Flowing Towards Sustainability: Navigating Net-Zero Menstruation for a Greener Future
Slowly but surely, the world is chugging towards net-zero. Communities are joining together globally to protest big oil, encourage the use of renewables, and urge international superpowers to curb their carbon-hungry economies, while individuals are being called on to recycle, be conservative with their water usage, and stop shopping at Shein.
What is sadly and unsurprisingly a rare addition to the conversation on sustainability is the environmental impact of menstrual products. Periods remain a taboo; advertisements of menstrual products have only recently replaced their funky bright blue mystery gunk with red liquid to mimic blood (the shock! the horror!), and nearly half (48%) of girls aged 14-21 in the UK still feel embarrassed about their periods, according to Plan International.
It is no wonder, then, that people don’t want to talk about the impact of menstrual products on the environment. Conjuring images of sky-high landfills full of used sanitary towels is unpleasant for those who barely wish to recognise that people menstruate in the first place. This ever-lingering stigma can be clearly linked to the design of menstrual products, too, which are perfectly curated for rapid bathroom-stall disposal, just small enough to be hidden up our sleeves on the way to the crime scene and dumped into a magical toilet-side bin without a second thought. This culture of disposal must be addressed.
Why? Disposable menstrual products are horrendous for the environment. Menstrual pads can contain up to 90% plastic, the majority of which are sent to landfill and can take up to five hundred years to decay, according to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). This is even more concerning considering that, as estimated by National Geographic, one menstruator will use and dispose of between 5 and 15 thousand pads and tampons in their lifetime.
Not only do disposable menstrual products contribute to the build-up of non-decaying waste, but they also find their way into our oceans and onto our beaches, leading to the littering of coastlines and the contamination of our oceans with microplastics. According to the UN Ocean Conference, there are as many as 52 trillion microplastic particles in our oceans and seas, which is 500 times more than the number of stars in our galaxy. These tiny particles do not only pose a danger to marine life, but have also been found inside human blood, lungs, placentas, and even newborn babies. We aren’t even aware yet of what this means for our bodies, as no large-scale epidemiological studies have been conducted to understand the impact of exposure to microplastics on our health.
This, unfortunately, is not the only risk to our health presented by disposable menstrual products. A study by 60 Millions de Consommateurs magazine found traces of pesticides and insecticides in pads and tampons, as well as chlorine and dioxin, which has been linked to the development of endometriosis and is one of the most toxic substances known to humankind.
Evidently, it is imperative that we shift towards the mainstream use of reusable menstrual products. For this transition to occur, there must be change at both the institutional and individual levels. It is easy to hear statistics about the impact of our behaviour on climate change and to continue as we are; we often feel our individual sustainable actions are a mere performance, executed entirely to make ourselves feel better and with no discernible impact on the planet. It is extremely difficult to connect the impact of our actions with the rising sea levels that we can’t see, the minute increases in temperature that we can’t perceive, and the microplastics that we can’t feel in our bodies. You may also feel that it is not your personal responsibility to facilitate change; what about the governments that are failing to deliver on their climate pledges? And the companies that continue to knowingly distribute toxic and non-biodegradable products?
While you may feel that individual action isn’t worthwhile, you do not exist in a vacuum. Your sustainable decisions cause a ripple effect and influence those around you; when friends share their experiences with using menstrual cups or period underwear, it can trigger a sense of responsibility and inspire us to follow suit. When multiple individuals intentionally lead more sustainable lives, their collective efforts can yield a crucial and substantial positive impact. In other words, I strongly suggest that you give reusable products a go.
If you do decide to ditch disposable products for reusable ones, you will have a 16-fold reduction in your annual carbon impact according to Zero Waste Scotland. You will also save a considerable amount of money, as one research study estimates that the cost of using a menstrual cup for one period would comprise 5-7% of the amount you would have spent using pads or tampons. This represents an additional strength to reusable menstrual products; not only are they more environmentally friendly than disposable products, but they are also cost-effective, meaning their distribution and use may also be employed to tackle period poverty. Providing reusable menstrual pads, underwear, and cups is certainly part of the solution to challenges in distributing menstrual products to those who cannot afford to purchase them.
Unfortunately, reusable products are expensive, which remains a barrier to their use. While many of us remember the abolition of the tampon tax in 2021, we are not yet in a position where our government has accepted that all menstrual products are not a luxury, as shamefully, period underwear in the UK is still taxed. Period underwear is an especially attractive option for menstruators who suffer from endometriosis or bladder weakness, so it is necessary that this tax, and thus the economic barrier to comfortable and environmentally friendly menstruation, is removed. It is perplexing that this has not yet occurred; unlike other polluters such as cotton buds and face wipes, menstrual products are not optional. It is the stigma around periods that maintains this lack of action, discussion, and awareness, and we can only hope that with our increased protest, those who are supposed to represent us will catch up.
There are a variety of options available should you wish to venture into using reusable products. Menstrual cups are a great alternative for those who frequently use tampons; you will save money, and you can keep them in for the whole day without worrying about toxic shock syndrome. You could also try reusable cloth pads, which can be rewashed and do not contain all the harmful chemicals that disposable pads do. Period pants are also a great option in that they absorb more blood than your typical pad, so you can wear them for longer. If you’d rather stick with what’s familiar, consider purchasing organic pads or tampons, which do not contain plastic and are fully biodegradable.
An ideal net-zero world is one where reusable and biodegradable menstrual products are the standard for menstruators. It is unlikely that disposable products will ever be fully phased out, but there is hope that if more people start to use reusable products, the market will diversify, leading to the creation of more brands, cheaper options, and pressure on our government to remove the period underwear tax. The rise of reusable products will, simultaneously, help to fight period poverty. It’s a no-brainer, really, to just give it a go. Both you and the planet will be better off for it.
Sources for further reading:
Borunda, A. (2019, September 6). How tampons and pads became unsustainable and filled with plastic. Environment. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/how-tampons-pads-became-unsustainable-story-of-plastic
Eijk, A. M. van, Zulaika, G., Lenchner, M., Mason, L., Sivakami, M., Nyothach, E., Unger, H., Laserson, K., & Phillips-Howard, P. A. (2019). Menstrual cup use, leakage, acceptability, safety, and availability: A systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet Public Health, 4(8), e376–e393. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(19)30111-2
Finsgate, S. (2017, October 9). Almost half of girls aged 14-21 are embarrassed by their periods. Plan International UK. https://plan-uk.org/media-centre/almost-half-of-girls-aged-14-21-are-embarrassed-by-their-periods
The Independent. (2016, February 26). Always and Tampax ‘contain toxic chemicals found in weed killer’. https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/tampax-tampons-always-sanitary-towels-feminine-hygiene-potentially-toxic-chemicals-a6894751.html
United Nations. (n.d.). Factsheet: Marine pollution. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/Ocean_Factsheet_Pollution.pdf
United Nations Environment Programme (2021). Single-use menstrual products and their alternatives: Recommendations from Life Cycle Assessments. https://www.lifecycleinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/UNEP-LCI-Single-use-vs-reusable-Menstrual-Products-Meta-study.pdf
Zero Waste Scotland. (2023, March 22). The carbon impacts of menstrual products. https://www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/resources/carbon-impacts-menstrual-products
Zhang, J., Wang, L., Trasande, L., & Kannan, K. (2021). Occurrence of Polyethylene Terephthalate and Polycarbonate Microplastics in Infant and Adult Feces. Environmental Science & Technology Letters, 8(11), 989–994. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.estlett.1c00559
60 Millions de Consommateurs. (n.d.). Tampons et protections féminines: Une réglementation s’impose! https://www.60millions-mag.com/2016/02/23/tampons-et-protections-feminines-une-reglementation-s-impose-10151