Lunapads Blog

This is a copy of the guest blog post I wrote for the Social Venture Network blog:

Social Venture Network conference organizers have always been mindful of ensuring emerging issues from it’s members get a voice during the conference. After meeting Jackie Vanderbrug of Criterion Ventures at the Social Venture Institute at Hollyhock (a Canadian based offshoot of SVN) and briefly learning about Criterion’s work towards “Bringing a Gender Lens to Investing” I felt the SVN community would benefit from a deeper conversation on the topic.

So, I helped organize a Call to Action Roundtable with Joy Anderson of Criterion Ventures titled: “Investing in Women: how to increase women’s access to capital and invest in social entrepreneurs focused on improving the condition of women”. Much to our delight, over two dozen participants gathered over lunch to join in the lively conversation. With several other Roundtable conversations going on concurrently in the same room, we often had to raise our voices out of necessity (and perhaps passion!)

My own interest in the topic stems from my passion for advancing issues which affect women and entrepreneurship. It was over a decade ago when Lunapads learned that a progressive investment fund, Renewal Partners, was looking to invest in socially responsible businesses that were led by women and focused on women’s issues. I wanted to share with the SVN group my positive experience obtaining capital and dealing with our investors (Joel Solomon and Carol Newell, both long time members of SVN) and working with Vancity Capital for debt financing.

After Joy introduced her framework for the conversation, the group engaged in an enthusiastic conversation that centered around three common themes:

Make it easier for women to access capital: While all of the women entrepreneurs who attended the session had successfully attracted capital to finance their business, their experience and degree of ease in obtaining that capital varied.  It was positive to learn that the social capital market is growing rapidly, but very few funds are targeted to women, and fewer still target women within community development. “Providing women equal access to capital is both a question of equity and an untapped/under invested opportunity” emphasized Joy. Others expressed frustration with the archaic legal regulations that hamper the ability for the average person or groups of people to make small investments in women run businesses.

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Ok, maybe “superstar” is a bit too far.

But tonight, BCBusiness Magazine (we’re pictured here with Editor Matt O’Grady, image courtesy of Dave Roels) announced  that Lunapads  is one of BC’s 20 Leading Innovators for 2011! We’re thrilled at this recognition and honour, and to be in the company of so many other great business leaders. Check out lucky number 17!

To us, innovation means not only doing something original, but taking on a quest that may seem daunting to others. It means creating a vision with an edge of bravery that results in a uniquely meaningful impact.

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I don’t normally like to indulge in schadenfreude, but I need to admit to a teeny-tiny bit of gloating as we watch the saga of the missing o.b. tampons unfold.

I was just surfing the o.b. Facebook “fan” (not so much these days) page and found this comment to be representative of the trend: “I ordered my Divacup after learning about it from other women on this and other sites. Hopefully I won’t have to buy tampons anymore. I am sooo disappointed with J&J about how they handled this situation. No more Ultras? bye bye o.b.s!”

The good (no, make that excellent) news is that we are getting a ton of traffic and new customers as a result: so much so, that we made this little video to say hello! Welcome, new Lunagals! We think that you will find both our products as well as our customer service to be a welcome change. Let us know if you have any questions, and be sure to let us know how your new DivaCups and Lunapads work out. Oh, and for those of you who are still on the fence, use promo code “obwtf” to receive $5 off a DivaCup!

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As someone who has dabbled in Twitter for almost two years, a person I started following early on was @unmarketing (aka Scott Stratten). I was particularly attracted to his Twitter name, as it implied someone who was unconventional and forward thinking. His posts did not disappoint me. After meeting Scott in person at a trade show in Las Vegas last October, Madeleine and I quickly realized why Scott is a such a highly regarded social media expert and sought after keynote speaker.

Knowing that Scott was going to be speaking in Vancouver to promote his new book “UnMarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging” (a national best-seller and must read book that we are giving away below!) we invited him to Lunapads HQ to consult with us about our website & conduct an “un-audit”. (As a former auditor of the accounting variety, I was rather nervous but excited to be sitting on the other side of the table and learn what the expert thought about our efforts.)

So, what did he think? Well, this autographed copy of his book sums it up.

Please also check out the impromptu interview I did with Scott and hear what he has to say about social media and some of the new tools and apps he finds interesting. Bonus info: find out what Scott and Justin Beiber have in common!

Scott, thanks for your stamp of approval. We love your motto: “Be Awesome”. (And Scott, I thought you’d appreciate this quote from Jack Black’s Kung Fu Panda character that I over heard while my boys were watching TV… “There is no charge for awesomeness or attractiveness!”)

Our social media endeavors are definitely a team effort here at Lunapads. Morgan and Lisa deserve most of the credit being the voices of Twitter and Facebook on a daily basis. Madeleine and I (aka Luna_gal) tweet about Lunapads and our personal accounts. Our YouTube channel has several thousand views.

Social media is work, for sure — but it’s really never been a chore for us. In fact, we consider ourselves lucky because we get to talk to tons of interesting people who genuinely inspire and challenge us. And, as a way of thanks, we’re giving away an autographed copy of Scott’s book to one of our readers. To enter, simply comment below about where and/or why you enjoy engaging in conversations online (ie: social media!)

PS: A big shout out of thanks to Marc Smith of Amuse Consulting and his team for bringing Scott to Vancouver in December 2010!

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We often get asked about the health and safety concerns around disposable pads and tampons: after all, it was my own tampon allergy (that resulted in years’ worth of painful monthly bladder infections) that originally led me to start making Lunapads and Lunapanties way back when. It will come as no surprise that we often hear all manner of similar stories from customers about how disposables have disagreed with them: rashes, painful dryness and of course yeast and bladder infections chief among them.

So why don’t we make a bigger deal about it? Part of the reason is that we don’t want to base our marketing messages on fear, choosing rather to emphasize benefits such as personal empowerment, financial savings, superior comfort and of course environmental responsibility. That said, a sad truth is that there has been precious little research done to document whatever correlation might exist between the above-named conditions (not to mention endometriosis, vulvodynia, infertility and many others) and disposable pad and tampon use.

And then ob tampons mysteriously began to disappear from retail shelves, prompting us to reconsider our stance. Why would Johnson & Johnson interrupt or discontinue supplies, unless women were experiencing problems, and what evidence does exist of connections between disposable pads and tampons and health problems for women?

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Last Friday, we were delighted to see the Huffington Post write a story called “How to Green Your Period” describing the many ways to green your period.  (Check out slide number 4 which talks about reusable cloth pads, including Lunapads.)   You can even “vote” for your favorite period product: menstrual cups and cloth pads are ranked #1 and #2 respectively!

Despite the Huffington Post having a progressive following, not long after the post went up, a lot of readers posted comments indicating they were put off by the topic, men and women included.  Many expressed their disgust that the Huffington Post would write about such a “vulgar” topic and why nothing was sacred anymore.  Well, thanks to fans of the DivaCup and Lunapads, there is now a bit more balance in the over 200 comments posted to date.  I particularly like what “kudzumaster” had to say about the negative feedback:

“Would it be better to go back to the days in which women were ashamed about their normal processes, and thus kept ignorant and uninformed? I know they were good times, when teenaged girls got their first period and hid in the bathroom, thinking they were bleeding to death because no one was comfortable enough to discuss menstruation with them, but I think we’re ready to move past that now, aren’t we. Women bleed once a month during their childbearing years. It’s a fact, and nothing to be embarrassed about.”

I can appreciate that people have hang ups about certain topics, but I can never understand why they go on to publicly express those hang ups.  Posting those kinds of comments only shines a light on their degree of ignorance about a topic they can’t seem get their head around.   It’s refreshing to see others chiming in to show a more eco-positive perspective about periods.  Thank you, and if you haven’t commented yet, please do so!

While surfing around the Huffington Post website, I came across a story by writer Deanna Neal called “Make her Vagina Green” packed with interesting projections about the number of bleeding women in the world and how much garbage is produced by disposable feminine hygiene products.  As compelling as those numbers are, Deanna isn’t ready or willing to try reusable products herself, but at least does a good job informing the more ‘mainstream’ reader why she should think about healthier options for her period.  Deanna, if you’re reading this, we’d love to send you some Lunapads and Lunapanties to try out!  Never say never; we think you’ll be pleasantly surprised!

Anyone else out there want to try and convince Deanna to make the switch?

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When it comes to making powerful personal eco choices, Alicia Silverstone is definitely not Clueless; many of you are probably already familiar with her beautiful and inspiring blog, The Kind Life.

We were thrilled to see this wonderful post yesterday, in which she advocates not only cloth diapering, Lunapads and the DivaCup (“I love me some Lunapads!! I use them whenever I’m at home or just running out for a few hours”, she enthusiastically tells her readers), but also references a guest blog post about alternative diapering I wrote recently for the Green Glamazon Queen herself, Chloe Jo Berman of the Girlie Girl Army.

It’s great to see a celebrity role model promoting meaningful green choices, especially when she’s not being paid for it. Thanks so much Alicia, for sharing your star power to make the world a better place!

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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?

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Before we ring in some news about what’s new for 2010, we wanted to reflect upon 2009, and how it brought Lunapads some great new people, products and inspiration.  Here are a some of the highlights:

Pads4Girls expands:  During 2009, we expanded our Pads4Girls program by eagerly partnering with new groups that reached out to communities in Cuba, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia.  Thanks to customer support and the work of courageous individuals and NGOs, hundreds of girls and women are now able to stay at work or school while menstruating, and deal with their periods safely and with minimal environmental impact.

Recognizing there are practical solutions closer to home, we created our  “Make your own cloth menstrual pads” video series that has been viewed by thousands. These videos are regularly used by women in Africa (and here in North America) to make their own cloth pads. And in December 2009, Lunapads partnered with Sustainable Health Enterprises (SHE) by donating 20% of holiday sales for 2 of our top-selling gift items to their program, which makes biodegradable disposable pads from agricultural waste in Rwanda.

Fabulous folks and adventures abroad: One of the perks of our work is choosing to take some strategic business trips and while doing so, connecting with some truly amazing people.  During 2009, we had the good fortune to meet some real treasures and leaders in our community: In March 2009, we attended the always mindboggling Expo West Natural Products Trade Show in Anaheim CA and reconnected with our friends Francine and Carinne Chamers, founders of the DivaCup and also met Sarah Kraft, founder of the online Mindful Mama community.

While walking the trade show, we spotted Mothering Magazine Founder, Editor and Publisher Peggy O’Mara and couldn’t miss the opportunity to stop and tell her how much we adored her.  This conversation led to the plans for a personal visit from Peggy right here at Lunapads the following month.  Leveraging off of Peggy’s rock star status as a natural parenting pioneer and leader, we brought together a group of friends and colleagues to hear Peggy speak at a warm and inspiring tea party benefiting Pads4Girls.

In September 2009, I took a first-time trip to the ABC kids expo in Las Vegas, where I also had an insightful visit to Zappos.com‘s headquarters.  Meanwhile Suzanne had yet another transcendent experience at the Social Venture Institute (SVI) at Hollyhock, BC.  In November 2009, we both attended the Green America Business Conference and Green Festival in San Francisco.  While we were there, we had the great fortune to meet up with  SHE founder Elizabeth Scharpf and one of our business heroes, Reusablebags.com founder Vincent Cobb.

New products and fabrics: We expanded the Lunapads collection with several new products and fabrics: the P-style, Wysi-wipes, Cloth Wipes (which elicited one of our most discussed blog posts of the year) and our first-ever custom 100% organic cotton print, Magenta Mandala.

Lunapanties, our very own period underwear, made a long awaited comeback in November 2009, with the introduction of our new Hipster style and magenta colored organic cotton.

Staff changes: We bid a tearful and fond farewell to Sandra, one of our longest-term employees, as she moved on to continue her work as a bicycle safety educator. While it is hard to replicate Sandra’s incredible personal flair for customer service, Sara, the newest addition to the Lunapads team, is doing a fantastic job!

Media and accolades: In the summer of 2009, we learned that Lunapads and the DivaCup were featured in an entertaining and informative book by Canadian journalist Vanessa Farquharson called “Sleeping Naked is Green“.  At the end of 2009 Lunapads was profiled in our of our local papers, featuring a funny photo of Suzanne and I having a “tug-of-war” with a clothesline of Lunapads and Lunapanties.

By far the biggest highlight of the year was being voted into the top 10 of Green America’s People Choice Awards and so you can imagine our reaction when we found out that we had placed in the top 3 and received the newly-minted Shining Light award.

While Suzanne and I celebrated our award San Francisco, we never lost sight of the unsung heroes in the exercise: staffers Lisa and Morgan (whose idea it was in the first place), Facebook and Twitter (follow us! @Lunapads, @Luna_Diva (me) and @Luna_gal (Suzanne)) for providing the forums to drum up votes, and last but far from least, YOU, our awesome customers, for taking the time to cast your votes – it couldn’t have happened with you.

On that note, we’d like to take this opportunity to thank you all for a great 2009, and wish you all the best for 2010 from the Lunagals!

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Suzanne and I are just back from a whirlwind trip to San Francisco to attend the Green America Business Conference and Green Festival. It was an action-packed 5 days in which we connected with some extraordinary people and organizations, as well as taking in the energy of one of the world’s most beloved cities.

But first, a drumroll…. for those of you who may not have heard the news, we are thrilled to tell you that yesterday Lunapads received the “Shining Light” award at the Green America People’s Choice business awards!  Before I explain what this is all about, I want to thank all of you who voted for us, tweeted and/or blogged about it, or have provided us with any form of support ever.  It was a very big moment for us, and it’s thanks to the enthusiasm of our customers and fans that we were able to celebrate ourselves and in turn the accomplishments of green/progressive/mission-based businesses in general. Thank you!

Without getting into the details, while we didn’t come first in the voting (Care2.com took the top spot – more on them in a later post in case you’re not already a member), our showing was so strong that the fabulous folks at Green America wanted to acknowledge us regardless. “We were really impressed with Lunapads’ showing in our People’s Choice contest.  Up against some larger, broader businesses with vast Internet reach, Lunapads mobilized their customers – a truly passionate following who had nothing but high praise for Lunapads – to pull them within striking distance of the top spot.  For a smaller, niche business to do that, while shining a light on the fact that there’s a green option for literally every product we use, we decided to present Lunapads with our Shining Light Award,” said Andrew Korfhage, Green America’s online editor and coordinator of the People’s Choice Award.

I for one love the idea that there is really an unlimited number of “winners” in the progressive business world, and to just hold up the number one spot leaves out what may well in fact be a majority of the picture – smaller businesses that collectively are making a huge impact. Speaking of which, Suzanne has been crunching some numbers lately, and has come up with the inspiring calculation that thanks to our customers having made the switch to reusable menstrual products, 1 million disposable pads and tampons are now being diverted from landfills every month. Way to go, everyone!

Because of their repeat finish in the voting race, A Lifetime Leadership award also went to Reuseit.com/Reusablebags.com (video interview with founder Vincent Cobb coming soon!) who were recipients of the 2006 People’s Choice Green Business of the Year award.  Many thanks to Alisa, Denise, Andrew, Shireen (who gave a very moving and thoughtful introduction to Lunapads) Misha, Desiree and the entire Green America team.  The conference and festival were awesome events that we will encourage others to attend. See you next year, we hope!

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