Alternative menstrual products reinventing periods

A guide to going ‘against the flow’

Along with crabbiness and cramping (of both our style and stomach), Aunt Flo’s delightful visits bring about serious sideeffects for our wallet and planet. The socalled “tampon tax” was canned in 2015, but period poverty remains a huge problem in this country, with a recent study by Plan International Canada revealing a third of Canadian women under 25 have struggled to afford menstrual products. Then there’s the toll periods put on the environment. Every year, more than 45 billion menstrual products are thrown away, piling up in landfills and washing up on coastlines.

So what do we do?

Well, we’ve got a few options. Innovative, more cost-effective and sustainable ways to manage our menses are increasingly cropping up. We rounded up five of these alternative solutions and weighed out the pros and cons. Here it goes:

REUSABLE PADS

How they work: A washable alternative to disposable pads, available in different sizes and absorbency levels. You should change them just as often as regular ones and then rinse them before popping them in the washing machine.

Cost: Between $10 and $20 each, but they’re washable and reusable, and hence more economical over time.

Environmental impact: Because you’re not throwing them away, they’re way greener than disposable pads. Some are made of bamboo, a material often touted as sustainable because it grows super quickly, although turning it into fabric is chemically intensive and produces some waste. Others are made of organic cotton, which, again, requires a lot of water to grow.

What they’re really like: They feel like regular pads but don’t stick to your undies the way adhesive ones do, so you’ve got to get used to snapping them in place. Changing your pad midday involves putting the used one in a sealable bag until you’re able to wash it. Not the most convenient, but a considerably cheaper and more ecofriendly solution.

Product picks:

Lunapads Maxi Pad & Insert, $20, lunapads.ca

Fabulous Flo Heavy Pad, $20, well.ca

MENSTRUAL SPONGES

How they work: A sponge, either made of synthetic materials or of all-natural sea sponge, is dampened then wedged high inside the vagina to absorb blood, much like a tampon. It has to be removed every few hours and washed before you can put it back in.

Cost: Between $3 and $15 each, but they can be cleaned and reused for a few months, making them more affordable over time.

Environmental impact: Sea sponges harvested from the ocean floor make for waste-free periods while reusable synthetic sponges reduce waste but aren’t always biodegradable.

What they’re really like: The sea sponge kind has to be trimmed down to your perfect size, which can involve some trial and error. All sponges are stringless, which means they’re completely invisible. Some even allow you to have intercourse while wearing them. But like tampons, leaving them in too long can lead to toxic shock syndrome.

Product picks:

Jade and Pearl Sea Sponge, $28 for 2, gladrags.com

Joy Division Soft Tampons, $2.50, goodforher.com

ORGANIC TAMPONS

How they work: Exactly like regular tampons but they’re made entirely of organic cotton and contain zero chlorine bleach, fragrance or other chemicals. You can find them with or without a cardboard applicator.

Cost: Around $0.50 each, while their non-organic counterparts retail for about $0.34 a pop, so you unfortunately have to fork over more cash.

Environmental impact: Some cardboard applicators are recyclable, but you’ve got to make sure to dispose of them properly (a.k.a. don’t throw them out in the stall garbage can). And while supporting organic farming is great, cotton is a famously thirsty crop. Something to consider.

What they’re really like: Once in, they’re just like regular tampons but the cardboard applicator can feel a little less smooth than the (polluting) plastic version. It’s also worth noting that they present the same risk for toxic shock syndrome as regular tampons. Product picks:

Organyc Regular Tampons with Applicator, $9 for 16, easyperiod.ca

Natracare 100 per cent Organic Cotton Tampons, $17 for 10, walmart.ca