Lunapads Blog

Whether you’re planning on going camping, attending summer music festivals, doing some long-distance adventure travel, or just heading to the beach this summer, personal hygiene is always a consideration.  Here are some ideas on how to manage menstruation and elimination while enjoying summer adventures.

An aspect of travel that can often be a source of frustration is simply staying clean.  While it may be a stretch to imagine for the first time, being able to urinate while standing up (like a man!) can actually make things a lot easier.  Imagine rather than having to squat in scratchy underbrush, or hover above a toilet, simply being able to relieve oneself without having to completely remove one’s pants, shorts or undergarment.  The pStyle is a small, durable plastic funnel that enables this process with a minimum of fuss or hassle – just point and shoot, as it were.

Most of us will also need to think about how to manage our menses while away from home.  Depending on the length of the trip, heaviness of flow, and availability of supplies at the destination, it can be tricky, not to mention taking up valuable luggage real estate.  Supplies may not be available locally, and can be easily damaged and rendered useless if not packed carefully.

And then there’s the question of disposal – where does one put used pads and tampons in the wilderness?  Given today’s “leave only footprints” camping credo, one could well be faced with the dilemma of packing along used supplies versus burying or burning them, hardly eco-friendly alternatives.

Reusable silicone menstrual cups such as the DivaCup obviate these dilemmas, and are becoming increasingly popular with female travelers as a result.  Add the bonuses of not having to change a cup for up to 12 hours, financial savings and reusable eco-friendliness to boot, and you’ve found your new best travel buddy.  They’re also ideal for sports and swimming.

Caring for these products properly is of course an important consideration, which brings me to yet another travel wonder-product: Wysi-Wipes. Wysi-Wipes are compressed, biodegradable personal wipes that require only some water and a bit of soap to become a “wet wipe”, perfect for cleaning cups, pStyles, or even you ;-). For a complete travel kit, team up all of these products, plus a peri bottle to hold some water or a cleansing solution, and put them in one of our new travel pouches.  And to top it off, it’s all on sale this month, plus ALL orders this month get 2 FREE Wysi-Wipes (while quantities last.)  Happy trails from all of us at Lunapads!

We love the irreverent tone of National Post columnist and Green as a Thistle blogger Vanessa Farquharson’s new debut memoir, Sleeping Naked is Green: How an eco-cynic unplugged her fridge, sold her car, and found love in 366 days.  She is a major Lunapads and DivaCup proponent, and has a particularly humorous story to tell about Lunapads, excerpted below:

september 29, day 213
Eat ice cream in a cone rather than a plastic cup. I thought that writing about Jake Gyllenhaal was the best way to get
more hits on my blog — man, was I wrong. Turns out, there’s another subject that’s guaranteed to get twice as many hits as Jake, and that
subject is menstruation. It’s totally bizarre — I mean it’s not as though
the only people procrastinating in the blogosphere are women, let
alone women who are very in touch with their bodies and like talking
about how in touch with their bodies they are. Or is it?
Either way, I realized this at some point yesterday, when my post
about using Lunapads reusable cloth pantyliners got upward of forty
comments, many of which revolved around topics like how to
clean them in the sink or a bucket, whether to subsequently empty
the bloody water into one’s potted plants, and so on, going into
enough detail to spoil my homemade lunch.
A funny back story to the Lunapads, though: I’d already bought
my own but the company who makes them found my blog and
decided to send me a bunch for free. They asked for my address,
so I decided to use the one at the National Post. The day they arrived,
I wasn’t in the office, but my editor was. Ben ended up making
dinner plans that night with Kelly, one of the reporters who
used to work with us, who was in Toronto for a brief visit to see his
old friends. Ben decided to bring him some sort of welcome-back
present and went rummaging through the Arts & Life swag pile.
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Any visual artists out there who also happen to be natural menstrual product fans, even activists? Thought I was in the right place.

There is a very exciting book coming out in the next few months by University of Massachusetts Boston writer/researcher/professor Chris Bobel called New Blood: Third Wave Feminism and the Politics of Menstruation - how great does that sound? All she needs now is some cover art and it’s all set to go to press, which brings me to the contest: provide Chris with the winning image, and you’ll receive $100 worth of free products of your choice from Lunapads.  The deadline for submissions is Friday July 10, 2009.

Here’s a description of the book, to help get the creative juices flowing:

“The book is an interdisciplinary, multi-method up-close -and -personal look at a little known, but persistent presence in the feminist health, environmental and consumer rights movements. With humor and verve and since the late 1960s, risk-taking menstrual activists have questioned the safety and necessity of femcare innovations. Through a host of sometimes shocking, always provocative tactics, menstrual activists boldly ask why menstruation is hidden, private and shameful. They force us to ask who, exactly, benefits from this taken-for-granted framing of a natural human process that over half of the human population experiences for about half of their lifetimes.

But this is not only a book about a fascinating movement. It is also an honest and fresh look at feminism-in-flux that illuminates the palpable and often painful tensions between so-called second- and third-wave feminists. Because menstrual activists are a diverse lot in terms of both identity and tactics used, study of the movement offers insight into how feminism is changing and how it has endured over time. In New Blood, we encounter middle-aged suburbanites who commune in Red Tents, queer urban punks who “culture jam” Tampax, teen anarchists who practice DIY health care, African-American women who espouse “holistic womb health,” taboo-smashing consumer advocates and health educators—both men and women— who use zines, blogs and sketch comedy to get the word out about the environmental and health consequences of our personal habits, and mothers of pubescent girls who refuse to pass on the shame.

This is an exciting time in feminist history.

Menstrual activism helps us see what’s at stake in the spirited debates about what to do about gender and the ongoing struggles to engage a truly racially, ethnically and economically diverse movement of social change advocates around a common issue. While exploding gender categories is discussed in every feminist classroom and journal, the conversation lingers in the abstract. After more than 30 years of feminist debate, we aren’t clear what this ideological position look like when we actually DO feminist activism. How can we talk about body-based discrimination, for example, without talking about women AS women — even with all the differences within and among women? At the same time, how can we NOT afford to incorporate a questioning of fundamental categories like gender as we develop feminist agendas for the 21st century?”

Wow - what might these ideas mean to you, and what might a visual expression of that meaning look like? I for one can’t wait to find out…

Deets: Needs to be a high resolution (300 dpi at least) jpg or TIFF. The cover is 6 by 9 inches.  Please send submissions directly to Chris: Chris.Bobel@umb.edu (and copy me, Madeleine@lunapads.com.) Good luck!

A friend sent me a link to this article by feminist author Katie Roiphe a couple of weeks ago, entitled “Get your kid off your Facebook page” and as a feminist, Mom and Facebook user it caught my attention. When I first glanced at it I thought that it was going to be about the risks of posting photos of your kids on the internet in general, for fear of pedophiles viewing them. Was I ever wrong.

Roiphe’s premise is essentially that the phenomena of women posting images of their children as their personal profile photos, rather than being a simple, benign, loving act, is in fact indicative of a far larger problem of women choosing to “hide” behind their children, intentionally abnegating their pre-Motherhood accomplishments and independent identities. And to think that I have been interpreting this as “hey, look how cute my kid is”, or “I just had a baby”, when in fact these women are actually opting out of the effort of “the whole excruciating business of being yourself” - whoa!

I should admit in fairness that Facebook has long intrigued me from a sociological  perspective - how is it redefining the meaning of friendship, and what does how we use it say about our identities and how we choose to express them to others?  The friend issue has interested me in particular, as prior to Facebook I would not have thought of people that I have never met or even had much contact with as capital-F Friends, in the way one does about those with whom we have shared major life experiences, or even just a regular cup of coffee and pleasant chat.  And yet here I am, and grateful for it, appreciating the insights into wider lives than just the typically professional connection that we had previously shared.  I have a lot more friends out there than I realized, awesome!

Friends (at least those who become Moms) in Roiphe’s world, however, become almost unbearably tedious in their maternal transformation, with their endless discussions of infantile bodily fluids and obsession with keeping up an incessant flow of attention towards their irritating offspring. Heck, even women who once had interesting and meaningful things to talk about like their careers and current events are now reduced to pandering, unkempt bores whose company is shunned by men at dinner parties.  The shame, the shame!

I have several friends, including men, on Facebook who have chosen a multitude of images of things and people other than themselves (including, but not limited to: Harvey Milk, a Sri Lankan beach, an assortment of superheroes, movie stars, household pets, random objects, and yes, their kids) to represent them on Facebook and elsewhere.  These images can be humorous, or indicating a milestone, such as the cover of a recently published book - not them, and yet clearly part of their message or one of their accomplishments.  How many readers out there “donated” their profile picture space or status updates to show their support for Barack Obama in the last US election? I myself am guilty, having posted images of myself with both my daughter and husband. Is this all I am? Not so much. Does it convey a crucial aspect of who I am in the world of which I am extremely proud? You bet.

I think that’s what saddened me the most about the article - an unwillingness to honor, or encourage being proud of something about ourselves other than what our resumes say.  It always wounds me a bit when feminists take aim at other women in this way, particularly using such gross exaggerations (Roiphe apparently doesn’t know any men who do the kid Facebook thing, or attend dinner parties where parents may happen to discuss something other than their kids.)  Why is it such a bad thing in Roiphe’s eyes to be proud to be a Mom in this way?

And last but not least, rather than remaining cognizant that hey, after all it’s just internet social networking (what your Mom would say, am I right?) she makes it sound like some rampant social pandemic.  Drivers licenses and passports might be next, so don’t go playing around with your Facebook image too much, or you might wake up one of these days not even knowing who you are anymore.

We are all too aware that dealing with something as benign as one’s own menstrual blood is more than some people can stomach.  At Lunapads we kind of enjoy pushing the envelope a bit about stuff that we are collectively uptight about (myself included - it’s called personal growth!), which brings me to a new product - Family Wipes.  Yes, friends, that would be reusable toilet paper!

If you happen to be the kind of person who is not totally weirded out by cloth menstrual pads, DivaCups or cloth diapers, then I’m hoping that you’re still reading and that you’ll at least consider trying it.  Here is a good overview of the benefits of using family wipes, which are very similar to those of switching to Lunapads or using cloth diapers.

The wipes are made of 70% bamboo and 30% organic cotton fleece, and are each about 6”x 8” (15 x 20cm.)  You’ll need two containers in the bathroom - one for fresh, the other for used (try different color containers so you don’t get them mixed up!)  To wash them, choose a hot water wash using your regular detergent as well as a shot or two of hydrogen peroxide.  If you’re currently cloth diapering, then just put them in the same load using whatever works for you on that score.

But wait - the uses for these products don’t stop in the bathroom - Suzanne swears by them as makeup remover wipes, and any Mom with half a wit will tell you that they’re just the thing to have on hand for runny noses (who needs throwaway tissues?).  Sound good to you?  Be among the first to try them out (only $3.99 for 6 or $7.99 for 12!) and let us know what you think.  Thanks to everyone who requested these!

            We are always on the lookout for organizations to donate cloth pads to, though our Pads4Girls campaign. The need for a sustainable solution to womens’ menstrual needs in developing countries is great and there are many wonderful organizations addressing this issue. Our newest recipient group is the Pads for Prisons project. The project exists to address the needs of women in the prisons of war-torn southern Sudan.
After two decades of civil war, the prison system in Southern Sudan has all but been destroyed and is in desperate need of reform. In the mean time the government of has identified a specific need to respond more effectively to the circumstances of children, women and other groups in prison with special needs. An assessment of the situation found that one of the issues that women in the prisons are facing is a total lack of health care and sanitary facilities, including sanitary pads.
Currently prisons are used to house numerous individuals who are not offenders, such as the mentally ill who are detained simply because the specialized facilities required to assist them simply do not exist. Aside from the many mentally ill women, many of the women detained in the prisons are not criminals by North American standards, rather they are in prison because of adultery (considered a criminal offense only for the woman involved) or they are serving time for their husbands who have unpaid debt.
Menstruation is a big challenge for the women in the prisons as they do not have adequate supplies. At best they are forced to use an old rag to deal with their period and at worst; nothing at all.  According to Pads for Prisons’ website one prisoner noted that she was tied to a tree during the time of her menstrual cycle, as the guard did not want her to make a mess on the prison floor.
Pads for Prisons has already collected 610 cloth pads to send to the women and are seeking further donations to help supply all of the women at the prisons with a supply of reusable cloth pads. To donate a Pads4Girls Lunapads Kit to the Pads for Prisons project or any of our other recipient groups visit the donate pads section on Lunapads.com.

As regular readers of this blog are already aware, Reusablebags.com is one of our most-admired businesses.  So it will come as no great surprise to learn that when I received a telephone call from their VP of Operations letting me know that Lunapads had been chosen as new products on their site, I was so happy that I pretty much rolled around on the floor.  Plus, he actually called - who does that anymore?  The new business chivalry, I love it.

While I was excited at the prospect of having recruited a possibly-substantial new customer,  the deeper feeling that I was having was one of validation.  We live in an odd little world here at Lunapads, and at times feel misunderstood with respect to why we do what we do (Redbook, anyone?)  So getting the order from one of our business idols was about far more than just the value of the order - it was really about feeling seen, understood, and respected by someone who gets it.  For anyone new to Reusablebags.com, it was the 2007 People’s Choice Award winner from Green America (formerly Co-op America), is cited in Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, and was recently featured on the Oprah show.

Want to help us to make this a beautiful, long-term relationship?  Do you need any new super-skookum shopping bags or water bottles?  (Suzanne and I are lusting after the hemp napkins, sandwich bags, and more of our favorite shopping bags)  Here is a discount promo code for 15% off Lunapads (case sensitive!): Luna15.  Go crazy from now until midnight CST on May 28, 2009. As an added incentive they are offering $7 flat rate shipping for US domestic orders - I may have to do a little shopping myself!

Whether you need anything or not, please take a minute to write a review of Lunapads while you’re there

In Lunapads mythology, Once Upon A Time there was a fair young maiden (yours truly!) who aspired to make the loveliest washable menstrual pads in the land.  She toiled endlessly at her sewing machines day after day, week after week, and (natch) month after month, until she created something she was satisfied with.  She asked her mirror, “Mirror, mirror, on the wall, which are the fairest pads of all?”, to which the mirror replied “All pads that are made with love and respect for women’s bodies are truly fair and lovely.”  Love that mirror!  I passed along the task of sewing Lunapads to our noble production partners many years ago, but I continued to sew all manner of clothes and household linens right up until my daughter was born just over 4 years ago.

Since that time, I must confess that gardening has captured my creative heart (easier to do with a 4 year old, as well!), and so I was a bit nervous to pull out my rulers, scissors and 20 year old domestic single-needle machine to make this video - did I still have the magic?  That verdict will have to be in the eyes of the beholder of the video, but for my part it was really fun in a “blast from the past” kind of way.

Part 1:

Part 2:

The videos and pattern download were created in response to two needs: first, as a possible option for those who can’t afford Lunapads, or to support those who prefer to make things themselves, just because. Second is to offer it as an instructional tool for women in Africa to make pads for themselves and/or as commercial products, as well as for crafters in this neck of the woods who want to make pads to contribute as donations to Pads4Girls (more on that in the next post - stay tuned!)

A note on the video: it is not about how to make Lunapads, which requires a far more complex sewing process (not to mention 3 different fabrics and 2 different sewing machines - eek!)  Rather, it is an easy, adjustable pattern that can be made with a single-needle domestic machine and a wide variety of fabrics.  You can download the pattern here.  I encourage you to experiment with different fabrics and closures, and have fun!

In Vancouver, while there are many lovely stores to purchase mama, baby and earth friendly products, one of my favourites is Little Earth, located right beside my midwives clinic.  Run by Mariska and Flavia, Little Earth carries unique, high-quality childrens clothing and toys, as well as consignment clothing for mamas-to-be and children.

In honour of Mother’s Day and to thank the amazing Mamas who have supported them, Little Earth will be hosting a Free Mommy Make Over Day.  So, if you are a local Vancouver Mama, consider treating yourself to some pampering.  While you’re there, please consider doing some shopping that day for the little ones in your life, as Little Earth is generously donating 10% of all sales on this day to our very own Pads4Girls program! Deets below…

Join us for a day of well deserved pampering and treats!

There will be professional make up artists, hair stylists and Indian head Massage all for you!  10 % of all sales on this day will be donated to Pads4Girls.

You can pre- book to secure your spot, but walk-ins are always welcome.
Where: Little Earth
When: Sat May 9 noon-4 pm
Who : Beautiful Mama’s and Mama’s to be
How :  Pre-book 778-737-7004

littleearthvancouver@gmail.com

Since meeting one another, Madeleine and I have shared many special moments both personally and professionally.  The summer of 2002, for example, was amazing:  Madeleine got married and I gave birth to my first son, Aiden.  Buying our own office space in 2007 was another important business milestone.  This past week saw another major highlight:  spending time with Peggy O’Mara, publisher and editor of Mothering magazine, and hosting a fundraising tea party in support of Pads4Girls with her as the guest of honor.

As Madeleine referenced in an earlier post, we bumped into Peggy last month at a trade show.  Knowing she was coming to Vancouver for the Healthy Families Conference, we invited her for tea at Lunapads.  As we planned the event, we also learned Peggy had no particular plans while visiting Vancouver, so Madeleine and I took it upon ourselves to be her host and show her our beautiful city.  After picking her up at the airport, we headed to Tojo’s, one of Vancouver’s most creative sushi restaurants (Peggy lived in Japan for several years in her teens) and, over a delightful west coast meal, we chatted about being moms and entrepreneurs. What immediately struck me was that despite her celebrity status (in my eyes, anyway!) Peggy is just like us: a devoted mother and mission-based entrepreneur with whom we share similar goals and business challenges.

The next day, we transformed our bustling office into a open meeting space.  Held as a fundraiser for our Pads4Girls program, 30 women, mostly mompreneurs in the birthing or baby industry, gathered to hear Peggy speak.  Madeleine and I savored the incredible energy that built up as each woman arrived.  We listened to Peggy talk about her career’s humble beginnings on her farm in New Mexico, raising four young children, and how she purchased and grew Mothering magazine to where it is today.  If you want to read more about Peggy’s story (and other inspiring passages) I highly recommend you refer to the Mothering site here for archives of Peggy’s editorials.

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