Lunapads Blog

Our global reach has expanded yet again. We were approached by the director of Project Thrive, Celeste Mergens. Project Thrive provides self-sustaining programs that help orphanages develop long-term support and leverage their resources, making every day easier for children and their supporters. Celeste came to us for help in getting reusable menstrual supplies to the girls at one of the largest orphanages in Kenya, The Academy of Hidden Talents. This time we had very little to offer and with only 3 ½ weeks to get everything ready we couldn’t gather resources for enough Goods 4 Girls Kits to even begin to reach their goal of 520 kits. But Celeste took matters in to her own hands and made the impossible possible. In just 3 ½ weeks she was able to gather volunteer sewers and make 520 reusable feminine hygiene kits! She then took the idea of our Teen Booklet and created one specifically for the girls she works with in Kenya, making them feel empowered and educated in regards to their menstrual cycles. Here is the update on her visit to Nairobi and the program she created to honor this momentous occasion: Days for Girls.

Dear Luna Gals,I’m back! Days for Girls – was a Transformative Experience. It is almost unimaginable to learn that girls in the Academy of Hidden Talents in the slums of Kenya could be waiting in their room for days during menstruation. But thanks to YOU and many other amazing women all over the nation who stepped up to help make a difference, we were all able to make 520 feminine hygiene kits a reality with just 3 ½ weeks notice! And the impact was far greater than any of us ever dreamed… (more…)

I brought my brand-new Diva Cup and three of my favourite Lunapads as backup. Comparing this to my packing habits prior to my switch to reusable pads, I found that I saved a lot of precious space – and weight – in my backpack.

On top of that, I didn’t have to worry about running out of supplies. And it’s definitely a plus not to have to worry about how to ask for (and bargain for) sanitary pads at the bazaar! This kind of self-reliance goes a long way in boosting my self-confidence when traveling alone in what is still a very male-dominated country.

Then, there’s the comfort factor. When you’re traveling eight hours a day, whether on a hot, cramped bus, on a horse that’s ready to run wild, or on foot across dusty mountain paths, the last thing you want is to have sticky, unbreathable plastic chafing your thighs. In a place where Western-style comforts are lacking, it’s good to know that at least your period wouldn’t create additional discomfort. I could focus on soaking in the travel experience, instead of obsessing about the discomfort in my underwear!

Last, but not least, using reusable menstrual products just makes so much environmental sense when traveling. Kyrgyzstan is a country with very little infrastructure. In the main cities, garbage pick-up is unreliable, and you can’t count on waste receptacles in public venues. Outside the city, garbage is simply burnt in one’s backyard (burnt plastic is not nice.) I also spent some time in the mountains with nomad families, whose lifestyles just didn’t produce much waste at all, and there was no system for handling garbage. It then struck me how irresponsible I would have been, if I had burdened their country with my used plastic pads. It’d basically be like dumping my garbage on someone else’s yard! And it’s not just any garbage–it’s non-biodegradable, it’s toxic, and it’s a biohazard (from the blood.)

[Tangent: Back in Canada, I'm starting to wonder why it is that, while we're so careful about handling blood in medical environments, we also think it's ok to leave menstrual-blood-soaked products in non-secure receptacles in public places. And the worst stench I've encountered was not from an outhouse in rural Kyrgyzstan, but in a woman's changing room at a Canadian swimming pool, where the sanitary pads bin has evidently not been cleared for a while...]

Anyway, I’d like to thank you again for your hard work in creating and promoting alternative products that do so much good for the environment and for women’s well-being. I’ve always touted your products in the online forums I frequent, and you can count on me to keep spreading the word.

Best wishes,
Florence

A gal recently wrote in to me at customer service asking about what to do with Lunapads while traveling:

Just recently, I was called out of town unexpectedly for 2 weeks. And I didn’t have time to plan how I was going to clean my pads “on the road”. And….well……let’s just say it was an “odoriferous” experience.The big problem seemed to be that I didn’t have a chance to dry my pads. I couldn’t hang them up to dry like I usually do because I was sharing a room with my parents (and my mother insists that I keep my pads totally out of sight.) Plus, we were changing hotels every day, which made everything hard.

While I have travelled with Lunapads I’m fortunate enough to have a boyfriend who had no problem seeing pads strung up on rubber hoses in our various hostel rooms, and I often use the DivaCup which means there’s far less to wash & dry than if I used pads exclusively.

While I did have some advice to share, I thought we’d get some further insight from you gals out there who may have found better ways to travel with cloth pads.

How do you do Lunapads on the road?…

I have many reasons for praising and choosing to switch from disposable pads to Lunapads! First and foremost is my health. I was HORRIFIED when I learned about the nasty chemicals inside of disposable pads – and the fact that my poor vagina was the most absorbant part of my body. YIKES!!!

My other reason was activity and comfort. I live on a farm in Scotland where I spend a good amount of time wrestling sheep and herding cattle and all manner of physical work. Having my period has always been a problem because the disposable maxi pads are so useless! They roll up and become narrow so everything leaks. They tear apart. And they chafe in places that shouldn’t be chafed! This is not very helpful when you have several miles to walk behind a herd of cattle! Then, trying to sleep at night with a hard plastic-y sticky pad poking me here and there made my period misery from sun up to sun down!

This may sound like a strange reason but I also changed over to Lunapads because of sanitation reasons. I’ll get to that…

My last, but definately not least, reason for choosing Lunapads is the Earth. Disposable maxi pads may be small but a lot of small things add up and become very big! As a farmer I am very aware of the importance of responsible stewardship of the Earth!

I discovered Lunapads on the internet, but at first the price put me off. Then I did a bit of calculating and realized that Lunapads would pay for themselves in several ways! So I bought one pad and liner for a trial run.

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