Yesterday’s Slate.com “Green Lantern” article questioning the environmental impact of reusable menstrual products begged for more than a brief comment in response. Is making the switch a mere drop in the bucket as far as waste goes, or part of a larger ripple effect?

Fence sitters and skeptics often ask us how green our products really are, along the lines of the so-called diaper “debate”. How green is washing your menstrual pads after all, once you factor in the raw materials, soap, water and energy (not to mention the hassle?) Some prominent green bloggers (including Grist.org’s Umbra Fisk) don’t see the impact of disposable menstrual products as being overly worth fretting about, a position quasi-supported by the Green Lantern herself, Nina Shen Rastogi.

Rastogi starts her post by referencing (from the book Flow) some compelling information about the amount of solid waste generated by disposable pads and tampons (62,415 lbs, or 0.5% of a woman’s gross lifetime landfill contribution) but quickly concludes that there are bigger fish to fry, suggesting that highlighting women’s monthly eco impact may constitute yet another source of shame for women, on top of that typically used to sell the products in the first place - why give women yet another guilt trip?

Rastogi is also quick to dismiss the environmental and health concerns that green feminine hygiene producers often raise about conventional products; namely what the long-term consequences of exposure to dioxin and the host of other chemicals, surfactants, plastics and perfumes that may or may not be present in pads and tampons might be, chlorine bleached or not.

While the US FDA and Health Canada claim that exposure to “trace” amounts of dioxin is safe, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) looks at the matter differently, asserting that there is no safe or acceptable amount, period.  The bottom line is that nobody actually knows - yet. Having just read this article about the effects of “trace” amounts of hormone disruptors such as phthalites and Bisphenol A, I can’t help wondering how long it might be before we see similar research exposing what many of us have long suspected about dioxin and other chemicals used in the manufacture of disposable pads and tampons.

Rastogi suggests if you are worried about your garbage output, you are better off buying bulk food and planning your grocery shopping to reduce food waste.

Hey, how about this crazy idea: why not do as much as you reasonably can? Why the cop-out on greening your period?

(more…)

Organic Bikini Lunapanties

Welcome to our next installment of our International Women’s Month celebration! This time it’s for Moms-to-be.

Here’s lovely photo of one of our longest-term (pun intended!) collaborators, the lovely Emira Mears of Raised Eyebrow and The Boss of You, taken mere hours before the arrival of lovely little Lena at our recent Lunapanties photoshoot.

We have 3 sets of 2 Organic Mini Pantyliners, so anyone out there who is currently expecting, comment below to tell us where you are, how many weeks you’re at, and what your favorite thing about being pregnant to be entered. Winners will be announced in our April newsletter.

Organic Mini Pantyliner

While I’m here, check out the blog of one of my favorite pregnant gals: the one and only Chloe Jo Berman of the fabulously green Girlie Girl Army. If you’re expecting and wondering about eco positive diapering choices, I have just written a guest blog post for GGA about cloth diapering and more - check it out!

 Good luck, and don’t forget to smile at a pregnant gal today!

Where to start with the subject of girls? Our view is that girls are nothing less than the world’s greatest hope for healing, progress and peace. At Lunapads, we support them by supporting and spreading the word about a variety of organizations working with and for girls including Scarleteen, the Girl Effect (don’t miss their awesome video!), Camfed, Not For Sale and of course Pads4Girls. We also love progressive girls’ media like Shameless, New Moon and Teen Voices.

At Lunapads, 100% of the proceeds of the sale of Teen Booklets goes towards Pads4Girls. We also distribute free copies to organizations that are working with girls and teens.

What especially warms our hearts is when we get emails, phone calls and ‘live-chats’ from girls (or moms of girls and teens) asking great questions and telling us their stories. The day before yesterday we were visited by a Mom and her daughter who was on the second day of her first period - we felt really lucky to share some time with them, on International Women’s Day, no less!

Here’s a wonderful example of a girl’s self-expression about her first period - a bittersweet poem written by Lacy Hale. Lacy says: “The following is a poem that I wrote a couple years ago when I decided to make my change from commercial menstrual products to healthier, greener alternatives. When I was a teenager, I definitely thought of my period as a curse and dreaded it each month. Now that I’m older, I find that I actually enjoy my period, taking the time to reflect on my art, my life, and what it means to me to be a woman. “

My River

The summer that I started
Was desert-like and dry
Yet I awoke that morning shrouded in wet red rivers
Of which I had yet to learn the ebb
And flow.

Yelling for my mother,
It was no surprise to her
Because of the complaints
Concerning the belly
Of the 13 year old girl
The night before.

I suppose in some sort of celebration
She made a breakfast that morning
Of the likes I had rarely seen.

But my stomach was full
Of other things and pains
So new I barely touched
My biscuits
And gravy.

My father came home that evening
And without words or glance
Tossed my necessities on the counter.
A look of fear and anger in his eyes.

Or maybe I just misread it
Out of my own embarrassment.

This week we are giving away 3 Teen Kits: leave a comment here telling us about your favorite girl or teen (this includes you, if you happen to be one of these fabulous beings!) to be eligible for the giveaway. Be sure to include your age, location, relationship (ie sister, friend, daughter, Mom) and what you love about this person. Have fun and good luck! We’ll be announcing the winners in our April newsletter.

The timing this year is truly extraordinary, with the recent Olympics here in Vancouver having shone a light on women’s superb athleticism, not to mention Kathryn Bigelow’s ceiling-busting Oscar wins just last night. As great as all of this is, though, it’s important to remember that comparable success is not necessarily being shared by our sisters in developing nations, and that we still need to keep working for change even as we celebrate, a theme I will be developing in upcoming posts this month.

Longtime Lunapads customers will be anticipating our annual International Women’s Day sale to take place right about now, but for various reasons this year it’s going to look a little different (and last longer!)

My advice to you right now is if you are not already a Lunapads.com Facebook fan or following us on Twitter, in order to be in the loop for the series of contests, giveaways and specials that we are brewing up, now would be the time to sign up or follow us. In case you are not on our e-newsletter list, I highly recommend signing up there as well to learn about other news that will happen before the month is out!

To start off, for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week (March 8-10) we will be donating 10% of sales to Pads4Girls, as well as MATCHING all Pads4Girls Kit and Birth Kit Maxi donations. Here’s a great opportunity to help girls in developing nations get the education they deserve and/or improve maternal health. You can learn about our current recipient groups here:

Sexual Rights Centre (Zimbabwe)
Lugari Community Resource Centre (Kenya)
Kibaale Community School (Uganda)
Imagine1Day (Ethiopia)
Pads for Prisons Project (Sudan)
Rafiki Africa (Kenya)
The Passion Foundation (Kenya)
Shanti Uganda (Uganda)
Afri-Pads (Uganda)

Please donate generously, and don’t forget to pick up something nice for yourself as well!

Have a great day, ladies, thanks for your support as always, and stay tuned!

Love from the Lunagals:
Madeleine, Suzanne, Lisa, Morgan, Sara, Goni and Sandra

Stay tuned, because not only will she be beautiful, but stronger and faster than ever (can you tell that we just had the Olympics here in Vancouver?), featuring all-new Lunapanties portraits, product reviews, and great new filtered shopping capability. It’s all hands on deck at this point, so blogging has fallen temporarily to the wayside - but we’ll be back soon.  In case you’re no already signed up for our newsletter, doing so now will bring great rewards, and soon, promise!

So hang in there, it won’t be much longer (we can tell you right now that it’s a girl, though)!

First off, a big thank you to Ritz, founder of I Love My Muff products. I do not think that I could have handled Lunapads being under someone’s ideological microscope nearly as gracefully as she has. I placed an order for a “Maintenance Kit” to find out what I was missing and received a second kit on the house, a classy and generous gesture. I should also add that I think that Ritz has done a fine job with site design and the ecommerce shopping experience. Finally, I have it on excellent authority that she is a woman of considerable entrepreneurial moxy, personal style and good intentions.

So… how were the products?  I have tried them several times now, and am still feeling somewhat ambivalent. I’m not a big one for perfume or aromatherapy so I can’t really say if I liked the scents or not, but they didn’t bother me, and certainly lingered. Did I feel clean? Yes. Fresh? Sure. Soft? I guess. Pure? Still have issues there, but never mind.

The products “work” just fine (an informant claims that they take care of post-shaving little red bumps, so there’s that to consider as a potential benefit as well), and seem to have integrity as far as the ingredients and overall quality are concerned. Organic ingredients would be a great next step in product development, along with more eco-friendly packaging.

There do seem to be rather a lot of “steps” (I use fewer products on my face), but I can’t see the harm (if used prudently - more on this in a moment), and can further see how using these products could help some women get more in touch with or feel more loving towards themselves. If nothing else, actually trying the products gave me insight into my own biases, for which I am grateful.

(more…)

Before
Pre-Lunapads, I used tampons with disposable overnight pads as back-up protection for 5 days/nights, tampons with maxi pads for 3 days/nights, maxi pads for 3 days/nights, and pantyliners for three days on either side of my period.

Why did you want to switch?
I have very sensitive skin, and got one too many chemical burns from scented pads in “unscented” packages. Also, I have made a lot of changes in my life to become more “green”, and this felt like an important step. Now I use Lunapads Long Pad & Liner on my heavy flow days, Maxi Pads for average days, and Mini Pads for spotting.

After
I’m so glad I switched to Lunapads. I used to hate my period—I couldn’t even get through class some days because my flow was so heavy. Now, I actually look forward to my period. It is a natural and reassuring event, not a nightmare. I love Lunapads for the convenience, comfort, reliability and the knowledge that I am doing something good for the environment and for myself.

Are you ready for a Period Makeover? To apply, simply fill out an application, telling us about your monthly needs. Selected applicants will receive a $15 Lunapads.com gift certificate!

At first glance, FLOW is quite the aesthetically pleasing little book, filled with images of vintage pad and tampon adverts and other “feminine health products” dating as far back as the late 1800s. Due to its visually compelling nature, FLOW would make the ideal coffee table book. And hey, aside from rinsing your menstrual cup in a public washroom, what better way to get the conversation about menstruation flowing (couldn’t resist!) than to nonchalantly leave a book about its history lying about the house?

Few healthy bodily processes have had such an effed-up history as menstruation and this book covers a broad range of topics from the archaic “disease” Hysteria and the origins of the vibrator, to the medicalization of periods and the recent introduction of Menstrual Suppression drugs. I often hear women linking the origins of our collective shame surrounding menstruation to fem-care advertisers and the negative language used to hock their products. FLOW digs deeper into the sources of the menstrual taboo weaving a history that is biblical, medical, pre-historical, cultural, spiritual and political in scope. It’s pretty engaging if you aren’t already aware of the history of menstruation and even if you are, there are sure to be some surprising tidbits that leave you quietly scooping your jaw up off the floor.

(more…)

Name: Fatin
Home: Hackensack, NJ
Age: 31
Lifestyle: I’m an ESL teacher who loves to travel.

Flow
My flow lasts 5-6 days and is very heavy in the beginning (~2 days), 2 days heavy-average and 2-3 days of light flow. Light discharge throughout the month, especially when ovulating.

What products do you use?
I currently use Always Overnight with Wings, and Playtex Super tampons when I am working out or swimming. The Always are bulky and uncomfortable and they never seem to stay in place, especially at night, resulting in regular leaks. With tampons, I can’t seem to find the right absorbency; they’re either too absorbent or not absorbent enough. I’ve also considered using something for daily discharge, but I usually go without since the Always aren’t quite right for this and I don’t want to spend the money.

Why do you want to switch?
I want to create less waste with my menstrual products. I’d also like to support a woman-owned and operated company like Lunapads. I’d like to get more in touch with my body and make my period a joyful time that I don’t just take for granted. And Lunapads are way cuter than Always!

Lunapads Rx

The DivaCup
For active gals like Fatin, we tend to recommend that trusty tampon alternative, The DivaCup. It’s ideal for heavy flow (will hold up to 1 full ounce before needing to be emptied) and great for active sports. Plus, with The DivaCup, there’s no need to worry about finding the perfect absorbency. Unlike tampons, a menstrual cup doesn’t absorb (or dry you out, for that matter), but instead collects your menstrual flow. Check out our DivaCup 101 video for more info.

Long Pad & Liner
Now, onto your pad upgrade! In Luna-land, a Long Pad is most comparable to a disposable Overnight Pad with Wings. Our Long Pads are 12” (30.5cm) in length, providing ample coverage & security for most women with average-heavy flow. Additionally, our Wing Liners (see right) provide lateral protection and help to prevent side leakage and stained sheets. Tip: you’ll save 10% off the regular price of our Pads when you buy a 3-Pack.

Lunapanties
If you’re looking for a $ saving, super-functional product for everyday discharge (and those 2-3 light flow days, using liners), this is it. You’re already wearing underwear every day - why not trade up for something that actually performs? Lunapanties are 95% organic cotton, 5% lycra and 100% awesome. Watch our video to learn more about their super-magical hidden powers.

Pantyliners
Another option for everyday: Our 7 Day Pantyliner Kits are value-priced at $70. That’s $10 per Pantyliner, rather than $10.99 individually priced, which means you’ll save $7 when you buy a set of 7. This may *seem* pricey at first glance, but as with all Lunapads products, your initial investment will save you a ton of money in the long run. With gentle care, a Lunapads Pantyliner should last an average of 5 years - some customers have been using the same Lunapads for upwards of a decade, even. It’s easy to calculate your personal savings; just divide the price of a box of disposables by the number of pantyliners inside - this determines your cost per pantyliner. Now, multiply that cost by the number of pantyliners you might use each day, and then again by 5 years. It really adds up! See our Why Switch? page for more info about how making the switch to reusables can really save you money.

Are you ready for a Period Makeover? To apply, simply fill out an application, telling us about your monthly needs. Selected applicants will receive a $15 Lunapads.com gift certificate!

Name: Millie
Home: Ontario, Canada
Age: 25
Lifestyle: I’m always on the go and I love the outdoors. I am obsessed with canoeing and go every chance I get! I love to travel and have been all over the world.

Flow
My period is usually 4 days of heavy flow and 1-3 days light flow.

Before
I used disposable pads for my period. Blech! It was always a messy horror-show. I had to make sure I was sitting “just-so” and when sleeping, I couldn’t move for fear of leakage. I wore 2 pads end-to-end at night and always needed it. I tried tampons, but, they made me feel worse.

What products do you use now?
Disposable pantyliners throughout the entire month, and as back up with The DivaCup. I also use The DivaWash, the Peri Bottle & the Cycle Chart.

Why did you switch?
My sister told me about the DivaCup. She knew I hated my period. Having to plan activities around my period, sudden “surges”, always worrying about leakage, buying yet another $5 pack of pads (having an emergency pad on hand at-all-times!), it was awful! Now it’s great! I have a clean feeling, freedom of movement; I save money & the environment!

Also, I go on canoe trips into the backcountry & having my period while using pads was a nightmare! “Pack in, pack out” is the motto in the backcountry, need I say more? Last summer, I worked as a canoe guide and became the biggest advocate for the DivaCup! I think I convinced a lot of women to check-out the DivaCup on those trips!

In my travel bag, instead of counting out how many bulky pads I’ll need (sometimes it was up to 20!) all I have to pack now is my DivaCup, my Peri Bottle, & a travel size bottle of DivaWash.. hey, you should market that! Now, my main goal during my period (or someone else’s) is to spread the word about the DivaCup!

The Lunapads.com Rx
Millie’s clearly on the right track with The DivaCup, but what about those disposable pantyliners? Why waste valuable space in your pack on throwaways? With Lunapanties, you’ve always got a built-in no-fuss alternative to disposables.

Our all-in-one padded period panties make fantastic everyday underwear (for daily discharge, unpredictable cycles, or just plain comfort), and really shine as back-up/overflow protection with The DivaCup.  Soft, breathable, great for those who are active - and if you have any concerns about your pad feeling bulky, bunching or shifting, you can lay those fears to rest.

How they work: An absorbent fleece panel is built right into the gusset of these underwear, and a 5% lycra content means they’ll fit snugly and really stay put. For heavier-duty jobs, Lunapanties also feature soft cotton bands to hold liners, allowing you to customize absorbency by layering up (or down). This also means you can remove/replace liners as needed, keeping  you comfortably dry throughout the day.

Are you ready for a Period Makeover? To apply, simply fill out an application, telling us about your monthly needs. Selected applicants will receive a $15 Lunapads.com gift certificate!