Benefits of Cloth Pads
According to the Menstrual Health Alliance of India, it takes anywhere from 500-800 years for a single pad to decompose in a landfill. So today we are going to talk how cloth pads are beneficial for our environment and our personal health. Now that we know how long it takes for one pad to decompose, lets think about how many pads or tampons we use in our lifetime. I started my period when I was 16. For some that age will differ, but for me it was 16. I currently cycle 5 days during my period, using about 5 cloths pads per day. That's about 25 pads per cycle. Lets go deeper. 25 pads multiplied by 12 months in a year is 300! Lets say I hit menopause at 45, well I started my period at 16 so that would be 29 years I had my period. 29 years multiplied by 300 pads is 8,700 pads or tampons that I have added to our landfills just from ME! Now multiply that number by all the women you have in your life. That's a lot of trash! I think you kind of get the picture I'm trying to put together here. Just our feminine products alone add so much trash to our landfills, I haven't even added disposable diapers to this conversation yet, or disposable diaper wipes! Together we can tackle the problem of adding to our landfills. And I promise we're not just keeping trash out of our landfills, but we are keeping trash from entering our oceans and into the environments of our precious sea animals.
Cloth pads last years! If treated with love and care you can easily have your stash last you 10+ years. Even in the construction process of my pads, I make sure to get the most use out of my fabric so that my trash contributions are minimal. Between cloth pad makers and bleeders, we can make a different for our planet!
Not only do cloth pads tackle our trash problem, but they aren't exposing your body to the harsh chemicals that you come in contact with when using a disposable. Long story short, according to Environmental Health News , researchers found chemicals that are commonly found in plastics and even dissolving agents that are used in plastic manufacturing. I won't get into the extensive list of chemicals that have been discovered in our trusted disposable brands, however I do urge you to continue your own research and see for yourself. It's actually quite disturbing to know companies are willing to expose our sacred lady bits to these types of chemicals.
With cloth pads, we truly can make a difference in not only our trash output but our daily lives. We deserve to have only the best materials around our vaginas and chemical free products that won't alter our health. Its up to us to take charge of what we put on our bodies!
Thank you all for opening your minds to new ideas, because if it wasn't for people like you, we can't change the paradigm. Stay tuned for future blogs, because next time we're talking about the names of my pads. Why do I choose the names I choose and do they have any special meaning? I mean, what the heck does "Portal to Agartha" or "Starseed" or "Gaia" mean? You'll find out next time! See ya next post!