Why I made the switch to reusable menstrual wear

I come from a place where the normal choice of menstrual hygiene materials to women and girls has always been disposable options...pads, tampons, cotton wool you name it the process has always been the same: buy, use, throw away for the next process to worry about. Most women myself included never really cared about what happened to the used menstrual wear after its chucked in the trash.

As the years are progressing, this perfect system of buying, using and throwing away is starting to shake. Many women and girls are gradually finding it harder and harder to afford this monthly necessity. What happens if a girl or a woman does not have enough money month on month to purchase these disposables. Imagine the chronic stress of looking at the calendar knowing fully well the days are moving towards shedding ? What impact will this stress have on a girl who has class during these shedding days, the disadvantaged woman struggling to earn a living ?

Sadly the disruption to this process does not end there, the throwing away to some place we do not care about has also become quiet complex. In most of our urban areas, the once regular rubbish collection has become not so regular anymore, leaving most women guessing when to throw away their used wear at the risk of plastic collectors and stray animals re-arranging the rubbish and exposing these on their and next door properties. I have heard many stories of women keeping their used menstrual wear hidden somewhere until rubbish collectors come- smells and all or waiting everyday until night time to burn used wear. Imagine carrying used wear to work or going to nearby shops or malls to dump these in the special menstrual wear bins- at least these are guaranteed collection by contracted companies who collect these and burn.

So when I first heard about reusable menstrual wear I felt both excited and curious about how this was going to change my life. I imagined I wasn't going to continue being a month to month regular standing on the disposable menstrual aisle selecting my type of wear or spending some sleepless nights trying to figure our how I was going to dispose of the used wear. I imagined if I couldn't afford the month to month expenses this would be a good way to go. I was very curious about how I will use the products let alone where to find them in my country, mind you in all this I still thought would I not be grossed out washing my own blood ?

With my task on hand I went about researching about these reusable options with the top most being menstrual cups, reusable pads and period underwear, I found interesting information about using one cup for at least 10 years, the pads and underwear for more than a year. At this point I had not quite understood what this switch to reusable wear would mean to the environment. Continuing on the disposable path meant I would single-handedly dispose of at least 240 pieces of sanitary pads or 24 packs of 10's in a year ! This is just me, imagine if we added the women folk in my family, my friends, my neighbors, my workmates, my city , my country, the world ! its an unimaginable mountain of waste !

So I made the switch and since then have been finding little delights in using reusable wear. Did I tell you, I was not even grossed out by my own blood but have instead grown to learn a lot more about my body and my cycle, I am now anticipating my monthlies because it has become a great learning process for me.

Join me in my exploration of these reusable wear, who knows my experience might inspire you to make the switch

sisterfriend-