The defining moment in my life that shifted the way I was thinking...and brought me to ubuntu.
Great question. Tough to answer.
In the sense of living and breathing and working and playing.
Sure, it's minorly uncomfortable to share your experience with an environmentally-friendly alternative to tampons with the world, but I'd rather do it and encourage one person to make the Diva Cup switch than NOT do it. So here I go.
-- Guys, you can stop reading right now. Just saying.
Years ago a good friend of mine talked to me about the Diva Cup. It's a reusable menstrual cup. There was a certain "ick" factor that I of course immediately felt upon learning about this, but I found myself very intrigued. After thinking about it for - what quite literally was a couple of years - I finally took the plunge a few months ago and bought the cup.
Reasons?
I was sick of throwing away a mound of tampons and/or pads each month. It was weighing me down, as if it was a curse. And I was always caught without them, on literally every holiday I took last year. Resulting in my father or some other man having to run out and grab them for me. Also not a super fun time. I was annoyed at the cost (why don't guys have to pay this monthly cost?) and horrified at the effects on the environment.
Then I remembered my time spent with the girls of Katputli Nagar and how they were so embarrassed to discuss their periods. I spent one class discussing with them how incredible the womanly body is - in that we can procreate, and grow and nurture a human being from inside of us. We talked about it so much that I got emotional thinking about how many girls and women feel shameful due to having their period and how in so many cultures it's something that is not cared for or acknowledged. In certain parts of Africa, when a woman gets her period she cannot go to school or work if there is no access to sanitary pads and napkins. This must change. (Here's a website where you can share your money to ensure that doesn't continue to happen.) Not only that, but the environmental impacts of just my period alone were horrendous (2-4 tampons a day, for 4-5 days a month, for 30+ years?!). Think of this simple fact:
Ack! So? To affect the little bit around me that I could, I made the change. And although I was a bit frustrated at first while figuring the whole process out, I couldn't be happier now.
All in all, women, periods are not a curse. They are a reminder of how ridiculously awesome we are as creatures. It's hard to explain, but since switching to the Diva Cup I have felt oddly empowered. You become closer to yourself and to the earth. You become more closely connected to your self while saving on tons of waste for the environment. And your wallet even benefits. Mine did.
Here's a good video that says it all from the EcoStiletto's Founder & CEO:
If you'd like to discuss, chat me up. This is our Eureka moment...enjoy!
-- Guys, you can stop reading right now. Just saying.
Years ago a good friend of mine talked to me about the Diva Cup. It's a reusable menstrual cup. There was a certain "ick" factor that I of course immediately felt upon learning about this, but I found myself very intrigued. After thinking about it for - what quite literally was a couple of years - I finally took the plunge a few months ago and bought the cup.
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| Welcome to my life, Diva Cup. |
I was sick of throwing away a mound of tampons and/or pads each month. It was weighing me down, as if it was a curse. And I was always caught without them, on literally every holiday I took last year. Resulting in my father or some other man having to run out and grab them for me. Also not a super fun time. I was annoyed at the cost (why don't guys have to pay this monthly cost?) and horrified at the effects on the environment.
Then I remembered my time spent with the girls of Katputli Nagar and how they were so embarrassed to discuss their periods. I spent one class discussing with them how incredible the womanly body is - in that we can procreate, and grow and nurture a human being from inside of us. We talked about it so much that I got emotional thinking about how many girls and women feel shameful due to having their period and how in so many cultures it's something that is not cared for or acknowledged. In certain parts of Africa, when a woman gets her period she cannot go to school or work if there is no access to sanitary pads and napkins. This must change. (Here's a website where you can share your money to ensure that doesn't continue to happen.) Not only that, but the environmental impacts of just my period alone were horrendous (2-4 tampons a day, for 4-5 days a month, for 30+ years?!). Think of this simple fact:
Ack! So? To affect the little bit around me that I could, I made the change. And although I was a bit frustrated at first while figuring the whole process out, I couldn't be happier now.
All in all, women, periods are not a curse. They are a reminder of how ridiculously awesome we are as creatures. It's hard to explain, but since switching to the Diva Cup I have felt oddly empowered. You become closer to yourself and to the earth. You become more closely connected to your self while saving on tons of waste for the environment. And your wallet even benefits. Mine did.
Here's a good video that says it all from the EcoStiletto's Founder & CEO:
If you'd like to discuss, chat me up. This is our Eureka moment...enjoy!
This is so great I'm so happy you finally started using the diva cup. the environment and your health thanks you too. We really are miraculous creatures with the special gift of bringing life into this world
ReplyDeleteYou may just have convinced me Tam
ReplyDeleteHey - LOVE your last post. I was converted to a 'Mooncup' (British version I think?! http://www.mooncup.co.uk/) more than a year ago and I haven't looked back.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first heard about it I was intrigued more than anything about how the whole process works - what do you do with the er.. waste and how does it stay clean? All my questions were answered by a friend and by trial and error. I thought I might as well give it a go.
Now when I tell my friends I use it they often look disgusted at the thought of being that intimate with your own bodily fluids, but if they looked at their yearly tampon expenses and the effect on the environment I think they'd be more disgusted.
I find it less time consuming (I don't have to change it as much as a tampon), less wasteful, a lot less costly and more comfortable towards the end of my cycle when I have a lighter flow.
I never thought I'd be the type to broadcast my menstrual habits but I too have realised that it's not a dirty little secret - it's part of our lives and what makes us a woman. Go Diva/Mooncups!
Oh Nicola, reading this post makes my day. You are absolutely right in every way. And becoming more intimate with ourselves is a wonderful process, especially when our health and the environment benefits. Miss you doll, xx
ReplyDeleteAnd my darling sister, if you try it, I think you'll come to love it!