Lunapads Blog

It’s been a while since our last video, but I think you’ll agree that this one is worth the wait.

Many of you have probably perused our Why Switch? section, which I admit verges on being overly extensive (there are a lot of reasons, after all!)  While the argument will be old news to our existing customers, our latest video is a one minute snappy version for women who have never heard of Lunapads (or even thought of cloth pads).  It’s also an entertaining little kick in the pants (pads?) to those fence-sitters out there, in the hopes that they will be inspired to relinquish their fears and reservations to take the leap to a brighter, more eco-positive menstrual future!

Do you have some girl friends who you’ve been meaning to tell about Lunapads, but didn’t know how?  Here’s the perfect thing to send their way!

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Now, about that Giveaway:
Complete the 3 steps below & you’ll be entered to win 1 of 5 $25 gift certificates for Lunapads.com!

1. Watch the video on our YouTube Channel
2. Use the buttons below the video to Share via Facebook or Twitter, or <Embed> onto your blog or website. Tip: Use #clothpadsftw on Twitter and @Lunapads.com on Facebook.
3. Comment below telling us where you posted our video, including a link, if possible.

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This is also a perfect opportunity to express some gratitude: Nancee, our summer marketing intern, fearlessly piloted this project from start to finish, bringing a happy mix of technical experience, creative insight and patient feedback-taking to the project. Some final visual and musical touches came via our uber-competent webmaster and all-round tech/creative Lunagal Lisa and her trusty accomplices Morgan and Sara. I know that I speak for everyone here when I say: It’s been great having you with us this summer, Nancee. We are totally thrilled with your work - thank you!

Thanks you guys for all your support, we ♥ you!!!  We’ll announce the 5 winners in September’s newsletter. (And if you have any other ideas or suggestions for future videos, please let us know below!)

I’d better write this post before the pile of books on my desk topples over on me! We have had a wonderful “influx” of books and zines at Lunapads recently and I’d like to tell you about some of them, as well as give some away - read on…

I can’t remember how many months ago it was exactly that I received an email from University of Massachusetts Women’s Studies professor Chris Bobel asking for help with finding artwork for the cover of her then-upcoming tome,  New Blood: Third-Wave Feminism and the Politics of Menstruation, but I was instantly inspired to offer to have a contest asking customers for images based on the theme of menstrual activism. Helena Gonzalez Saez emerged as the winner from among over a dozen fascinating and inspiring submissions (and check this: Helena donated her $100 gift certificate prize to Pads4Girls, how cool is that?), and we received the finished book just a few weeks ago.

“Ask better questions… demand better answers!” reads Chris’s handwritten inscription in our copy - it’s a good summary of the book as well. While I am still working my way through it, overall the book is leaving me feeling more informed, inspired and grateful than ever for the work of our menstrual activist predecessors and contemporaries. Of particular interest for me are questions she poses around how menstruation’s meaning is changing in the era of gender politics: for example, what happens to discourse around menstruation when gender as a fixed, binary concept is a quaint, distant notion?

While its academic heft may be a bit OTT for recreational enthusiasts, I found it to be a welcome counterpoint to the more cursory, pop cultural approach taken to menstrual matters in recent offerings such as Elissa Stein’s Flow. Chris also has some kind words to say about Lunapads (both product and company), and included a Lunapads print ad that appeared in BUST magazine in the book, for which we feel deeply honored.

Speaking of menstrual activism, my second pick is a fine example. Fans of feminist indie zines will love Jen Vaughn’s comix Menstruation Station and Don’t Hate, Menstruate. The author of the acclaimed Mermaid Hostel is a major Lunapads fan, and we are pleased to report that it’s entirely mutual.

So… the giveaway. I have 2 copies of New Blood, as well as 10 sets of both of Jen Vaughn’s zines to give away. Let us know which you’d prefer to receive, as well as a few words about what menstrual activism means to you. Are you an aspiring menstrual activist? Just curious? A seasoned veteran with stories to share? Tell us for your chance to win! Winners will be announced in the September newsletter.

Name: Nancee
Home: Vancouver BC
Age: 20
Lifestyle: Full time university student, UBC housekeeper, Lunapads marketing intern.
Flow: 1-2 days heavy, 1 day average, 1 day light, 1 night heavy, 1 night light. My period usually lasts a total of 3 days.

What products are you using?
Usually pads, because using tampons still freak me out (what if I forget to take it out?) The materials that are used to make tampons also make me choose not to use them, unless I absolutely want to wear a tight pair of jeans, or go swimming.

I use a wide assortment of pads, from heavy to super light pantyliners. When I get my period, I normally use the large pads for the first day (even if the flow’s not too heavy, just to make sure I won’t have leaks during the day), medium pads for the second day, and light pantyliners for the last day. When its night time I don’t take chances; I always wear heavier pads no matter which day it is.

I don’t change my pads super frequently during the day (after day 1), but I guess that’s because my period isn’t that heavy after the first day. Still, that doesn’t really make me a fan of pads since they feel like oversized diapers to me.

Why do you want to switch?
To be honest I’m interested in switching because I am flat out curious to see what other options I have as a woman when dealing with my period. Working as an intern for this company puts me in an atmosphere where I’m watching women change their minds about what they can do about their period, and how they should feel towards their period and their bodies. It makes me excited about being a woman, having fun, and trying new things!

Our recommendations after the jump!

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We’ve been getting a lot of questions lately about using Lunapads and Lunapanties while swimming. To cut straight to the chase: can you use Lunapads or Lunapanties to absorb your flow while swimming? The short answer is a simple sorry ladies, but no.

So what are your options? There are actually several, depending on your flow and swimming environment.

I am personally a huge fan of swimming in the ocean (I’ll take a lake as a close second, though!), and thanks to having fairly light flow and choosing more remote spots to take the plunge, don’t worry so much about flow management (or even a bathing suit, if possible - woo hoo!), but going au naturel isn’t always an option. For example, if I was on my first day or two and at a public pool, I would definitely use my trusty DivaCup. In fact, my #1 top tip for swimming menstruators is to use a DivaCup.

If the DivaCup isn’t for you and circumstances warrant menses mitigation, options also include organic cotton tampons (available at most health food stores) or a Sea Sponge tampon. In my pre-DivaCup days, I found that Sea Sponges were a great solution for me, and it always felt fitting to be using a natural product from the sea while I was actually in it.

How I wish that Lunapads’ and Lunapanties’ superpowers included non-waterlogging while swimming, but I’m afraid that that’s how it is. So what happens if you decide to go for it regardless? Britney isn’t wearing Lunapanties in the photo, but you get the idea - soggy and ineffective basically sum it up.

As a final tip, I just read this excellent article about drowning, and how the actual signs are deceptively unlike stereotypes many of us hold (drowning people are incapable of yelling or waving their arms, for example.) Please check it out, and have a safe and happy summer!

Hi all, I’m Andrea and I’ve been with the Lunapads team for about a month now.

I grew up in a very small town in BC as the oldest of three girls, and moved to Vancouver when I was seventeen.

I’ve always been interested in just about everything: In college, I shifted focus from creative writing, to philosophy, to math, to literature… and finally landed unexpectedly in fashion arts, and found for the first time that both my left-brain and right-brain were satisfied! I’ve been working in the local fashion scene ever since, as a production manager. It’s been exciting to find a career that combines many of the things I’m passionate about: small business, local economies, creative problem solving, working with people, and even excel spreadsheets!

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Last Friday, we were delighted to see the Huffington Post write a story called “How to Green Your Period” describing the many ways to green your period.  (Check out slide number 4 which talks about reusable cloth pads, including Lunapads.)   You can even “vote” for your favorite period product: menstrual cups and cloth pads are ranked #1 and #2 respectively!

Despite the Huffington Post having a progressive following, not long after the post went up, a lot of readers posted comments indicating they were put off by the topic, men and women included.  Many expressed their disgust that the Huffington Post would write about such a “vulgar” topic and why nothing was sacred anymore.  Well, thanks to fans of the DivaCup and Lunapads, there is now a bit more balance in the over 200 comments posted to date.  I particularly like what “kudzumaster” had to say about the negative feedback:

“Would it be better to go back to the days in which women were ashamed about their normal processes, and thus kept ignorant and uninformed? I know they were good times, when teenaged girls got their first period and hid in the bathroom, thinking they were bleeding to death because no one was comfortable enough to discuss menstruation with them, but I think we’re ready to move past that now, aren’t we. Women bleed once a month during their childbearing years. It’s a fact, and nothing to be embarrassed about.”

I can appreciate that people have hang ups about certain topics, but I can never understand why they go on to publicly express those hang ups.  Posting those kinds of comments only shines a light on their degree of ignorance about a topic they can’t seem get their head around.   It’s refreshing to see others chiming in to show a more eco-positive perspective about periods.  Thank you, and if you haven’t commented yet, please do so!

While surfing around the Huffington Post website, I came across a story by writer Deanna Neal called “Make her Vagina Green” packed with interesting projections about the number of bleeding women in the world and how much garbage is produced by disposable feminine hygiene products.  As compelling as those numbers are, Deanna isn’t ready or willing to try reusable products herself, but at least does a good job informing the more ‘mainstream’ reader why she should think about healthier options for her period.  Deanna, if you’re reading this, we’d love to send you some Lunapads and Lunapanties to try out!  Never say never; we think you’ll be pleasantly surprised!

Anyone else out there want to try and convince Deanna to make the switch?

Hi everyone, this is Karen. I’m not much of a blogger nor writer so please bear with me. Where to start…? I guess I will start with a summary of my life. I come from a huge closely knit family where most of us live less than a 5 minute walk away from each other. I was born in Macau and immigrated here when I was young. Zipping past elementary and high school, I finished my Science degree (Cell Biology and Genetics major) at UBC and am currently trying to get a diploma in Accounting by going through the Diploma in Accounting program.

My hobbies are anything related to the word “lazy”: sleeping, eating, watching TV, daydreaming, staring into the blue sky…… “Exercise” is a foreign word to me. Even so, I love the great outdoors. I love the greenness, the calmness and the musky smell of the forest, which is why being as lazy as I am, I would still say “yes” to any camping or hiking trips. I guess Scouts Canada had been a big influential factor for this. Scouting had occupied the majority of my childhood, even thought I stopped for a few years, I rejoined and am now a proud Scout troop leader for one of the local Scout groups.

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I’ve been given the opportunity to introduce myself in between editing videos late at night and listening to some favorite tunes. So here we go.

First off my name is Nancee Zhang. I was born on January 10th 1990, in Kitchener Ontario, but moved over to B.C when I was 5 years old. I lived for the majority of my teenage years in Walnut Grove, Langley, in a small suburban environment with elementary school, high school, and local restaurants within a few minutes’ walking distance from my house. Needless to say, when I finally left my small town for UBC after high school graduation in 2008, I was thrilled to finally enter the big beautiful city. The city is full of opportunity!

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The Girls Rock Camp Alliance is a volunteer-run, non-profit organization where girls 8 to 18 can learn an instrument, form a band, write music, and rock out with other girls. If that’s not rad enough for you, it’s also a place where girls attend self defense, body image, zine making, screen printing, and other self-esteem building workshops led by female mentors.

The very first ever Rock n’ Roll Camp for Girls took place in Portland in 2001 — since then, camps have sprung up all over the world, and now more than 700 girls are mentored every year. This year, we’re sending gift certificates and Teen Booklets to the Girls Rock Camp Vancouver campers, and gift packs for the volunteers and organizers, too.

My own experience of being so profoundly influenced by the riot grrrl movement as a teenager makes it easy for me to wax poetic about how heartening and inspiring this all is.. but I’ll let the girls speak for themselves:

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Who doesn’t love a good deal? While you are going to save money no matter what with Lunapads and the DivaCup in the long term, I thought that it might be fun to create a list of all the ways that you can save even more when you shop with us. Here we go!

1. Sign up for our monthly newsletter. It’s easy, and not only will you get a $5 off coupon sent immediately to your inbox, you will be officially in the loop about all our fantastic monthly specials, new products, contests, giveaways, calls for sample testers and (to use Lunagal Sara’s term) random awesomeness.

2. Join our Facebook Page, and follow us on Twitter.  Similar great offers to the newsletter, only you get to know even faster!

3. Talk to us on our blog. This is where we post most of our giveaways, and all you have to do for a chance to win is post a comment. Subscribe via RSS or you might miss out!

4. Read awesome magazines like BUST, Mothering and Bitch. Watch for exclusive discount promo codes in the Lunapads ads!

5. Buy 3 or more of your faves. Receive discounts of $1 each with pad + liner sets of Lunapads, and $2 each for Lunapanties when you buy 3 or more.

6. Consider purchasing a Lunapads or DivaCup Kit. Our unique customized Kits help take the guesswork out of buying, and also save you 5-15%!

7. Don’t stop there: get $3 off a Moon Pad Bag when you purchase any Kit (includes DivaCup Kits - woot!)

8. In a similar vein, save $1 off Divawash when you purchase a DivaCup or DivaCup Kit.

7. Start a Buying Club with your Lunagal-pals. Buying Clubs receive 20% off every order of $300 or more.

8. Skip the shipping: Vancouver types can choose the “local pickup” option (you get to visit us!), and don’t forget that shipping is free for North American orders over $75.

9. Get a period makeover in our blog! Tell us what you’re currently using and what your cycle and lifestyle are like, and the Lunagals will work their makeover magic. Chosen entries receive a $15 gift certificate.

10. Ask the Period Fairy (verrry nicely, she can be a bit testy sometimes) Seriously - make a wish for any product on our site valued at under $50, and tell her via Twitter (use hashtag #periodfairy) or on our Facebook fan page. Every now and again she just randomly shows up here at Lunapads and grabs a few things for her fans. Wait, is that a fluttering of (organic fleece) wings I hear?

Note: Special discounts and promotions are totaled up in your shopping cart. Click the “Show Discounts Applied” link at the top right once you get there to see how much you’re saving!

Happy shopping, Lunagals!