Small steps – Switching to eco-friendly sanitary pads
I wish to share with you all about Eco-Femme, a social entrepreneural venture in Tamil And that makes great quality cloth pads. I have myself started using these pads recently and to my surprise, they are super-comfortable and easy to wash. I was initially worried about washing them but it turned out that all one needs to do is dip them in a bucket and in half-an-hour, the stain completely (almost magically goes away). These pads can be used for over 5 years and thus are super economical. And of course, they are good for the environment. In a woman’s life, one tonne of sanitary waste is created by using the napkins we find in the market… And today, when the limits to environmental degradation has been reached, Earth needs healing.
We normally assume that the eco-friendly alternative will be less comfortable and more troublesome. However, in this case at least, this is totally not the case. These pads are more comfortable (not equally), easy to wash, cheaper in the long-run and hygienic.
If you want to buy cloth pads for yourself or your friends, here is a link to Eco-Femme’s website:
www.ecofemme.org
If you want to know more about Eco-Femme, here is a link to their Facebook page and YouTube channel:
https://www.facebook.com/
Videos: Masika, Eco Femme product demonstration video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?
If you want to collaborate at an organisational level for social welfare:
If there is any school, Eco-Femme will do sessions and spread the knowledge about menstrual education. Eco-Femme will give free pads to the adolescence girls. If it is a rural area and when it comes to women who cannot afford for pads Eco-Femme gives pads to them at less rate. If it is an organization Eco-Femme could take session and spread knowledge.
Get in touch with Kalvi if you or your organisation is interested in collaborating. Here is her email id: kalvi@ecofemme.org
The following is a brief about Eco-Femme from their website
How we work
We are a social enterprise dedicated to being a scalable project with demonstrable impact that can be an example of how business and social responsibility really can go hand in hand. As menstruation is an experience that transcends culture, class and caste, we see an extraordinary opportunity to advance social transformation and ecological awareness through every step of our work. We seek to create a truly holistic approach to menstruation through integrating ethical business practices, production processes that engage rural women as cloth pad producers and culturally sensitive, life-affirming education about the menstrual experience.
Our hybrid business model enables us to channel income from the commercial sale of our cloth pads towards not-for-profit activities, that bring benefit to as many women and girls as possible from all around the world.
These not-for-profit activities include:
> providing menstrual hygiene education and free cloth washable pads to adolescent girls in India through our Pad for Pad programme
> providing access to cross-subsidised cloth washable pads to women who would be otherwise restricted by cost, through our Pads for Sisters programme
> training facilitators in how to promote healthy and environmentally sustainable menstrual practices in their community
> offering advice and consultancy to organisations around the world concerned with sustainable menstrual practices
> advancing research into menstrual hygiene pedagogy
> advocating for non-polluting menstrual practices through writing, film making and speaking to groups whenever we can!
Please have a look into to Pad for Pad and pads for sisters.
