Seven years ago, I shifted to Delhi from the south of the country for higher education. It was very difficult to get a hostel in the initial allotments of my university, so one of my friends (my school friend joined the university earlier) was kind enough to share her hostel room with me. It was a ‘hotel’ like a hostel room with a spacious room with beautiful balconies, a big mess hall with various kinds of food, a gym hall, visiting rooms, etc. Everything was very new to me; especially the large common washroom consisting of several bathrooms, pantry area, and washbasins with mirrors.
My excitement did not last long. One fine morning, I found it very very dirty, somebody had left behind used sanitary pads inside the bathroom. Toilets and washbasins were equally dirty because there was no water as it was peak summer. Then I realized that there was no mechanism to dispose of the sanitary napkins except a separate waste bin. This view became normal and whatever the condition, there were sanitary workers to clean it, and students had taken it for granted.
After a month, I got allotted to another hostel, the very old hostel building on the campus. Unlike the previous hostel, cats and dogs were regular visitors here and seriously posed a threat to hygiene and sanitation. We were supposed to wrap the sanitary napkins within a newspaper and deposit in a separate small dustbin placed in front of the washroom wall. But most of the times, we saw bits and pieces of used pads in the whole corridor as the first sight in the morning. I have ruined many days in the hostel due to this incident, I hope nobody wants to wake up to a scene like that.
Yes, we had a hostel committee, we complained, we had meetings, we tried to sensitize the hostel mates but all efforts were vain because there was this debate of invading into the animals’ natural habitat. I have a diploma in health and sanitation, so this problem annoyed me more than any other student on my floor, but still, I had no option left other than putting the napkins in the same bin. Consider the situation of sanitary workers who clean the areas, they are also as helpless as the students.
The Urgent Need To Shift To Sustainable Menstruation
A few years later, I got to know about menstrual cups from the same friend and I bought one from my fellowship money, it cost me around Rs. 700 including delivery charge. I found it difficult to use it for the first time but I watched some YouTube videos and managed the process. Anyways, I decided to make a change and I have been using the cup for the last few years and the experience has been beyond words. It is something magical among menstrual products: reusable, economical, eco-friendly, and effective. How I wish every menstruating woman were using it and keeping our environment clean and free.
Times of pandemics and other natural disasters bring so much emphasis on sustainable menstruation. Women who menstruate have to dispose of around 200 kg of menstrual products in their lifetime. Sanitary pads are popular among women and it takes up 500-800 years for decomposition. If women need two packets of sanitary pads in a month, imagine the volume of waste accumulated by millions of women across the world. We should consider the environmental impact in addition to the personal health risks as sanitary napkins are made up of plastic and other unhealthy components.
The first generation of menstrual cups got patented in the 1860s and the modern menstrual cups were invented in 1937. After these many years, several beauty products came into the industry and got popular among women, but not the menstrual cups. In a country where the mere mention of menstruation itself considered taboo, menstrual cups are no different. There are so many myths regarding menstrual cups existing in the society like, virgins cannot use menstrual cups; they will go inside the body; cups will affect the elasticity of the vagina. Strong awareness is needed to eliminate the myths as these issues have been proven wrong scientifically.
Low Accessibility, Affordability And Period Poverty
Menstrual cups are not ‘considered’ economical for all, even though they are cost-effective and need a one-time investment for a minimum of 10 years. Seeing these crises around the world, it’s high time for the government to take up this matter and for other agencies to start working on sustainability and making it affordable for all. Further, a major part of the selling of menstrual cups happens via online shopping sites and rarely in some physical stores and exhibition sites.
This low accessibility is another hindrance to the acceptability of menstrual cups. Every woman should be informed of the benefits and convenience of menstrual cups and they should be made available in local stores. Period poverty is a serious issue for women on low incomes and it will get worse in the times of pandemics and repeated natural calamities. As menstruation is a biological process, sustainable menstrual products are essential commodities. It is the right of every woman to deal with it with utmost dignity irrespective of her class, caste, or income level.
I feel that the social media push for sustainable menstruation is trying to break the silence regarding the myths of menstrual cups to an extend. But it should not be reclined only in social media platforms, we the women have to speak on these issues everywhere possible, till it reaches the policymakers to make menstrual cups affordable and to promote sustainable menstruation.
Every change counts! Happy periods!