When you see India in global documentaries, how is it portrayed? Most people show the slum parts, the traffic-filled streets, and of course the backward rural areas. However, the nation is so much more than that. However, why does the Western media portray India like this? Although it’s not entirely our fault, are we doing enough to present our country in the best light? Let’s take one instance, and discuss it. Around 36% of menstruating women among 121 million Indian women use sanitary napkins, and it generates an awful lot of 12.3 billion napkins amounting to 1,13,000 tons of annual waste. When you question the necessity of female sanitary cups, someone somewhere would be disposing of pads or tampons that would eventually lead to landfill waste or land in ocean beds.
In India, where menstrual hygiene has long been a subject of taboo, addressing the environmental impact of menstrual products has become more vital than ever. Why? Well, here’s a guide to help you understand this!
The Environmental Cost of Traditional Menstrual Products:
Traditional menstrual products such as disposable pads and tampons are convenient but come with a significant environmental cost. The manufacturing process of these products involves the use of non-biodegradable materials like plastic, which contributes to pollution and resource depletion. Moreover, their disposal poses a major challenge, as most sanitary pads end up in landfills or water bodies, where they take hundreds of years to decompose, releasing harmful chemicals in the process.
The Plastic Predicament
One of the most concerning aspects of conventional menstrual products is their reliance on plastic. A staggering amount of plastic is used in manufacturing pads and tampons, contributing to the global plastic pollution crisis. In India, where waste management infrastructure is often inadequate, this plastic waste further exacerbates environmental degradation, clogging drains, polluting water bodies, and harming wildlife.
Menstrual Cups as a Sustainable Solution
Menstrual cups offer a wide array of sustainable advantages over conventional feminine hygiene products. Made from medical-grade silicone, or latex, these cups are reusable, and if you properly maintain them, they can last for hours. Unlike disposable pads and tampons that generate significant waste, period cups produce minimal waste over their lifespan, hence reducing the environmental burden. Besides, these cups are easy to use, and you can use them during activities like swimming as well, so they are a win-win!
Conclusion
We seldom do anything for the environment we live in and it’s high time we play our part in keeping our environment clean. While you can pull all the arguments you have to question about what is the use of menstrual cup, somewhere deep inside your heart, you probably already know why period cups are better than conventional alternatives. Change begins at home, and if you want to be a nation known for its clean streets, pristine water beds, and of course, great soil, reducing waste of all kinds, including menstrual waste has become the need of the hour, and the first step to do it is with period cups.
