Lunapads Blog

Yesterday we had the extraordinary good fortune to be visited by some remarkable people working for change for Ethiopians, the leaders of Partners in the Horn of Africa, and Hope for Children.

Yewoinshet Masresha is an engaging and charismatic Ethiopian woman and the founder of Hope for Children, an organization which has received worldwide attention for its pioneering work in the care of women and children affected by HIV/AIDS.

A social activist from her early teens, Yewoinshet joined the Red Cross at age 17 during a period of political instability and war in Ethiopia. When she refused to marry a high ranking military official she was imprisoned in solitary confinement for three years. She emerged with a renewed strength and commitment to help women and children in need. The impact of  HIV/AIDS was having a profound effect on the country and many children were losing one or both parents to the virus. It was in response to this HIV/AIDS crisis that Yewoinshet founded Hope for Children, the first NGO in Ethiopia dedicated to the care of children affected by HIV/AIDS.

Yewoinshet shared her personal story with us firsthand, as well as describing life for most women and girls in Ethiopia. In many communities, for example, girls are expected to wash male visitors’ feet, and are given undesirable bits of meat, while their brothers receive choicer pieces. Education for girls is widely seen as being pointless, since they will end up married often before they even reach puberty. Yewoinshet also described a deeply negative and shame-based culture around menstruation, and the devastating effect that it has on girls’ self-esteem and education (a sadly familiar story, which for our part we are seeking to address in various nations via our Pads4Girls program.)

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LunaCycle Sampler Pack Giveaway!
Are you a cyclist? What products do you use when biking on your period? Share your biking-while-menstruating thoughts with us here and be eligible to win a LunaCycle Sampler Pack!

When the new Luna Cycle printed Lunapads and Pantyliners arrived in our warehouse, I was reminded of a good friend of mine who is currently riding her own Moon Cycle across North America and will soon be spanning the entire continent of Africa on her bicycle.

Some might ask why take a bike safari and why call it a Moon Cycle?  Brenna is fundraising for The Shanti Uganda Society, who we at Lunapads are also fans & supporters.  The Shanti Uganda Society’s mission is to improve infant and maternal health, provide safe women-centered care and support the well-being of birthing mothers and women living with HIV/AIDS in Uganda. Their vision is a world where birthing mothers and women living with HIV/AIDS are supported, empowered and able to develop to their full potential, valuing community participation, unity, sustainability and traditional knowledge.  Worth the trip, right?

Their projects range from a fully functioning and environmentally friendly (rain water catchment system, solar powered) Birth House and Learning Centre, Teen Girls workshops and a sustainable income generating group for women experiencing HIV and poverty.  Part of their projects is reusable menstrual pad distribution; our Pads4Girls project has been a direct partner.

Shanti Uganda Teen Girls with Reusable Pads

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Ashley’s LunaRevolution Video
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Ashley is the winner of The People’s Choice Award for our recent LunaRevolution Video Contest – Congrats, Ashley! She is also an avid maker of videos reviewing various feminine hygiene products and sharing her menstrual experience with her peers on her YouTube channel.  We are excited to share our recommendations for this Lunagal!

Name: Ashley

Age: 14

How did you hear about reusable menstrual products?
I heard about reusables from YouTube videos!

Please describe your monthly needs:
My flow varies from month to month. Typically 2-3 days super light, 3 days average and 3 nights average to heavy. Also, light discharge throughout the month.

If you are currently using disposable products, which ones do you use, and for what needs?
Pantyliners for the first day or two. Regular tampons for about three days. For 3 nights thin overnight pads. And pantyliners throughout the rest of the month.

Why do you want to switch to reusable menstrual products?
I want to switch to reusables for several reasons! First, Lunapads are so cute! Secondly, they are discreet and quiet! Thirdly, I’d love a more comfortable option without rashes!!

Anything else you would like to share about yourself?
I am a teen girl who loves to make YouTube videos!

Our recommendations for this teen who is out in the world sharing about positive periods with her peers!

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Hello! I am really excited to be joining the Lunapads team.

I was born and raised in a small town on Vancouver Island and spent my after school hours in the dance studio since before I even started kindergarten. When I was in high school, I got really interested in the costume design aspect of the performance world. So much so, that upon my graduation, I moved to Vancouver to study fashion design at Kwantlen.

Studying fashion, textile arts and history of costume opened me up to a plethora of feminist concerns and passions; women’s empowerment, body image, textile art vs. craft and women’s role in society post Women’s Lib, to name a few. I did my internship with local designer, Allison Wonderland becauseI love our growing local fashion scene and her stuff is so darn cute. Working at lululemon’s little sister, OQOQO, is where I got schooled in the eco-fashion/textile movement and again, found a new passion.

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I am really excited about this video, and hope that it will be the first of several about how women connect with their fertility cycles on a spiritual level.

Back when I first started making Lunapads, I was intrigued by Goddess spirituality and would often participate in women’s rituals around Vancouver in the company of my Goddess-loving BFF, Signy Wilson. They were very moving and beautiful and I fondly remember the power and magic of being in community with other women in this unique way. What has stayed with me from those experiences is a profound sense of Sisterhood (chief among Lunapads’ core values) as well as a deep awareness of my connection to Nature’s other cyclical mysteries via my menstrual cycle.

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As if we weren’t already jealous and mildly tweaked when we saw Kotex’s progressive “U by Kotex” campaign last year engage millions of girls and women to talk positively about periods – the folks at Kotex have done it again. But this time, with the help of a celebrity fashionista, Patricia Field of Sex and the City fame.

In their latest campaign, called “Ban the Bland“, with the help of a cool online tool, budding artists are asked to help design a limited edition fashionable menstrual pad and win a trip to New York Fashion Week.  Wait a minute: a fashionable menstrual pad? Isn’t that what Madeleine set out to do 18 years ago when she made her first set of Lunapads? Sheesh, we’re really starting to feel like Kotex is taking a page from everything Lunapads has done to make periods cool, stylish and fun.

Kudos to Kotex for investing in positive messages about periods (in a way that we could never afford to do!) and revitalizing the feminine hygiene  product category.  But let’s not forget that at the end of the day they are still pushing disposable pads and tampons (that happen to be priced up to 50% higher than other disposables.) Disposable feminine hygiene products are an ugly environmental blight to our planet; according to E-magazine, Franklin and Associates reports that over 12 billion pads and tampons go into North American landfills every year.  I haven’t worn a disposable pad in a decade but remember how they feel: sticky, sweaty and made from plastic and other synthetic materials.  Is that cool? I don’t think so.

What’s your take? Do you like what Kotex is doing? What ideas do you have for us to help get our message out to girls and women that Lunapads have always made beautiful menstrual pads that are better for your body and the earth? We want your ideas!

Related articles

• Get your creative juices flowing with Kotex! (adweek.blogs.com)

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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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Ever since I started working at Lunapads, I had actually been looking forward to that time of the month. Too bad it was the cramps that first let me know I was on my period. Yes, unfortunately, I am one of those women who get cramps. So I can’t say that I heart my period. I heart my Advil. And my heating pad.

After reading some inspiring testimonials from other Lunagals that switching from disposable pads to Lunapads changed their attitudes, I was hopeful.  I was not disappointed.

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Ohh, introductions. Can’t I just say I’m awesome and be done with it?

No? Alright then…

My name is Ashley, and I just started as a PR Intern at Lunapads. I grew up in Ottawa and have always been used to powerful businesswomen, as my mom owned and managed two bakeries. My big sister and I were great helpers, when we weren’t snacking.

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Many of you have probably already heard of Chris Guillebeau and his wonderful book, the Art of Non-conformity: Set your own rules, Live the life you want and Change the world. For those of you who know of him and are also Lunapads and DivaCup fans, it will come as no surprise that I find Chris’s work to be singularly validating and inspiring: it also reminds me a lot of you, our amazing customers and community.

His message is essentially this: “Psst – you don’t actually have to do things the “right” way, or even necessarily do them at all: there are ways to imagine and live your life in a unique way, in accordance with what really matters to you, that will provide a rich and rewarding legacy if you are up for it.” Basically, it’s a heart-centered crash course in big picture creative thinking: I devoured it.

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