what the environmental costs actually are that we just don’t think about it, not that much any way.
But this is changing, and thank God for it! More and more people are becoming aware of the hidden costs and heavy footprints we’re leaving on this planet, and they’re doing something about it.
I admit I’m a late boomer in this regard. I’ve been using disposable pads for 20 something years. It only occurred to me recently that I needed to make a change.
But it’s never too late to make a difference, to do your part, taking care of yourself and the beautiful planet we live on.
And after using the resuable pads for a while, I have to say that I love it, and I can never go back to the disposable pads. It’s becoming a way of life and a way of menstruation for me – a much better way!
In response to comments about giving reusable pads to girls in poor countries instead of disposables: In some countries disposable pads are a much better option than reusable washable ones. It is important to distinguish that while you have clean tap water to wash yours and that you may use a washing machine, they would be washing by hand in water they had to collect from the river or local well. It may not be clean and is very time consuming. Then you have to consider the drying process. Apparently they dry them (yes they already use cloth) out if view in dark places because if the social view of such things. Consequently they aren’t dried hygienicly. It’s a different life with many different considerations.
Leah, thanks for your interesting perspectives. I’ve been to India and I know what you’re referring too. It’s a refreshing perspective that many of us have not thought about.
Thanks for sharing Mary! I agree with you completely. Since I started using the cloth pads, I simply can’t go back to the disposable. Because I don’t have a heavy period, I only own one cloth pad 🙂 I wash it every night, hang it dry so I can use it again the next day.
A few cycles ago I found reusable pads after 3 years of menstruating (I am 16). My mother used cloth diapers on me and bleached/sanitized and saved them, so now I make pads out of them. However, while the Gladrags(only ones I have tried) are more comfortable and absorbent than the homemade ones, when I wear disposables, it feels like a rough wad of plastic. Gradrags FAQs has answers to all the reservations posed in the comments above as well as a program to give impoverished girls REUSABLE pads. I am trying to use all reusable pads, but they are expensive so buying a little at a time is easier on the budget!