Lunapads Blog

I wanted to thank you again for donating Lunapads samples along with some coupons and information for my program on reusable feminine hygiene products. I had the program tonight at 7, and it went over really well. I started by telling the girls my thoughts when I first heard about reusable menstrual products and how disgusting I thought they sounded but that after looking into the products more, I realized they weren’t so nasty after all.

On that note, I asked that the girls keep an open mind going into the program and said that they could judge the crap out of me at the end—after they had the information. That got a chuckle. I followed that by talking about the amount of waste generated by disposable products and then talked about the cost and savings of using green products. I had samples from three different companies, so I told my residents about the different brands and how they differ slightly in their construction and absorption. I know a lot of my residents use tampons and are also extremely active in the outdoors, so I spent the next half of the program telling the girls about menstrual cups and how convenient they can be because you don’t have to worry if you packed enough tampons for your trip and there is no waste to pack out when camping. That’s one thing I love about menstrual cups; it takes the guess work out of how much “supplies” I need to bring on trips!

The group of girls that came was really open to the concept of reusable products and that made the program run very smoothly. They were very interactive, and I discovered that two of the girls already use cloth pads and love them. That was awesome to know because they were willing to share with the group their experience with cloth pads.

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Lindsay Coulter is David Suzuki’s Queen of Green, living in Vancouver, BC. A lover of nature and advocate of do-it-yourself, her first period came when she was 12.

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I got my period in grade six—must have been 12 years old.

It happened at school; I knew what it was right away. After all, our class had watched those awkward videos about growing hair in weird places, etc. At lunch hour I grabbed my best friend Kari to plot next steps.

We ran to my house, half a block away (kids in my day walked to school!) and sussed out the bathroom for my mom’s tried, tested and true products. Yeah. That’s wasn’t happening. Think of how small you were at 12. Now, picture a super-plus Tampax tampon with cardboard applicator! There was no way this thing was going to fit. I also had no idea what to do with it.

Plan B: my friend said her mom used pads. And it was the 80’s, so we’re talking Kotex pads that came with a belt! Unfazed, we grabbed a box of facial tissue and a roll of scotch tape—we were in the sanitary pad making business now! (I was a DIYer at a young age.)

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Check out Queen of Green (@davidsuzukiqog on Twitter)’s interview with Madeleine about having a “greener” period, thanks to Lunapads and The DivaCup. Post a comment on Queen of Green’s Blog to enter to win 1 DivaCup Kit with Mini Pantyliners. Thanks so much for spreading the love, Lindsey! 

David Suzuki’s Queen of Green, Lindsay Coulter, answers your green living questions and offers tips and recipes to make your life easier on the environment. It’s all about green living made easy. Subscribe to the Queen of Green digest for the latest in eco-conscious living, delivered to your inbox once monthly.

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What’s your first period story? Tell us in a comment below!

The following post is part of the My 1st Period Story Blog Hop hosted by Eco-Crazy Mom and our friends and Lunapads retailers, Be Prepared Period! Hannah Murray is a Romance Author living in the Pacific Northwest. Her first book was published in 2003. Her first period came when she was 11.

The story of my first period is one I’ve told many times, mainly because it’s funny. It’s also slightly traumatic, but not in the way you’d expect. I should preface this by saying that my mother had given me the talk on this – I knew all about what a period was, why I would get it, and what to expect, but it was the last thing on my mind the summer I was eleven.

I was attending Girl Scout day camp that summer, and my days were filled with activities like arts & crafts, horseback riding, and swimming. I don’t remember exactly what day that week the signs first appeared, but I know it was a day when we were swimming because I was wearing my bathing suit all day. I still had it on when we got home, and my mother told me to go change out of it and take a shower.

When I stripped out of the suit, I noticed something staining the crotch. It was brown, and had dried, and there didn’t seem to be very much of it – I checked to make sure nothing had soaked through the layers of the suit to be visible from the outside. I was a little freaked out, because to my eleven year old mind, brown stuff in my underwear could only mean one thing. I didn’t remember having an “accident”, but really, what else could it be?

I was only eleven, and sufficiently embarrassed at the idea that I might have unknowingly pooped my pants that I just couldn’t bear the thought of telling anyone. So even though I knew my mom would help me, I rinsed out the suit in the shower so she wouldn’t see, and didn’t mention it.

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Menstruation; something most women will face in their lifetime.  It’s not fun, it makes us moody and bloated, but most of us just grin and bear it. Unfortunately, menstruation comes with the price; not just the price of ruined panties. It costs us a pretty penny every month and the cost to our environment becomes greater every 28 days. With the amount of pads and tampons that go into a city’s disposable system daily, it’s no wonder that our environment is feeling the strain from something that is otherwise completely natural. So how does one reduce their carbon footprint while still getting the protection that you need in order to go out and live your life?

I believe the solution lies within the DivaCup.

I discovered the DivaCup by chance. While calculating my monthly expenses I was shocked to realize that every single month I spent nearly $20 on protection; be it pads, tampons, panty liners, wipes, new panties, you name it. So I typed into Google, “cheap period solutions” and the DivaCup came up. Now, I’ve heard of menstrual cups before and admittedly I was put off by the ick factor associated with inserting a cup, taking it out and then emptying it; but hear me out.  I figured it was worth a try, a $35 one-time fee for up to 12 hours of protection. To my surprise I fell in love with the DivaCup!

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Hi everyone, Lisa here! I am really excited to share this post from Samson who offers their perspective as a genderqueer person who has opted for eco & body friendly menstrual products. If this post interests you, you may also want to read my related post, A LunaRevolution for All Genders, All Bodies.

In light of my last post, since this is something I’ve been pondering writing anyway, I figured I’d talk about how I deal with my period, in a physical and psychological way, as a genderqueer person. I feel a little shy talking about sex-specific things; not only is there a shame culture about some of the female body and its workings, I feel like I’m “blowing my cover” as an androgynous and genderqueer person–like people aren’t going to take me seriously if they hear me embracing something so “essentially female” about myself. But you’re going to take my identity seriously, right? (This is Samson fixing you with a narrow-eyed glare.)

If you’re squeamish about periods, the female body, or the body in general, you should probably skip the rest of this post. (Even if you’re uncomfortable about the idea of you having a period, there are plenty of us who get ‘em and are all right with it. So, if you’re uncomfortable about the ideas of others having periods, regardless of their sex or gender, I politely suggest you work on getting over that.)

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Struggling to learn how to use the DivaCup? Hang in there and keep trying. Its all perfectly normal! In the mean time, read how our guest blogger Avigayil finally got past this eco-positive learning curve.

So I wasn’t exactly stranded, but New Zealand is certainly an island (two islands, to be exact) and it is very tropical. I was there for my belated honeymoon, nearly a year in the waiting. I am a new wife, a full time student, part time writer for The Bargain Moose, and a part time caregiver for an adult lady in a wheelchair. This trip was well deserved!

While in the packing stages of the trip I knew that from counting my birth control pills, my period would come smack dab in the middle of my honeymoon. We were going to be staying in little vacation houses and I had no idea as to access to laundry facilities so I decided to forgo the usual Lunapanties and Pads: instead opting to throw the Divacup into my bag.

The Divacup and I have had an unkind history: I wanted to love it and it hated me. It popped open before I insert, it hurt going in, and it hurt coming out. Lets just say I ignored my past history when I made my ‘crash course in using a Divacup’ decision. I was determined to learn how to use it. VERY determined. At home I could cheat and if it hurt, switch over to the pads: but not this time… I was stranded!

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It is fabulous to see the response to the previous post about holistic options for yeast infections. Author and Medical Herbalist Katolen Yardley has taken the time to respond to readers’ comments and provide more detail, in particular to questions about the safety and effectiveness of douching, yoghurt, Tea Tree essential oil and common OTC (over the counter) mainstream remedies.

Katolen writes:

Reviewing some of the comments from readers it is apparent that clarification is needed regarding certain terminology and to ascertain whether we are at the same starting place. Of course an accurate diagnosis should always be sought before ANY steps are taken with remedying one’s ailment, always. The purpose of the post is to provide numerous tools and resources for women – not only just pharmaceutical options – once she knows that a yeast infection exists.

Effectiveness is easy to assess. Yeast infections are disruptive, uncomfortable and annoying. If one has a yeast infection, ANY relief is welcome and one will quickly be able to assess what is helping and making a difference and what is not. Perhaps one of the best ways to assess how home remedies work, is to try them out and have a personal experience. Feedback from clients, students and customers all indicate that herbal remedies DO WORK.

Many women have encountered the endless cycle of using OTC medications and find that they are NOT addressing the problem, and the yeast infection comes back – this is when many women become frustrated with mainstream medical treatments and often start investigating other holistic options. Herbal remedies are tried and true (they do not work for everyone all the time, yet they are an option) – their effectiveness is known through trying them. They are gentle and one will quickly know if they are providing relief.

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Suzanne and I happened to meet Katolen Yardley MNIMH, a Medical Herbalist, a few weeks ago at a dinner party. She caught our attention immediately with her vibrant personality and passion for women’s health. She is also the owner of the Alchemy & Elixir Wellness Centre in downtown Vancouver. We were thrilled when she agreed to provide her expertise as a holistic medical professional on helping women deal with a common issue, yeast infections. Check out her easy and effective natural tips below!

A typical yeast infection, also known as candida albicans, is a fungus normally present in the body in small amounts. The presence of other healthy flora keeps the bodies levels of candida albicans in check, however the vaginal flora is very sensitive, responding immediately to any changes in our environment.  If any triggers disrupt the sensitive balance of good and bad bacteria, candida albicans can flourish.

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I was 11 years old when I took my first ride on the crimson wave – and along with being nervous and not totally sure about what changes my body was going through I had to wear an uncomfortable, bulky, scratchy disposable pad. I just accepted this as my fate for the rest of my child bearing years, because I wasn’t aware of any alternatives besides tampons and I wasn’t ready to go there yet.

It wasn’t until high school that I felt comfortable trying tampons. I was beginning to really hate missing out on swimming at the beach at least 3 weeks out of the 3 months of summer. So I started using tampons and it wasn’t half as bad as I expected. However, I hated that dry pulling feeling when removing a tampon on the last days of my cycle. Ugh! But again, I accepted what I thought was my fate. It wasn’t until recently that I learned tampons not only absorb menstrual fluids, but natural vaginal fluids as well. Thus, the dry feeling. And tampons can even leave bleached cotton fibers behind. Yuck!

Enter The DivaCup.

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