consider this alternative: www.goods4girls.org.

I found out about Goods4Girls via Fake Plastic Fish, another fabulous site that I highly recommend.

Goods 4 Girls was started to seek out donors to sew or purchase new, reusable menstrual pads for donations to areas of Africa where these products are needed most. Providing reusable supplies not only provides a more environmentally friendly alternative for these young women (in areas of adequate water supply for washing), it reduces their dependence on outside aid organizations to continue providing for their monthly needs.

Now that makes a lot of sense to me. No need to disparage your own menstrual flow. No point in spreading even more plastic and waste products into areas that cannot dispose of them. This approach is sustainable, responsible, and female-friendly.

Kudos to you, ladies!

Post from: Blisstree

An Alternative to the Tampax Plan

At the very heart of this statement is an implication that a period somehow needs to be put to use or justified beyond its very existence. There is an assumption that “just” a period is somehow not good enough. Your period is more than just a symbol of your fertility. It is an integral part of a cycle that creates human life.

Dear Tampax, is that not enough for you?

Apparently not. With your new slogan you are perpetuating the idea that periods are a burden, a nuisance, something synonymous with PMS, mood swings and other negative connotations put upon them by a society that does not value motherhood. Your new slogan says to me, “Well, If I have to get my period and I have to buy tampons anyway, I might as well buy tampons that save the world, or at least Africa.”

And I am not buying it.

Post from: Blisstree

“Use Your Period For Good” – Part II

Oh yes.

Apparently, Tampax is out to save the world and this is their new slogan. For every overpriced piece of cotton shelved in a plastic applicator that you purchase to place in your most sacred of places, Tampax will be so kind to donate some pennies to their own Protecting Futures program which they say will provide young girls in Africa with sanitary products and help them go to school.

I am not even going to link to the Tampax site because I think this is such a load of sh*t. If you want more info you will have to find it yourself. Or just wait for the commercial. You’ll see it soon enough.

Is it not bad enough that women spend hundreds of dollars on their own feminine hygiene products each year? Are we not sufficiently contributing to somebody’s wealth? Now, we need to feel bad when we don’t proclaim our brand loyalty to Tampax? If we choose natural, reusable or goddess-forbid, environmentally friendly products like the Diva Cup or sea sponges to manage our flow, are we using our period for EVIL?

Give me a flipping break.

Here is a little bit more that you should be aware of before you shell out your hard-earned cash for Tampax or any other mass-produced tampons. This is from Rebecca Cannon at the Natural Products Marketplace. Emphasis is mine:

The Tampon Safety and Research Act of 1999, passed by Congress, stated many tampons, sanitary pads and even diapers contain dioxins, by-products of the bleaching process used in the manufacturing of paper products. The EPA and the International Agency for Research on Cancer confirmed dioxins are possible human carcinogens that also put women at risk for “effects that could suppress the immune system, increase the risk of pelvic inflammatory disease, reduce fertility, and interfere with fetal and childhood development.” The bill goes on to cite an independent study that found mass-market tampons contain additives such as chlorine, absorbency enhancers, synthetic fibers, deodorant and fragrance. These additives, especially synthetic fibers, amplify toxin production associated with toxic shock syndrome (TSS), a bacterial illness that occurs mainly in menstruating women.

Update: It seems I have more to say.

Post from: Blisstree

“Use Your Period For Good.”