Half of the world deals with periods on a monthly basis; yet, there are rarely discussions about the period products available today, their effectiveness, and safety. Estimated to be about $22.7 billion in 2020, the feminine product market is making massive efforts to be more accessible and affordable.
With more female political leaders focused on women’s health needs, policymakers are working to reduce “period poverty” — a lack of access to pads or tampons. Big strides have been made by women founders to make massive improvements to period products, adding more sizes and variety, removing synthetic chemicals, and just making more effective products.
Because California’s “menstrual equity” bill is currently in review by the California Senate, a bill that would make it mandatory for colleges and universities to provide period products, it is a good time to talk about the sustainability and ethical costs that come with traditional single-use items and the alternatives that would be better for you, your wallet, and the planet.
At a Glance
On average, a person who menstruates will have around 450 periods during their lifetime. They’ll often reach for the most common period products today — single use tampons and pads, popularized because of their disposability and cultural taboos. In the U.S., this can total to be an average of 11,000 tampons per person or a total of at least 12 billion pads or 7 million tampons thrown into the landfill.
The cost of these products today also vary in price, and could have other taxes and fees stacked on top of it depending on where you live. But on average, one could expect to pay around $1500 for tampons or $4500 for pads.
Environmental Cost
Today, most pads and tampons are made out of cotton, which we’ve previously discussed, and plastic, either as rayon or polypropylene/polyethylene. Both of these products require a high amount of energy, water, and time to produce, but it’s hard to find raw numbers because of the lack of reporting and research done.
To understand why disposable products are so prevalent, we have to talk about the social culture behind menstruation. Pads and tampons were only made more widely available a little over a hundred years ago, marketed as a new way to conveniently dispose of “bad blood.” Through avid company marketing, people were taught to discreetly stock up and use single use menstrual products.
This need to make menstrual products more and more discreet led to more and more plastic being used in tampons and pads, as well as the packaging that stored the products. There are at least 5 plastic bags worth of waste in a pack of menstrual pads, and it could take up to 800 years before these plastic materials degrade.
Waste management of period products are often the biggest problems when it comes to environmental cost. Around 2.5 million tampons, 1.4 million pads, and 700,000 panty liners are flushed down the toilet a day, which is detrimental to marine life, often ending up in our oceans and rivers as treatment plants and sewage systems don’t always filter them out.
Human Cost
At any given time, 800 million people are menstruating. People have been getting periods for the longest time, but menstruating is still stigmatized all over the world. There's misconceptions, discrimination, and taboos/myths that prevent people who menstruate from developing healthy habits.
In some parts of the world, menstruating people are considered dirty, untouchable, or a disgrace. Some myths are if a menstruating person
looks at people, they will make them sick
cooks or touches food, the food will rot
uses a tampon, they will lose their virginity
If someone is on their period, they are often excluded from everyday physical places, forced into solitary confinement, or banned from cooking or touching food.
In addition to the stigma, not everyone has access to the period products they need. "Period poverty", or the inadequate access to menstrual hygiene and education is something that over 500 million people experience every month. People resort to using newspapers, toilet paper, plastic bags, socks, clothes, or rags.
From a health perspective, period shaming, poverty, and discrimination effect physical and mental well being. These products are not a luxury item, and with the period tax it becomes expensive for households to have access to these products every month. Not having proper hygiene practices can lead to urinary tract infections.
Without proper education and resources such as hygiene products, water, private bathrooms, people often stay home and miss school (anywhere from 10-20% of school days). Sometimes students drop out of school completely.
Lastly, policies that perpetuate stigmas and have poor workplace conditions impact people's economic opportunities. People working through period cramps lose at least 9 days of productivity each year. Zomato, one of India's largest food delivery companies, made headlines when it announced menstruation leave. Providing inclusive policies in the workplace has many economic benefits including attraction and retention of talent, greater productivity, and increased diversity.
Ingredients
Hygiene products that are used for menstruation (pads, tampons, etc) are often made of chemicals (who would've thought 😢). And the worst part is, many companies do not have labelling on their products, so it's hard to tell what these products are made from (although New York was the first state to require labelling on period products). At the bare minimum, period products are made from a combination of absorbent fibers including cotton and rayon (which can be natural or synthetic).
Studies have found there to be toxic chemicals in period products (panty liners, pads, tampons, wipes, and bacterial creams and solutions), including the following:
Phthalates: a group of chemicals to make plastics more durable
Bisphenols: a group of chemicals used to manufacture plastics, epoxy, and resins.
Parabens: artificial preservatives in cosmetic and body care products that mimic the hormone estrogen.
Triclocarban: an antibacterial agent that is a source of toxic and carcinogenic compounds including dioxins and chloroform.
PFAs: manmade chemicals that have properties that allow them to repel oil and water. PFAs can persist in one's body for a long period of time, and people can face adverse health effects as PFAs accumulate.
Chlorine Bleach: since many products are made from synthetic materials, period products end up getting bleached to give them a whiter look.
Using products with these chemicals can have long term negative effects. A study published last year found that these toxins can lead to early puberty, endometriosis, genital tumors, and breast cancer.
Consider purchasing products that are made from organic cotton, are fragrance free, are unbleached, and not dyed. A general rule of thumb is to research the website from which you purchase these products from and dive deep into the materials they use.
Alternatives to Consider
With all of these major concerns, several companies have made big efforts to change how society views menstruation and make improvements to these disposable products. Here are a few of the alternatives on the market today that you can consider trying out instead of single use period products.
Menstrual Cup
A popular alternative, menstrual cups are bell-shaped collectors for period blood that are inserted similar to tampons. Most often, these cups are made out of silicone, non-porous material that is safe to bacteria and reported to last up to ten years, making it much easier for waste disposal. They are also reported to produce less than 1.5% of the environmental impact compared to disposables and 90% cheaper in the long run. The menstrual cup global market alone is currently estimated at $1.2 billion, with brand names like Mooncup spearheading this innovation.
Reusable Pads
Reusable cloth pads came at around the same time as menstrual cups, and function similarly to pads. However, the key difference is that they are built to be washed and dried, lasting around a year to three years and are biodegradable when they need to be thrown out. They also tend to be more absorbent, thinner and more flexible, potentially making it more comfortable. Brands like Lilypad, Safepad, and Lunapad continue to make innovations.
Reusable Tampon Applicator
For those that are used to tampons, reusable tampon applicators can help to reduce the plastics on tampons, while also being easy to clean. By dropping the plastic glide applicators, you potentially reduce 50% of the plastic thrown away from the tampon, and can last up to two years. Brands like Thinx are working to make it more affordable and stylish.
Period Underwear
While definitely not for everybody, period underwear exists as a way to have a layer of protection, while not using pads or tampons. These machine-washable underwear are absorbent and can hold up to one to two tampons worth of period blood, which can help to reduce a box or two of pads or tampons. Brands like Knix and Thinx work to make affordable pairs of underwear that can last for a few years.
Considering these other alternatives can lead to benefits that are not only environmentally and ethically friendly, but will be better for your wallet and your body. Period management and health care continue to be expensive products people who menstrate have to worry about, estimating a minimum of at least $5,600 spent during one’s lifetime. Alternatives such as the cups and cloth pads are a much higher upfront cost, but their reusability could be more useful in the long term.
And with ingredient concerns about synthetic chemicals inside these disposable products, there is a push to increase the transparency and research behind the health impacts of tampons. Campaigns like Detox the Box are working to try and ask companies to share what are in these period products, similar to how more beauty and skincare companies are now transparent about what chemicals are being used.
The Future of Period Products
Over the past couple years, there has been a rise in innovation in the hygiene space (telemedicine, innovative cups and tampons), and there have been more conversations and policies around this topic to reduce the stigma associated with menstruating. More companies are providing period leave and some countries like Scotland/New Zealand are making these products free of charge.
We hope that the future of period products are reusable, or at the very least biodegradable with as little impact on the planet as possible. With the increase in innovation in reusable products and transparency from consumers, we think that there is a high chance that this will happen.
What You Can Do
Don’t flush your period products! Toss them out into the garbage or a second bin.
For single use products, choose those that are organic and don’t use plastics. Find one that is comfortable for you, but is also safe for your body and the environment.
Find period products that are nontoxic and use quality ingredients.
Consider trying one of the alternatives — menstrual cup, reusable pads, reusable tampon applicators, or period underwear. You can save some money and reduce the waste you throw out.
Normalize the conversation for period talk. Change happens when more people are open to talking about the problems.
Donate to reduce period poverty. Groups like Period. and Bloody Good Period are working hard to make sure access to period products is a human right and an essential item governments should provide. Not everyone can afford to be sustainable.
Questions or comments on this piece? Suggestions on what we should cover next? Send us a note.