Way back in 2002 I bought myself some Luna Pads. Prior to the day I bought the reusable menstrual pads, I used facecloths. Before the facecloth period (pun unavoidable), I used tampons exclusively.
Why did I change from one system to the next? Well, there were a lot of reasons. Being green wasn’t a part of that decision on any conscious level until I bought the Luna Pads, and still the decision to use cloth pads was based on economics more than it was about being green.
The reasons were relatively simple, actually.
I stopped using tampons when I found out digoxins were used in commercial pads and tampons. I was scared out of my mind of the very idea of chemicals used to bleach the cotton white were near my most intimate body part. At the time I believed what I heard though now I don’t know if this is true. I did a google search and found nothing to support the claim.
The facecloth thing came about because I worked at a hospital and had “free” access to facecloths. They were however, very, very uncomfortable as you might suspect. And while I thought I was being nicer to my womanhood, the reality was I was exposed to more chemicals because Housekeeping uses a buttload to keep the whites white. (I didn’t bring back the ones I used. I kept them and used them each month).
Finally I decided to bite the bullet and buy some nice, soft menstrual pads. They weren’t cheap. I think I paid nearly $100 for the bunch that I got. But it was well worth the money. For a decade I’ve used these pads each month. They have held up well to being washed monthly, travel easily, and are very comfortable.
The best side effect of ditching the disposable pads is my moontime is not nearly as painful as it used to be. When I was in my teens I spent the days curled up in a ball until I went on the pill. After discarding hormonal birth control, my moontime resumed its painful descent from my body. But as I cleaned up my diet, as I stopped using commercial tampons and ditched the facecloths, the monthly pain eased to near non-existence.
There are many who cannot conceive the idea of reusing pads each month. There are some males who do not want their female lovers to “leave those bloody rags hanging around.” I understand this can be a very contentious issue. When the topic starts getting very emotional, I like to remember what a friend’s grandmother once said “we used strips of flannel when I was a girl. That’s where ‘on the rag’ came from you know.”
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Though I have sea sponges I got here at the same time I got the pads but I don’t use them much so I’m not going to write about them in depth. Don’t get me wrong, they work fab when I want to go swimming, etc. but I’m not one to leave things in my vagina for any length of time. The Keeper is not an option for me because I’m allergic to latex* and I wasn’t interested in using a similar product made out of polyurethane.* I know many women who use the Keeper and are very happy with it. Please consider these to be fantastic alternatives if using pads doesn’t appeal to you.
*The material the Keeper is made from may have changed. I haven’t researched Keepers in quite some time.
Cross posted at The Greenists.
Fantastic post! I used to use cloth. I also used to hang them out to dry on a clothesline outside, stained and all. A sort of “fuck you” to a world that I felt did not fully appreciate my womanhood. Look at those babies flapping in the wind! I had two male roomates; they didn’t bat an eyelash. Cool guys, still friends today.
Cloth pads are the only way to go. Great article! Like the previous post, I hang mine on the line as well….sunshine does wonders and I don’t care what the neighbors think
Used to love the sight of cloth pads and cloth diapers on the line together (not washed together).
The bleaching process does create dioxins, which are among some of the more long-lasting and noxious environmental toxins, and dioxins are present in trace amounts in bleached paper products, such as white coffee filters. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has classified dioxins as a “probable human carcinogen (cancer causing chemical)”, but also says that “there is not sufficient evidence to prove that dioxins cause cancer from exposure to the low levels normally found in the environment.” Here’s the thing, though. When toxicologists assess the potential of a possible carcinogen, they do so on a limited population, in mass quantities, and they almost never can incorporate an appreciation for how bad a particular chemical is in light of our exposure to other chemicals. This is because it is so complex as to be almost unworkable. So, personally, I tend to try and stay away from bleached paper products myself.
Here’s the FDA’s take on dioxins and tampons.
A similar product to the keeper is the Diva Cup, which is made from silicon http://www.divacup.com/
Used it for years and works great (Mirena IUD now used so no moontime)