I may be the only person I know who looks forward having their period. It is a signal to me that my body is functioning and healthy. Plus, it means no babies! I stared using a menstrual cup about five years ago to help reduce my carbon footprint and to save money by not buying tampons.
I love my cup! It’s like a reliable friends, you know, that one who is always there to help you out of a tight spot. This past weekend I was out of town and made the mistake of forgetting to pack my menstrual cup. Without it, I realized how much, over the past half-decade I’ve come to rely on it for comfort and connivence. AirBnb located, and spotted underwear changed, I ventured out into downtown Kansas City to find a connivence store. After starting in the wrong direction, I eventually found the feminine products isle and picked out a box of 16 super Tampax Pearl, pocket size tampons.
Six bucks, I thought. Geez. My cup cost $40. Why did six bucks seem like so much? It’s because it is. Forty dollars over the course of five years averages to $0.66 per period. If I were to buy 16 tampons every month for the same amount of time I would have paid $360.
I was annoyed and angry as I put the box into my basket and, for whatever reason, embarrassed. There was a man a few feet down the aisle from me and I pretended to just, casually be browsing the tampons and condoms until he left. Only then did I feel comfortable enough to turn and leave the isle. I crossed my fingers they’d be enough to get me through the weekend.
It made me feel dirty. I felt physically sticky and sweaty using the tampons, but I also felt emotionally dirty knowing how much trash I was making in such a short amount of time. After only half a day I had a nice handful of non-recyclable plastic applicators and chemical coated cotton-like stuff. A study done in 2016 by the Harvard Business School found the there are 20 billion tampons, applicators and pads thrown away annually in North America alone. Since buying my cup, I’ve used maybe a total of ten tampons and pads. For me, there’s no internal debate with a cup. If I wanna check it I can. I don’t have to worry about accidentally wasting a tampon by taking it out too early. I just take it out, dump the contents into the toilet, rinse and reinsert. According to organicup, the average menstruating person will go through approximately 11,000 pads and tampons in their life, totaling 275.5-330.7 pounds of waste. For me the choice is obvious—if your’e serious, or even not so serious, about helping out the planet a menstrual cup is the best choice. There’re are over 150 different menstrual cup makers, so there’s one out there for every woman. My favorite is the Lunette cup.
I semi-jokingly, refer to myself as a menstrual cup evangelist. I’ll talk to any and everyone who will listen: men, women, strangers. Cups not only help the planet, they also allow you to learn so much about your health and body. You can learn what different colors and viscosities mean and can learn to predict the beginning and end of your period more accurately. It’s true, you’ve gotta get all up in there to get it in and out, though, if you’re mature enough to have a period, you should be comfortable enough with your own body to use a cup. It does take some time to figure out. It took me about three periods to feel like I had the hang of it. That sounds like a lot but remember how long it took to get the hang of tampons? The learning curve isn’t much different.
