Lunapads

Everywoman’s Health Centre’s second annual Art for Everywoman’s — a Wine, Cheese and Farmer’s Market fundraiser — is the perfect solution for pre-Christmas craziness…after all, where ELSE can you drink BC wine and beer, eat organic cheese, listen to live music, socialize AND Christmas shop from an all-local, independent farmer’s market all at the same time?!
Lunapads will be there with bells on, so come on out to join the party!

Sadly, Marie-Genevieve is leaving us for greener pastures. We’re looking for a new Lunagal who is interested in working for about 30 hours/week at a progressive, feminist, internet-based green small business in Vancouver BC. Enthusiasm for natural menstrual products is a must, as are good computer skills, personable customer service and affectionate tolerance for occasionally discovering small children hiding under your desk. To learn more about Lunapads and our company culture, check out the About Us section on our website.
As our new Customer Service and Shipping Assistant you will be responsible for the following:
- Processing and fulfillment of internet orders
- Coordination of mail and courier shipments
- Packing and invoicing of wholesale orders
- Monitoring of inventory levels
Please send your resume and cover letter to jobs@lunapads.com.
Thanks!

Sometimes it’s hard for me to explain what exactly I study at school.

My family members, proud of me but unsure of what it is that I do at this fancy college, are constantly asking for details. “What are you taking up at school?” my aunt Eleanor asks. “Um, Sociology…” I reply, nervously, “…and Biology, and Women’s Studies, I guess.”

That’s quite a range, but it’s actually pretty simple – I study periods. No, not grammatical periods or time periods. I study capital P, bleeding-out-of-your-vagina Periods.

It all started when I stumbled across a livejournal community about menstrual cups two years ago. I found this huge collection of personal stories and technical information all about exotic-sounding alternative menstrual products that I’d never heard of before. I’d never been too fond of the limiting and monopolized “feminine hygiene” options in my local pharmacy, so I gathered some money from my savings and ordered a DivaCup online. After a long, anxious wait for the package to come in the mail, then another wait for my period to start, I finally got to use my cup for the first time. It was wonderful and I was hooked! I had never been so happy about being a woman or getting my period before, so I made it my mission to spread the word about menstrual cups.

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As the Holidays approach it’s hard not to feel inundated with “gift ideas” (hey, we even have some!) and wonder if we haven’t lost sight of the real message of holiday giving. Here are some organizations working in different ways to improve women’s lives that could use your support.

Tsunamika
Our current “free gift” with orders, Tsunamika dolls originally came to us as gifts from Nikiah at Mama Goddess Birth Shop. Tsunamika are tiny dolls handmade by women survivors of the December 26, 2004 South Asian tsunami. A collective of 500 women in Tamil Nadu province, India make and distribute tsunamika as tools for awareness and fund raising. We encourage you to
follow Lunapads’ lead and donate!

Women for Women International
I received Zainab Salbi’s book “Between Two Worlds: Escape from Tyranny: Growing up in the Shadow of Saddam” as a Christmas gift last year and was mesmerized by it. A survivor of war herself, Salbi went on to create Women for Women International, an organization dedicated to helping female survivors of conflict rebuild their lives. WFW takes an intensive, holistic approach to bringing women from being victims to survivors.

Not For Sale
An estimated 27 million people, mostly women and children, are currently enslaved worldwide. Not for Sale is a campaign of artists, individuals, musicians, people of faith, businesses, schools and sports teams united to stop it. Don’t just get mad about women and children enslaved in the sex trade – Not For Sale has a ton of suggestions for getting active – now.

CODEPINK
CODEPINK is a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end the war in Iraq, stop new wars, and redirect our resources into healthcare, education and other life-affirming activities. With an emphasis on joy and humor, CODEPINK women and men seek to activate, amplify and inspire a community of peacemakers through creative campaigns and a commitment to non-violence.

Are there organizations that you want the Lunapads community to know about? Tell us and we’ll help to spread the word!

The Red Moon contest through Re:Connection Magazine that we mentioned on the blog back in September has found it’s winning poem. A beautiful piece demonstrating that even in pain we can have beautiful moments.

My Blessed Curse

Way back when
when my limbs
were long and thin
the change had finally
come to me.

My mother knew.
I didn’t have to say a word.

How does a mother know?

Way back when,
when my hips
and chest
began to shape
with curves
the pain was so severe
it sent me crying to the floor.

My mother did not judge me
Drama Queen,
but only looked
with sympathetic hazel eyes
then let me know
she would make some tea.

And so my blessed curse came,
came every month,
with nausea, pain and blood.

Still it’s the delicious smells
of cinnamon tea
that I remember most.

Way back when,
when my body young,
curved, thin and firm,
I began to feel
a different way-
a different me-
Yes, my blessed curse had skipped a turn.

And yes, my mother knew.
I didn’t have to say a word.

It must have been the glow.

And there within my ever changing me
grew inside a little mini me,
growing steadily
with my ever growing dreams
of then and now,
the blessed curse,
good moms, good daughters, good lives
and cinnamon tea.

Gloria Campos-Hensley

Craft fairs are abundant this time of year, so I need to be choosy. The two I want to attend are both this weekend, and are very special indeed and not to be missed.

The Vancouver Waldorf School Children’s Christmas Fair in North Vancouver (Sat Nov 24). This is a truly magical event for all ages that includes a huge craft fair and market with amazing hand made crafts (I made some felt figures, but I’ll buy them back at the fair so no one else does), healthy food market, acitivities for kids (puppet show, candle dipping, wreath making, gingerbread decorating, etc.) It is the main fundraiser for our school and attracts a big crowd. Come early and be prepared for line ups for the most popular activities!

The Maternal Creations craft fair put on by my midwives is from Friday night (Nov 23rd) to Sunday pm. Mothers in the community gather to sell and exhibit unique trinkets, practicals, and enjoyables that are sewn, thrown, painted, beaded, quilting, knitted, molded and stamped. Different vendors every day! I exhibited last year, but was overwhelmed by the activity, all the while caring for baby Garret at the same time. This year, I’ll browse at my leisure and have lots of time to shop, visit and chat.

So, if you live in the lower mainland of Vancouver, please come check out these 2 events.

I was just reading some feedback on our Facebook group from customers who would like to be able to donate to charities that we work with at Lunapads. A great idea that we are working on, although it’s not as easy as you might think from a technical perspective! In the meantime, we often donate pads to La Leche League chapters, groups working with low-income or developing nations women, and youth - we just don’t talk about it as much as we could. One of our collective “to do’s” for 2008 is to devote more time to sharing these stories, which brings me to a real, live example.
The University of British Columbia (the Canadian province where Lunapads is located) has an organization called Global Outreach Students Association. One if its many projects is women students educating rural women in Ecuador about women’s reproductive health and family planning. GOSA approached us a couple of years ago about donating Lunapads as part of their program. We got this letter and photos just the other day that tell the story:
“We received a generous donation of Lunapads from you earlier in the summer to take with us to a rural Indigenous community in Ecuador. Please find attached pictures of us explaining to the women how to use them. This is the second year that Lunapads has donated to GOSA, and again the response from the community was overwhelmingly positive. We distributed the pads to the women after a sexual health workshop where we explained the female reproductive cycle, different contraceptive methods, and had a great positive discussion including men about respectful cooperation between both women and men in a family. At the end, we introduced the Lunapads to any menstruating women who had attended the workshop. Previously the women were using awkward homemade methods to manage their period. They were excited to receive the pads and were extremely happy with them. The response was such that, even after we had given all the Lunapads, we continued to have women ask us about the product and if we had any more!! Both our organization and the communities we were working with would love to collaborate with Lunapads in the future.
Even if methods we’re more familiar with, such as (disposable) pads and tampons, were available and affordable to these communities, there is no waste management available and would only be adding to the inorganic garbage that they do not have any environmentally safe ways to manage. Lunapads was the perfect option and we were very happy to distribute them knowing that they are a comfortable, reusable, and sustainable product.
Again, thank you, and we look forward to be in contact in the future. It is because of the generosity of companies such as Lunapads that student organizations are able to go overseas and work on these kinds of projects.”
Sincerely, Natalie Amram

In case you haven’t joined our “I heart my Lunapads” group on Facebook yet, here’s another great reason: free pad contests! In this case, all you have to do is join the group and add your idea for the name of this fabric to the discussion thread. Whoever comes up with our favorite name wins some new pads in the fabulous new fabric - woo hoo!

How does one make sure girls are getting involded in the action sports that have typically been left to the ‘boyz’? You start your own community to get women involved! Enter Bettygohard, the action sports company focused on inspiring women. Created by Natasha Lockey aka Betty, a lover of action sports who was frustrated at never seeing Girls in Action and wanted to see more girls out there pushing their limits and inspiring others to do the same! She wanted to create a safe space where women could play hard and get the suport they needed to get involved.

She started out with a series of women’s weekly shuttle-assisted rides followed with appetizers (wine, cheese & chocolate…the way to a girls heart.) This mountain biking series was created after speaking with a number of women who wanted to get out on their bikes but lacked confidence and riding partners of a similar level. She has been overwhelmed with the positive response for the six week riding series, and is developing other programs to accommodate the demand.

While inspiring women to get outdoors, she also decided to make a point of educating women on how to respect their bodies. She contacted us here at Lunapads to make a donation so we sent along a Mini Pantyliner for each rider in the summer series - they were a hit! Wearing cloth pads while riding a bike is far more comfortable and healthier for you.

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I know, I know. Halloween is over and done. But I am one of the world’s greatest procrastinators and so here is my Halloween post – only 9 days late…that’s almost a record for me
I have often procrastinated on getting a costume, or if I did manage to scheme up ‘the perfect costume’ in my mind, I would go off in search of what I needed only to be disappointed by what I could find at the thrift stores and call the whole thing off only to end up with the world’s lamest costume. You know those ones that everyone does, oooh, a black cape and some dark lipstick, I mean, how creative is that?!

But this year we decided to plan ahead to make sure we looked good. First off, there were 3 activities to go to the weekend of Halloween fun so I didn’t want to disappoint. The first stop was the Parade of Lost Souls, second was Marie-Genevieve’s 27th birthday party which had a rockers theme (based upon the 27 Club) and third was my pal Harry’s party. Since one party had a theme we had to do something that would work for that but would also be more than just a general ‘rocker’ look. We racked our brains and finally came up with this. My sweetheart and I were going to do our first couples costumes, and become The Knife. They are an ‘electronic’ brother/sister duo from Sweden (seriously check them out, they are so good) They get stage fright and wear these raven masks, so even if anyone didn’t get the reference, it would still be a cool and scary look.

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