New switch to an eco-friendly period

With May being the month of menstrual awareness, switching from disposable sanitary pads to eco-friendly menstrual products can be better for one’s hygiene and the environment, too.

Campaigns by activists urging the government to make disposable sanitary napkins tax free may be counter-productive believes Priyanka Jain of Hygiene and You, a start-up for eco-friendly menstrual products. “Multinational companies told everybody that cloth is unhygienic after repeated use because they wanted people to switch to disposable pads. While each plastic pad takes nearly 800 years to degrade, cloth pads are good till 150 washes,” says Jain.

Other contenders of washable pads include Shomota (Kolkata), Uger (Udaipur), Jaioni (Bangalore), Eco Femme (Auroville). Most of them employ rural women to provide them with a sustainable source of livelihood. In fact, Uger has a team of 10 men who hold 3-day workshops to train adolescent girls and women on menstrual health.

Several reasons prompted Kathy Walking to start Eco Femme. “Stories of conservancy workers having to manually clear drains blocked by flushed disposable pads and women reporting rashes assuming it’s due to menstruation,” says Walking. Most of all, it was “the realisation that if all Indian women adopt disposable pads, it would mean waste of about 59,000 million pads a year”.

Eco Femme produces almost 7,000 pads a month and distributes to 80 retailers in India. The sales enable the company to provide Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) education and build peer networks through workshops.

Jain has witnessed a rise in the purchase of washable pads and menstrual cups in the last 6-7 months. "Multinational companies, like Kotex and Whisper, told everybody that cloth is unhygienic as its repeatedly used because they wanted people to switch to disposable pads. These companies don't list the chemicals and ill-effects on their packaging. But the fact is that each plastic pad takes around 800 years to degrade. Disposable pads are chlorine-bleached for their immaculate-white look. Cloth pads are like old underwear, good till 150 washes. One washable cloth pad equals to 150 disposable pads," says Jain. She adds that used sanitary pads stink when menstrual blood comes in contact with the chemicals on it. "Menstrual blood has an almost unnoticeable smell that you'd realise once you use cloth pads or menstrual cups. The used pads can be put in zip-locked plastics bags during travel," says Jain.

The washable cloth pads come in heavy, light and pantyliner range with snap buttons to fastened around the underwear. There's also a holder-and-insert style, where the holder will have loops within which a square-shape cloth can be inserted to collect period flow. The square cloth, when washed, can be dried in the open without qualms because no one can tell its a period pad. Some pads are 100 per cent cotton with seven layers of cotton fabric inside, while others replace this setup with one layer of micro-fibre or an external layer of polyurethane laminate for leak-proofing to keep the pad light and absorb more. Though non-degradable, in the bigger picture, their re-usability factor is a hands-down winner. Another plus is affordability: one washable pad costs Rs 90 onwards and a set of 3, Rs 260 onwards. Opposed to Rs 70 for seven disposable pads.

Smriti Kedia, who heads operations and training for Uger, emphasises why her organisation has made the white frontal strip integral to the anatomy of a cloth pad. “It is important for women to see the colour of their discharge. Pinkish and greenish are indicative of infection,” she says.

GOING GREEN

• Washable cloth pads come in heavy, light and panty liner options with snap buttons that fasten around the underwear
   
• The cost of one pad starts at Rs 90 and set of three costs Rs 260