A greener period

BACK in Standard Four or Five, a teacher explained to the girls in my class about sanitary pads. The pads came from the shop wrapped in newspaper. People were more embarrassed of periods at that time so things linked to it were literally kept under wraps.

But the talk wasn’t so much on periods or puberty but how to dispose used pads and how they must be thrown in speciallyprovided bins.

School authorities were worried that pupils would throw used pads down the toilet and clog up the pipes.

So even then there had been concerns about the disposal of personal products, although the area of focus was smaller — in this case it was the school and its plumbing system.

But the impact and journey of trash do not end even after being thrown away properly by the individual.

Like most household trash, used sanitary pads are likely to end up in landfills. Depending on what they’re made of, parts of the pad may not never fully biodegrade.

Environmental consciousness is one of the reasons why some people are switching to reusable cloth pads, says Natasya Azwin Tawfik Teow, the founder of ByWiwin, which makes cloth pads and panty liners. She runs the business from her home with one employee and sells the products online.

Like commercial sanitary pads, ByWiwin pads come in several lengths to cater to the individual’s period flow and lifestyle, ranging from 23cm to 30.5cm.

One side of the pad is covered with an attractive print fabric while the bloodabsorbing surface is made of a soft material called Minky.

Bamboo fleece or microfibre is used for the actual absorption. A leak-proof layer keeps things in check while buttons keep the pad in place.

“If you want to ditch disposable pads permanently, you need at least 10 cloth pads in several sizes,” she says. “They should last for as long as you take good care of them. I can personally guarantee they last for four years because that’s as long as I’ve used mine!”

Natasya Azwin, who previously worked in the biotechnology field, discovered cloth pads when she started taking sewing orders for income. She uses them for environmental reasons but her customers have other concerns.

“About half of them are allergic to commercial disposable pads. They feel sore or itchy and even develop rashes. This is not often talked about but it’s more common than you think.

“Others started feeling discomfort after giving birth, particularly when they had an

Meanwhile, some women and manufacturers say cloth pads can reduce period pain.

But that’s not something Natasya Azwin is confident enough to claim without scientific proof.

Others use cloth pads to save money. ByWiwin’s heavy flow pack of 10 pads is priced at RM300 but that’s perhaps equal to what disposable pads cost in a single year.

The investment pays for itself considering that cloth pads are reusable for years.

Using cloth pads is no different to disposables including switching to a fresh pad every four to six hours. But for cloth pads, the blood has to be rinsed off immediately.

ByWiwin makes waterproof bags to store these until a more convenient time to launder them properly, such as when the wearer is at work.

The pad is washed with water and soap, either by hand or in the washing machine. Think of it like clothing or underwear.

Because cloth pads are still relatively new, she gets a lot of questions from potential customers, especially on social media. This has made her more aware of issues and misinformation concerning women’s bodily fluids and functions.

“Vaginal discharge, for example. You get traditional medicine sellers saying that it’s bad or abnormal when it’s just a regular part of the menstrual cycle. Because of my background in science, I find it important to give people the right information and not just sell my products.

“There are also sceptics who are wary of the repeated use of cloth pads. Personally, I’m not concerned about bacterial