Eco-friendly period products are a privilege

It's astonishing how many period products go into our landfill. The average non-organic pad takes 500 to 800 years to decompose. A cotton tampon takes about 6 months to decompose— BUT that doesn't include the applicator that it's wrapped in.

Wow! You say. We should all just switch to menstrual cups and save the planet!

Uhhhh yeah... I agree, but there are some factors at play; and I say that as someone who owns a menstrual cup company, I want everyone to have a menstrual cup! Not only because it’s better for your body (less chemicals) but it’s better for the environment and quite frankly, better for my business. 

BUT— we can't talk about environmental impact without talking about accessibility and education.

Some people can't just go purchase menstrual cups, the stores around them don't offer them. This is really common in food deserts and in rural areas.

“Oh, then they should just go to a different store and find a cup” you say.
That would be ideal, yes.
But that's time, energy, a form of transportation, etc— all things some people might not have access to.

Not only that, but some people live month to month without a surplus or oversupply of period products so the time it would take to search for reusable menstrual products— they might not have items to help them if they are already bleeding.

“Well they could just order from amazon they have free shipping”— well, remember in order to receive free shipping, that's a paid service, not to mention you need access to the internet and a secure mailbox for your item to be dropped off at. And a credit card/debit card and a bank. All of which is a privilege that we forget about. 

Some people can't find resources about menstrual cups, therefore are too scared or don't know how to use them properly. Yes, you can YouTube, TikTok, Google, etc “How to Use a Menstrual Cup” but think of the language barriers, social barriers, and learning barriers, to name a few obstacles. Some of us are hands on learners, some us learn through talking about it, some of us need someone who looks like us to feel more comfortable to try it (representation is *so* important). 

Finally, some people physically can't use menstrual cups. Be it from mental blocks with trauma or vaginismus, or they might be differently abled. People are not the same shape or have the same experiences so there might be tons of reasons to wait to try a menstrual cup or not use them all together.