By Deep Bajaj
Menstruation is a natural anatomical process, and it cannot be emphasised enough – not that one needs to. Half of this earth ‘bleeds’, has bled or is bound to bleed each month for half or more of a week.
Starting from the newspaper wrapping – garbage bag camouflaging times of period management through the commercial pads, which were vaguely advertised on television – globalisation and the internet went on to introduce the concept of insertable menstrual management products like tampons. These products hold the flow, thus making sports and mobility easier.
The bullet was soon to be replaced with a bell – the menstrual cup.
How The Cup Came About?
Going as old as the 1930s, the earliest cups were made of rubber, and then latex rubber. The silicon cup that we know of today came about only in 2001. The purpose was to provide a durable, sustainable and long-lasting solution to menstruation – offering freedom from constant changing, re-stocking, disposal, rashes, sitting out of beach or sports dates – the list goes on. But for a world which uses ‘nothing’ to tackle menstruation, and the progression is even more dangerous when some menstruators use old rags, newspapers and other unhygienic options – why are we talking of a utopian concept of lowering supply, rather than making menstrual care accessible to all?
Pandemic and New-Age Periods
The pandemic was a wake-up call to realise that providing access to period products is an essential service, but not essentially accessible to all. One can only assume that the cup would have been first invented during the World Wars to compensate for the lacking supply of pads and tampons, and the pandemic was another rare event when the menstrual cup presented itself as a hero for rash-free, trash-free and cash-free periods.
A menstruator uses 16,000 pads in their entire menstrual life to manage periods. Each pad has polymers equivalent to 4 plastic bags, and takes 600-800 years to decompose. So when you and I would be washed off the face of this planet, the pads we left to pollute our land and water will still ‘grace’ the face of the earth.
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I’m sure we don’t want to leave such a legacy, do we?
Our bet is on the Menstrual Cup, and this has been a strategy of providing safe and accessible menstruation for development workers since 2010 in impoverished nations of Africa – where they have gained visibility and acceptance. In Asian societies like that of India, cups are still not a mainstream topic of discussion.
The Roadblocks
But lack of awareness about the category, and hesitancy to accept menstrual cups as it is an insertable medium, has provoked new-age companies to come up with reusable pads and period panties, tampons with silicone applicators, and menstrual products made of organic, biodegradable material which will take lesser time to decompose.
Other Solutions
Compostable pads are also posing as a great alternative for societies where insertion is a taboo, and myths have still not been addressed. Traditional period products create humongous waste which will come back to haunt us through environmental and climate change. At the same time, it is a heavy investment – even if a pad costs a rupee, Rs 16,000 is a big sum for many to spend on their period. Commercially available and new-age brands are priced anywhere from Rs 10 to Rs 50 or greater for a single pad, which takes the menstrual management cost to lakhs.
Sustainable menstrual products help to reduce solid waste, since even a small tampon applicator can take upto 25 years to break down in the ocean and cause significant environmental damage. Since the menstrual cup is reusable, its use significantly decreases the amount of waste generated from menstrual cycles, as there is no daily waste and the amount of discarded packaging decreases as well. Given that a cup lasts upto 10 years, waste created after using a menstrual cup is only a small fraction of the waste produced by pads or tampons. The usage of a menstrual cup would result in only 0.4 percent of the plastic waste compared to the use of 12 pads every period.
Taking a step ahead for sustainability
Menstruation fluid is a wonderful fertiliser for plants, thus menstrual cups can be poured into a tiny hole in the ground or compost piles. Any sexually transmitted disease pathogens will be promptly eliminated by soil bacteria. The same procedure can be used to dispose of the water used to rinse the cups. This minimises the amount of wastewater that needs to be treated. Solid waste management is frequently inadequate in poor nations. Menstrual cups provide a benefit over disposable pads or tampons in this situation since they don’t add to the community’s solid waste problems or produce unsightly trash that others may feel uncomfortable in viewing. In the past few years, the country has seen a steady movement towards converting to sustainable and eco friendly menstrual hygiene products. Menstruators are shifting to using biodegradable sanitary napkins, reusable cloth napkins, menstrual underwear, and menstrual cups. Biodegradable sanitary napkins can decompose in 6 to 12 months. Reusable cloth pads and menstrual underwear can be reused for a year or two.
A woman menstruates for almost four decades in her life, and uses no less than 9,000-16,000 pads in her entire menstrual life. If we actually calculate how much we spend on menstruation using pads or tampons, the figure comes around Rs 30,000- Rs 50,000 on sanitary napkins (For average flow menstruators). On the other hand, people who have heavy flow and have serious health conditions, may spend around a lakh on sanitary pads. Therefore, a reusable product is definetely healthier and saves you money.
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Sustainable menstruation is the need of the planet, and your eventual requirement too – because we are inhabiting this planet, and apart from the responsibility we have of its upkeep and maintenance, we can be selfish for our comfort and also let our money go to more compulsive needs, than waste-producing and uncomfortable sanitary products.
(The author is the CEO and co-founder of Sirona Hygiene. Views expressed are personal and do not reflect the official position or policy of FinancialExpress.com.)
