Lunapads

A recent customer email caught my attention. Not that I ever tire of the “usual” (“How do I use this?”, “Thank you!!!” etc), but this one struck a personal chord and I’d like to share it with you. In 1992 the first inkling of what was to become Lunapads (product and company) was stirring in me: the “the glimmer in my eye”, you might say. One day I sat down and wrote a letter that was basically a brief outline of a dream: to bring a group women together to make and sell environmentally responsible products. I sent it to about a dozen or so people that I respected for their feedback. Much to my surprise and disappointment, I didn’t get any replies - good thing it didn’t stop me

Andrea Bloomquist has honored us by bringing us her desire and ideas in hopes that we might be able to help her create her dream. To me, there are few things more powerful and inspiring than a young woman wanting to make a difference in the world, so let’s help find a way to put her to work!

“My name is Andrea. I am a graduate student at the University of Washington in Seattle, studying educational leadership & policy with an emphasis on higher ed. I am set to graduate in August (yay!) and am doing some serious soul-searching to figure out where to let my branches sway next.

I have been reading all about Luna Pads and Diva Cups and am a recent convert (no more waste!). I also have been spending much of my time over the years, especially recently, thinking about how I can put my interests (women’s reproductive/sexual health, education, the environment, and international issues) together and pursue a career.

I am writing to you in this very early stage of my brainstorming in the hopes that you may be able to point me in an interesting direction. Through your customers, clients, friends, colleagues, etc., do you have any knowledge about an organization (large or small) that could use the help of a passionate, bi-lingual (Spanish), woman to educate women about the Diva Cup or Luna Pads so that they can be free to pursue their education, secure stable employment, support their families, etc.? I believe I have a lot to offer, so I am looking for that person/organization that is saying to themselves “if only we had someone who could help us spread the word…”.

It is looking very likely that I will travel to Australia for 3-6 months beginning in January, 2009. After that I may be relocating to Colorado to be close to my mom. So, these are two potential location where I could help spread the word. I am open to others…

Any thoughts would be much appreciated. I absolutely admire the work that your team has done. It is so inspiring to see the birth and growth of your company. I hope that someday I will make such an impact as well.

Thanks very much in advance for your help.”

Go Andrea! Thanks for having the courage to share your dream with us. If any of you want to contact her directly, send your thoughts to blog@lunapads.com and we’ll make sure she gets them.

Wow! That’s the single-best word I can come up with to describe the Passion with a Purpose fundraiser last week. For the record, we had no idea what to expect, and had never met Loretta Cella, the organizer, before. But hey, if someone is a friend of a beloved friend, then chances are good that you’ll connect. And connect we did! What a great evening, from start to finish. Loretta is connected with a fantastic group of women here in Vancouver who socialize regularly. The spa was gorgeous, and there were lovely snacks, including handmade chocolate-dipped strawberries, wine and the best hummous I’ve had in ages. We started off the evening with introductions - Loretta talking about her upcoming trip to Kenya, and Madeleine introduced Lunapads. From there, most gals went off for various treatments while those remaining got to know one another. That’s Suzanne on the left, looking totally blissed out after a massage, with me on the right, in front of the Lunapads display.

Best of all, over $1,000 was raised to purchase “Goods 4 Girls” Kits (that’s 35 kits!). Like I said, WOW!

For all you gals who have switched to resuable menstrual products, Lunapads and the Earth thanks you. As another small token of our thanks, we are offering our new Cycle Chart as a free, earth friendly download to fans who join our facebook group. Joining our facebook group is a convenient way for us to stay in touch with our customers and give you facebook exclusive specials like this one. The free Cycle Chart download offer expires My 31, 2008. �

Holy smokes, am I ever feeling silly with this one. Here’s the story: my freshly 3 year old daughter Genevieve came down with a fever earlier this week so has been at home. As those of you who are parents well know, there is only so much napping, reading and cookie making that one can peacefully manage with a grumpy toddler in a day before everyone needs a break. As much as I am loathe to admit it, TV’s just the ticket for these situations. G’s exposure to television to this point has been very limited (Knowledge Network only - no ads, and for short periods only), and the odd video (Finding Nemo).

So my poor dear daughter is feeling rotten and naturally as her Mom I want to perk her up, so I think “hey, how about getting the Little Mermaid video?” So off we go to the video store, where of course they don’t have the Little Mermaid (it’s 2 months overdue!), just (Goddess help me, I had no idea!) an entire wall of Barbie videos. G goes mental. Now, understand that she does not own a Barbie doll, so how she even knows what or who Barbie is, is unclear to me. Nevertheless, clearly she does and desperately wants to know more. Alarmed, I manage to pare her overflowing armload down to 3 DVDs, all the while cursing my feminist soul - if only my Women’s Studies classmates could see me now!

Back at the ranch, we sit down to the vids. What gets me most is not their impossible figures, but how nasty the Barbies (well, not Barbie herself of course) are to one another, not to mention other assorted unpleasant female characters. In fact, the plots in my limited sample all seemed to come down to the following drama: innocent, blonde (only mean characters have dark hair) Barbie is happily going about her business when she is maliciously confronted by a jealous, dark-haired female. Dark-haired female unsuccessfully plots to do away with Barbie, who ultimately triumphs by winning the true love of a Prince. If she doesn’t start off being a Princess, she somehow becomes one along the way, dress included. Here’s a sample of our conversation:

G: “Mommy, why is she being mean to Barbie?”

Me: “Because she’s jealous.”

G: “What’s jealous?”

Me: “Being mad at someone because they have something you don’t.”

G: “Why?”

And so on. What have I done?!?

It doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of point in trying to stem the tide at this point (as a girl I loved Barbies too, and it seems like denial of the highest order to pretend that Barbie doesn’t exist), other than to make a BOLD note to self: DO NOT TAKE G TO THE VIDEO STORE, EVER. That said, 3 seems a bit young to start work on media literacy and feminist criticism. Or is this really so bad? Like it or not, there are mean and jealous people in the world after all, we just need to recognize that they don’t all have the same hair color. Any thoughts, feminist (or thought they were) Moms?

As you know, we are very proud of our beautiful office. One of my favourite things about it (other than the people and paint colours) is a collection of artwork and documents at the front. So this post is a bit of a mini-tour, as well as just sharing some of the things that make working here special.

Thanks to a recent suggestion from our personal Feng Shui expert (aka Suzanne’s Mom), we recently moved our front altar table (pictured at left) to improve the inflow of good energy into the office. The table was built by a talented architect/designer friend as part of a trade show display. On the upper far left of the table you can see a beautiful statue of Kuan Yin (the Goddess of Compassion - Suzanne reminds me of her) that I inherited from a beloved Aunt. Next to her is an African fertility statue given to us by our friend and herbal supplier Nikiah (that’s a bag of her herbs under the table, as it happens, waiting to become herbal heat packs!) Underneath that there is a mask given to us by a Zimbabwean-Canadian woman as a thank you for donated pads, a lovely box that I brought Suzanne as a gift from Mexico, a gorgeous red glass ball given to Suzanne by a close friend, the Maiden garland Suzanne gave me prior to my wedding, and a “prosperity” piggy bank - a gift from Wendy, our production partner and next-door neighbor.

The photo on the wall above on the left caught my eye at an art show at a local cafe and reads “create” (a personal mantra) - it was taken at the Berlin Wall just prior to its fall. The painting on the right is a powerful piece reminiscent of Georgia O’Keeffe that I commissioned from a local artist many years ago to incorporate in Lunapads packaging and marketing materials.

The photo on the right is basically of a big mishmash of letters from customers, thank you letters from organizations who have received donations, and random fun bits and pieces. My personal favourite is the knitted pink “L” made by uber-crafty Lunagal Morgan.

If these walls could speak, I think they’d say “we like it here!”

Woo hoo! The brand-new super-gorgeous and of course highly practical Lunapads Cycle Charts are here! This new product is a fun and creative tool that offers insight into the unique patterns of your menstrual cycle. Whether you’re trying to predict the date of your next period, know when you’re ovulating, or just want to be more in tune with your body, we’re sure that you’ll find it useful and interesting.

The Cycle Chart has 2 parts: the Legend and the Chart. The Legend has four sections of symbols: “your period” for information about your menses and body, “your mood” to track emotions, “your fertility” for information related to fertility, and “your world” to note your external environment.

The Chart is a grid with two circles for each day: one to record the calendar date, and the other for a symbol chosen from the Legend (or make your own!) When used consistently for a few months, the Cycle Chart will reveal patterns that can lead you to a deeper understanding of your cycle…and yourself. Available now as a downloadable .pdf file or we’ll send you one in the mail.

We weren’t entirely sure what to think about all this, but thought the subject matter and off the wall approach made it a compelling friday afternoon share.

Thoughts?

Sorry to be so Vancouver-centric in my posts these days, but there is just a ton of good stuff happening!

On Thursday April 24th the Women’s Health Research Network presents health activist Judy Norsigian speaking about about the global reach of the now classic book on women’s health Our Bodies, Ourselves. The Director of the Institute of Gender and Health (Canadian Institutes of Health Research), Dr. Joy Johnson, will open the evening with a discussion of the advances in women’s health research in Canada.

This free event is open to anyone with an interest in women’s health. Guests can attend in person or over the internet via live webcast.

Speakers include:

* Judy Norsigian, Executive Director and co-founder of Our Bodies, Ourselves
* Dr. Joy Johnson, Director of the Institute for Gender and Health, Canadian Institutes of Health Research
* Dr. Lorraine Greaves, Director of the BC Centre of Excellence for Women’s Health
* Dr. Jerilynn Prior, Founder and Director of the Centre for Menstrual Cycle and Ovulation Research

Details:
Date: April 24, 2008
Time: 6:30pm-10:00pm
Place: Paetzold Auditorium, Vancouver General Hospital
Cost: Free, but space is limited (live webcast also available)

For tickets, call 778.782.8589 or register online.

Yay! The cause of pads for girls in Africa is taking off like crazy. This time, it’s a local fundraiser at a swanky spa, so if anyone’s up for a pedicure while supporting a good cause, then come on down to “Passion with Purpose at the Pan Pacific”. All spa services will be 10% off, plus silent auction, snacks, drinks etc. I will be there for sure, complete with a Lunapads display.

The event starts at 6pm at Spa Utopia in the Pan Pacific Hotel on Thursday April 17th.

The benefit is the brainchild of Loretta Cella, a friend of Madeleine Kipling’s, who is yet another go-getter-make-it-happen kind of gal (our favourite kind!). Loretta has long dreamed of traveling to Africa, and the purpose of the event is to raise funds for her to purchase Lunapads to take with her to distribute to girls while she’s there.

The event is limited to 30 women, so call Loretta soon if you’re interested. She is also looking for Silent auction donations: (604) 710-4480.

If you look around these days, mainstream consumers are slowly starting to get it about the environment: hybrid cars, getting rid of plastic water and baby bottles, bringing reusable grocery bags to the checkout line, etc.  But what about using reusable cloth pads and menstrual cups?  When I was recently talking to Suzanne at Birthfest about how reusable pads and cups might be on the cusp of a mainstream breakthrough, she asked me to write a post about it.  

There is evidence all over the Internet that women are increasingly discovering the comfort and convenience of reusable menstrual products. I haven’t seen any significant coverage of this issue in the mainstream media, but even if there were I’m not all that confident such stories would have much effect. Instead, it’s going to take women themselves to bring the issue to the forefront, spreading the news by word of mouth. We women have a natural talent for creating networks which function as very effective vehicles for the dissemination of information.

And the Internet provides the perfect medium for this. For example, when I was pregnant with my first child, I joined the Natural Family Living discussion board at Mothering.com. It was here I learned about cloth diapering. After switching to cloth for my own baby it was an easy next step to try out Lunapads. After all, if putting cloth against my baby’s skin, instead of paper and plastic, could feel so good then why not do the same for myself? Lunapads were just as fun to buy and use as cloth diapers (who’d have thought I’d actually enjoy getting my period?) and it felt good to reduce our household waste. I couldn’t wait to spread the word!

And I’m not the only one: more and more bloggers are writing about reusable menstrual products like the DivaCup. In my local community of mama friends we organized an online Buying Club with the support of Lunapads. The first one was such a success, and the women so happy with their products, that we organized a second one.  And now that Lunapads has an official buying club policy on its website, you can easily put one together and take action on the power of word of mouth.

There is one small problem with all this enthusiasm, however.
(more…)