I’ve thought about this before because pill packets especially the heavier plastic ones have always bugged me. They seem like they’d make the pill the least eco-friendly birth control option, but the Huffington Post piece points out that 2.75 million pounds of used-condom refuse ends up in landfills nationwide. So neither seems exceptional when it comes to eco-friendly aspects. That said, the IUD is no good at protecting you from sexually transmitted diseases, so while it may be an eco-friendly choice, I can’t say it’s an across the board good choice.

For both birth control and STD protection you need condoms. There are, btw, biodegradable condoms, but they’ll only protect against pregnancy not STDs, so if you’re not with your totally committed soul mate right now, the best thing to do is to limit the impact your condom use makes.  For example…

• Recycle those boxes! While condoms aren’t recyclable yet, the boxes are big and they can easily be tossed into your recycle bin. If you’re too embarrassed to toss them in your home recycling bin for fear that someone will see, well, maybe you should be holding off on sex. It’s no big!
• DON’T leave condoms out on the beach, in a park, or elsewhere out in nature. Toss in an actual trash bin.
• Eventually you might want to consider a monogamous relationship – then you can use those biodegradable condoms (after being tested for STDs of course). Yes, as it turns out being in a committed relationship, may be the greenest choice here.

Read more about green sex! Yahoo right?

[image via stock.xchang with a wee bit of altering]

Post from: Blisstree

Is Your Birth Control Green?

Get this: According to a recent study published in the June issue of Contraception Magazine, the “Pull Out” method of birth control rivals the use of condoms!

This was a piece published by sex researcher Rachel K. Jones, that finds  “pulling out” before ejaculation is nearly effective as condoms in preventing pregnancy – calling the method “only slightly less effective” than condoms.

Wow.

This is not a good thing.

It’s like millions of college boys are suddenly going to feel validated to not wear condoms and spread disease far and wide.

Image: Sxc.hu

Post from: Blisstree

The Pull Out Method Rivals Condoms?!?

USAID, United States Agency for International Development, a federally funded program that distributes 10 billion condoms to poor countries, in an attempt to help curb the spread of AIDS. They will no longer be distributing American-made condoms.

“Of course, we considered how many U.S. jobs would be affected by this move,” said a USAID official who spoke on the condition that he would not be named. But he said the reasons for the change included lower prices (2 cents versus more than 5 cents for U.S.-made condoms) and the fact that Congress dropped “buy American language” in a recent appropriations bill.

Okay, so they are cheaper, which means that they can give out more, but when you look at the track record of recent Chinese products, do you still think that this is a good idea?

First, there’s the loss of 300 American jobs. A company in Alabama called Alatech was the previous USAID program supplier. In case you haven’t noticed, American families are struggling. We certainly don’t need to cut jobs, we need to increase jobs. Banks and auto makers aren’t the only folks going broke.

Second, there’s the Chinese baby formula scare, the Chinese toy scare, the Chinese __________ (fill in the blank) scare. When it comes to health, welfare, and birth control, do we really think cheaper is the best way to go?

I didn’t give it much thought before, but from now on, when I buy condoms, I’m going to make sure that I’m buying American.

Image credit: All Posters.com

Post from: Blisstree

Condoms – Buy American

Everything we do has an effect on the environment but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun and look out for Mother Nature. There are some easy ways to keep your eco-values alive when giving in to, er, human nature.

Here’s how.

Condoms

Ask a beach cleanup volunteer what they find littering the sands and the answer is likely to include used condoms. Condoms find their way onto beaches, into waterways and water treatment facilities when they are flushed down the toilet. Many sea creatures mistake condoms for jellyfish or other food sources and the results are deadly.

To keep it baby-free and protect wildlife, don’t flush condoms. Put them in the trash bin and send them direct to the landfill. It may sound counterintuitive but that’s where they will end up anyway. Just if you flush it someone else, like a waste treatment worker or biologist, will have to handle the job.

Sex Toys

Ok, maybe you’re not buying them but somebody is because sex toys make up an estimated $500 billion dollar market. Many sex toys are made with chemicals that are more than just a turn off, they’re dangerous.

PVC (yep, plumbing) and the phthalates used to soften it are commonly found in sex toys but are linked to diseases like cancer and reproductive disorders. These same compounds have been banned from other products, like baby toys, in the EU because of the associated health risks.

The Grist’s Emily Gertz explores the ins and outs (sorry!) of what to avoid and what to look for in a eco-friendly sex toy in Naughty by Nature: Ever thought about the toxins in your sex toys?. Along with a few good suppliers, just in case your “friend” is interested.

Flush

Not condoms! We’ve already covered that one. This time I’m referring to your system. Women are prone to urinary tract infections which can require treatment with antibiotics. Once again, anything that goes down the toilet makes its way to waterways, including ingested medications. To keep yourself and waterways free from antibiotics partake in a little post-sex pee to help flush the system and avoid a UTI.

Control or Contamination?

While we’re on the topic of medications in waterways…There is a growing concern about hormones and endocrine disruptors in waterways. Some of the contamination is from industrial pollution where certain chemicals in plastics, pesticides and other products have a molecular structure similar to estrogen. Another source of the contamination is from birth control pills.

These compounds cannot not be filtered by waste treatment processes and instead find there way into open water bodies. In the early 1980s, a WWF senior scientist named Theo Colborn discovered that many predators in the Great Lakes of North America were suffering from reproductive disorders. Her research linked chemical exposure to endocrine disorders, including diabetes.

Hormones or similar compounds in waterways disrupt the natural endocrine processes in both humans and wildlife. There may be a greener birth control that fits your lifestyle, like a diaphragm or IUD. If you’re interested, talk to your health care provider about the different options.

Resources

• How to Green Your Sex Life: everything from eco-undies to all natural aphrodisiacs at TreeHugger – there’s no such thing as TMI.
• The Endocrine Disruptor Exchange: research, studies and information on endocrine disruptors – founded by Dr. Theo Colborn.
• Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC) FAQ on endocrine disruptors: quick reference with most important facts.
• What could be more natural?: All-natural and organic personal lubricants at Ideal Bite.
• Paging Dr. Love: fair trade, sustainable wood and recycled…are we still talking about sex toys?

Post from: Blisstree

How to “Green” Your Sex Life

From the article:

More than 140 male contraception researchers from around the globe recently gathered in Seattle to discuss new alternatives to condoms and vasectomies. At the two-day “Future of Male Contraception” conference, whose sponsors included the World Health Organization, the University of Washington, and the National Institutes of Health, researchers unveiled a number of new viable birth control options for men, reports the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

What do you think? Is it about time, or are you fine with the current options for male contraception?

Contents © Copyright 2007 Kristen King

Post from: Blisstree

More Male Contraceptive Options?

Still here? Great! Well, first of all, I was stressed because I had to change doctors since we moved and I’m now way too far away from my old OB/GYN office to make the drive. I used to use Planned Parenthood, and this move meant switching to a grown-up doctor. For real adults. Like one my mom would use. How weird. I hadn’t been to one of those since my first visit, back in high school, when my mom insisted that I use her doctor and accompanied me, which, for the record, was beyond awkward.

Aside: This is not to say that there’s anything lacking in the quality or maturity of Planned Parenthood. On the contrary, I was extremely happy with them. And the fact that I knew my questions would be the least interesting ones they got all day made me feel like I could ask or divulge anything and it wouldn’t be uncomfortable. (Not that my sex life has ever been particularly scandalous, mind you. But when you’re a 20something married chick who’s been withe the same guy for years, isn’t pregnant, and has no serious medical issues sitting in a waiting room full of teenage girls and their incredibly uncomfortable boyfriends, you just know you’ll be the most boring client of the day, or maybe even the week. It’s kind of a relief.)

Second, I had therapy right afterward (how’s that for planning?), and after I sat in the waiting room for almost 40 minutes before being called back, I was good and stressed about not making my next appointment. In fact, they were running so far behind (how exactly do you manage to be an hour behind already at 9:30?) that I actually had to call my therapist’s office on my cell phone while in the exam room in my paper vest and sarong combo as I waited for the nurse practitioner to come in and do the exam so I could tell her that I was being held hostage at the gynecologist’s office and might be late for or even miss my appointment. There were no magazines, so instead I read my Pap smear lab request form for about 20 minutes. I don’t want to ruin the ending or anything, but the grand finale is, you guessed it, a Pap smear.

Third, I always dread the assistant’s questions when they first take you into the exam room (that, and getting weighed. Our scale broke like two moves ago and I have never replaced it, so my annual exam is about the only time I weigh myself). I know I’m a hypocrite, but it’s not my fault: I just don’t remember to do my breast self-exam every month. I’m lucky if I remember three times a year. Of course, when I admitted this, I got that motherly disapproving “Tut tut” and a dramatic swish of the pen on my chart. I always feel like crawling under the exam table at that point. But then, when they take my blood pressure (which, incidentally, makes my heart race for some reason), I am redeemed because it’s always very low and they think I’m so healthy that it makes up for being an irresponsible breast owner.

Aside: I wonder how low my bp really is since I start having palpitations the moment they move toward the blood pressure cuff. It’s so bad that I have to tell them to do it once in the beginning and once at a random time during my visit without telling me ahead of time so I don’t have a chance to get anxious about it–but of course my breath gets short as soon as I realize what’s happening.

Fourth, I had to go through my entire medical history before the exam because their fax machine was messed up and they couldn’t receive my records from my old doctor’s office, so I felt like I walked into a surprise midterm in a class I’d never heard of. Yes, someone on my mom’s side had breast cancer, like four generations ago, and somebody on my dad’s side had heart disease, but I’m pretty sure those people died before my parents were even my age, so I have no clue of the specifics. But it’s all in my medical record, which is apparently trapped somewhere in the fascimile netherworld, so who knows?

Fifth, I had to confess that I’ve been so terrible about taking my birth control pills on schedule that I finally stopped taking them altogether and needed to request a different form of birth control that was harder to forget and didn’t involve anything that is progesterone only, which tend to make me gain huge amounts of weight in very short periods of time. And I kind of feel like we’re just a little too old to be buying condoms, you know? (That, plus ever since I tried to open one I don’t even remember how long ago and it shot out of the package and directly into my eye, leaving me half blind and stinging like the dickens, I’ve been kind of afraid of them to tell you the truth. But I digress.)

So, long story short (because believe it or not, this is the short version), I weighed in at 134 lbs fully clothed, managed to get a clean bill of health despite waiting f-o-r-e-v-e-r for my exam, and left with a free month (and a coupon for a free second month!) of NuvaRing, a once-a-month vaginal contraceptive that offers–get this–a free downloadable OR portable timer to remind you when to insert and remove it. Do these people know me, or what?

Now to psych myself up for next year. 360some days should be plenty of time, right?

How do you feel about your annual exam? Any tips? Any horror stories? Leave a comment!

Contents © Copyright 2007 Kristen King

Post from: Blisstree

Stayin’ Lively: My 2007 Annual Exam

How do you know which is the right choice for you?

About.com’s guide to contraception, Dawn Stacey, M.Ed, LMHC, suggests eight important factors for you and your doctor to discuss as you pick the perfect birth control:

1. Effectiveness – Is avoiding pregnancy a preference, or a necessity?
2. Failure rates – Real life failure rates versus failure rates in a controlled setting in which every patient uses the method exactly as instructed every single time are probably different. For instance, if you’re really forgetful and keep an irregular schedule, popping a pill at the same time every day might be challening. See #4.
3. Risks and side effects – Most hormonal contraceptives (rather than barrier methods like condoms) increase women’s risk of blood clots and stroke, and weight gain is pretty common. Evaluate your risk factors (eg, smoking, obesity, family history of various health issues) to find the safest option.
4. Lifestyle compatibility – If you can’t swallow pills, an oral contraceptive might not be the right choice. On the other hand, new chewable birth control pills may be perfect. Or maybe you don’t want to think about your contraceptive all the time, so getting a shot (like Depo-Provera) every few months would be the way to go. Talk with your doctor about your needs.
5. Life plans – Are you planning to have kids in the near future? Do you want to put it off indefinitely but still have the option? Are you in a stable relationship, or playing the field? These factors and other elements of your life plan will play a big role in determining your best birth control option.
6. Your comfort level – Would you rather just swallow a pill or slap on a patch, or are you cool with inserting a diaphragm or sponge every time, even in the heat of the moment? Know what you’re really going to stick with.
7. Your sexual behavior – Ladies with multiple partners may have different needs from those in long-term monogamous relationships. Be straight with your gyno about your relationships and sexual activity.
8. STI/STD protection – If you’re married, sexually transmitted diseases/infections may not be as big a concern for you as for someone who’s sexually active outside of a monogamous relationship. Condoms are helpful in protecting against the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, but other contraceptives offer little, if any, protection against STDs — and nothing is fool proof.

Talk to your OB/GYN about what’s going to work best for your needs — and be completely honest. This is your life we’re talking about here, so it’s no time to be bashful.

Contents © Copyright 2007 Kristen King

Post from: Blisstree

How to Choose the Right Birth Control for You