Lunapads Blog

We are often asked to contribute samples and information to various women’s and environmental groups. The Younger Women’s Task Force is a great example. Pictured here are participants in the YWTF’s recent national leadership conference in Washington DC, holding the Lunapads gift packs we donated.

The YWTF is a project of the National Council of Women’s Organizations in the USA. It is a nationwide, diverse and inclusive grassroots movement dedicated to organizing younger women and their allies to take action on issues that matter most to them. By and for younger women, YWTF works both within and beyond the women’s movement, engaging all who are invested in advancing the rights of younger women. Through its twelve chapters across the USA, YWTF members are working to:
- Provide a stronger voice in the policy making process for women in their 20’s and 30’s
- Increase the impact of younger women activists through the articulation of, and collaboration on, a common agenda
- Create a culture of inclusion where decision-making and power are practiced collectively, and members from diverse backgrounds participate in all levels of YWTF
- Define and develop the next generation of women leaders
- Create a local and national network for peer mentoring, networking and sharing resources
Sounds like our kind of thing!

My name is KT and I’m Karen’s daughter. I’m 13 years old and am also home-schooled. I’m writing on my mom’s blog today to review Lunapads. What are Lunapads? Well, they are cloth menstrual pads that can be washed and used again. They have lots of different ways they can be used because the pads, which come in different sizes and have nylon in them to prevent leaks, can have a special liner on them or they can be used on their own. There are also ones made of only cloth for very light days.

I had already had two periods and used disposable pads when my mom found out about Lunapads. I decided to try them because the disposables were very uncomfortable for me. Lunapads are way more comfortable then disposables, and they don’t get sticky and hot. They also don’t crinkle and make lots of noise like disposables do. I hated thinking that my friends could hear my pad crinkle when I walked! They are, in the long run, cheaper as well because you don’t have to replace them every time they get dirty.

An average woman uses 12,000 pads or tampons in her lifetime! And these can take 40 years or longer to biodegrade. Lunapads can be re-used again and again. That’s why they’re less harmful to the environment. They are also easy to clean, just soak them in a little water and put them in the washer. Then air dry them and they are as clean as new!

Not only are they better for me, and the environment, they are just really cute! They come in all kinds of cute fabrics and colors and that’s way more exciting than just plain boring white.

Best of all, I feel so much better about my period now!!

My mom wanted me to write this review so that I could encourage other teenagers to try them. I really like Lunapads and I think you should try them too. If you want to learn more go to Lunapads. There you can find FAQ, testimonials, and a list of their products.

Maybe you can be nice to the environment and yourself at the same time!

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Calling all Vancouverites. I invite you to visit me during an in-store demo of Lunapads at the Deep Cove Super Valu (415 North Dollarton Hwy, North Vancouver) on Saturday October 27th from about 3 - 5pm. Just minutes away from my house, I’m so pleased to see our products hitting the local shelves. In an effort to support our retailers and create some buzz, I’ll be at the store showing Lunapads to local shoppers. As an added incentive to stop by, visitors will be treated to a sampling of delicious chocolate from Zazubean (because periods and chocolate go so well together, don’t you think?) And, if you purchase the Pantyliners or Maxi Pad and Liner, you will receive a bonus wing liner (or more chocolate!) I look forward to seeing some of you. Bring your curious friends too.

About a year ago I moved from my hometown of Chicago to a small city in the very southwest corner of Arizona. There is not a whole lot of green here, literally or figuratively. Although the brown desert landscape has its charm, the not-so-environmentally-friendly culture is a bit hard to swallow (as is the entire ultra-conservative vibe of the region…but I digress). For example, there are essentially no recycling options in the area for most recyclable products. Since I couldn’t force myself to throw a cardboard box in the garbage even if I tried with both hands, I now have a garage filled with recyclables. They just sit there, hopefully waiting for this town to get it together, or for my next trip to California. Although collecting garbage in your garage is not what you might call an ideal situation, it does make you more aware of the waste you generate. In fact, living here has made me stop and think about a lot of my habits. When I started looking at the choices I make in my daily life, I realized that I was doing a lot of things I simply didn’t agree with out of habit.

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We invite you to enter the latest contest at Pajama Mommy to win a Lunapads Intro Kit. What originally started as a blog, Pajama Mommy is an online community that is “a nice cozy spot on the web for mothers”. Pajama Mommy does book reviews, interviews, tips on blogging, and of course product reviews. When Pajama Mommy featured Lunapads as a product in the Going Green section on their site last month, we were thrilled and rewarded them with an Intro Kit to give away. To see the contest details and enter, visit their site. Good luck!

Over the years we have experimented off and on with making products for babies and new moms - cloth diapers, hooded bath towels, breast pads etc, but always ended up “sticking to our knitting”, as a friend of mine is fond of saying. In other words, we make really great menstrual pads and underwear and sadly don’t have time for much else, at least when it comes to actually making it ourselves. That said, we get lots of requests for these kinds of products, and so we’re delighted when we find others who have different knitting, as it were, especially if the business is local, woman-owned and aligned with our values.
Which brings us to Bamboobino, a Vancouver-based, Mom-owned company that is making gorgeous Mom and baby accessories with bamboo fabric. Sharon Chai is the talent behind Bamboobino. She chose bamboo fabric for its softness and eco-friendliness - not to mention its other compelling qualities such as absorbency, anti-bacterial properties, and durability. Her cuddly bath wraps first caught our eye at our production partner’s factory, and we soon had an email from her introducing herself and the company.

With Suzanne still nursing Garret, she was able to test drive the breast pads and the Baby Bath gift set (which includes a hooded bath wrap, hat and washcloths, shown) and so now they’ve been added to our Comfort section. Bathtime is key to baby’s day, and regular towels don’t work all that well when it comes to a wriggling babe. Sharon’s ingenious design is like a little towel-sack that keeps baby’s whole body covered, and is self-belting to boot. It would be a great way to keep baby warm while giving her a pre-bed massage, and naturally would be a perfect gift. A final note: I appreciate how gender-free these products are in a world where everything to do with babies seems to feel the need to be either pink or blue!

October is a banner month for new products at Lunapads and we’d like to tell you about some of them. First off, huge thanks to those of you who provide feedback and request new products - it may take a while for us to respond, but we’re listening! Keep ‘em coming!
We have already had an impressive response to the new Wide Maxi Pad. Thanks to requests from plus-sized customers who felt that our regular Maxi Pads were a bit on the narrow side for their needs, we added 3/4” to the width and teamed it with a wing liner for added lateral protection.
With the addition of our new Heavy Wing Liner (that’s me demonstrating how to use it in the photo!), we’ve been able to fine-tune our new Post-partum Kit, as well as pair it with the Heavy Pad + Liner for perfectly compatible protection for very heavy or post-partum flow.
And speaking of heavy flow, check out our new Heavy Flow Starter Kit, designed specially for those of us who (well, obviously!) have heavy flow.
All these products are on sale this month, so take advantage of these introductory savings!

After we had moved into our new house in Comox, my husband started an ‘organic’ non-genetically modified food kick that followed us here to Ontario. I have to admit that the selection here isn’t as good as it was back home, and I might buy a banana or avocado here or there that isn’t organic to help us stay on budget. But we try our best and the lifestyle change is firmly embedded into our cereal choices (General Mills will never set foot in my pantry again… I know never say never, but for now Nature’s Path and Kashi are staples in our grocery list). So now it is my turn. I know nine ladies who are expecting at the moment and two really new moms (it’s an epidemic!). I know that at least 30% of those ladies are planning on cloth diapering at least part time. This got me to thinking (and reading) and I am now on a reusable kick.

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Canadian customers can now watch for our our gorgeous new retail packaging to hit the shelves. Thanks to all of you who let us know that they’d like to see Lunapads at their local health food store, our new packaging is not only eye-catching, but also fully bilingual. We love the colors so much, in fact, that we used them to paint our new office!

If you don’t find Lunapads at your local shop, please ask for them. Lunapads are available through the following distributors: in Western Canada, Horizon or Tara Natural, in Ontario via Corwin and through Directa Distribution in Quebec. You can also send us an email letting us know the name of the store that you’d like to see them in, and we’ll see what we can do!

Customers in the USA: we want to see Lunapads on the shelves of your local stores too! Ask your retailer to contact us directly. This is the best way for us to get listed.