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From getting the weepies to missing work with menstrual cramps to having an insatiable desire to stuff your face with whatever’s nearest at hand, periods have an impact on women’s lives in many different ways.
But they also have a negative impact on Mother Nature
Plastic tampon applicators are disastrous for the environment. 100 billion menstrual products are thrown away globally each year.
They cannot be recycled and each takes 500 years to degrade. They also wind up in our oceans, causing not just flooding but harm to animals who mistake them for food which blocks their digestive tracts and contaminates them. Up to a third of the fish we eat already contains plastic.
Shutterstock
Shutterstock
Over the course of 40 years, a woman will use approximately 20 tampons per menstrual cycle which equates to a whopping 9,600 tampons. That’s a lot of unbiodegradable plastic!
So with the recent move away from plastic bags and bottles, there’s now a movement away from plastic tampon applicators towards sustainable applicators that are, believe it or not, actually reusable.
Yes, it sounds utterly bizarre but it’s not as weird as it first sounds.
The plastic tampon applicator – simply called ‘D’ – is the brain child of a new company called DAME, who already produce organic tampons that are free of chemicals.
Dame have said that the environmentally sustainable D is ‘small, smart and simple’, and provides the comfort and ease-of-use of a traditionally plastic applicator without the waste and harm to the environment. The lipstick shaped device is made of two parts and a case that slots together, and can fit any size of tampon (as seen below).
Designed and built by medical engineers, D is medical-grade BPA free with Antimicrobial Sanipolymeres baked into the applicator which helps keeps it hygienic. In order to clean D you wipe it, rinse off, and slot it back into it’s case.
D can also heat resistant so you can sterilize the product whenever is handy for you.
With the amount of plastic in oceans soon set to outnumber the amount of fish, D sounds like the perfect alternative for those of us who want to do our part for the environment, but are turned off by the thought of period absorbent knickers or moon cups.
Dragon’s Den rejected DAME’s pitch for funding last year ridiculously saying it was “odd to pitch a business only half the population use”, meaning that DAME are having to crowdfund on kickstarter to get the product off the ground in time for launch in July 2018.
With 21 days left to back the product, DAME have raised £30,976 out of their goal of £20,000. If interested you can support their campaign here.
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Friday 27 December, 2024
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These quirky new reusable tampon applicators will help save the environment
PERIODS.
THEY SUCK. Period.
From getting the weepies to missing work with menstrual cramps to having an insatiable desire to stuff your face with whatever’s nearest at hand, periods have an impact on women’s lives in many different ways.
But they also have a negative impact on Mother Nature
Plastic tampon applicators are disastrous for the environment. 100 billion menstrual products are thrown away globally each year.
They cannot be recycled and each takes 500 years to degrade. They also wind up in our oceans, causing not just flooding but harm to animals who mistake them for food which blocks their digestive tracts and contaminates them. Up to a third of the fish we eat already contains plastic.
Over the course of 40 years, a woman will use approximately 20 tampons per menstrual cycle which equates to a whopping 9,600 tampons. That’s a lot of unbiodegradable plastic!
So with the recent move away from plastic bags and bottles, there’s now a movement away from plastic tampon applicators towards sustainable applicators that are, believe it or not, actually reusable.
Yes, it sounds utterly bizarre but it’s not as weird as it first sounds.
The plastic tampon applicator – simply called ‘D’ – is the brain child of a new company called DAME, who already produce organic tampons that are free of chemicals.
Dame have said that the environmentally sustainable D is ‘small, smart and simple’, and provides the comfort and ease-of-use of a traditionally plastic applicator without the waste and harm to the environment. The lipstick shaped device is made of two parts and a case that slots together, and can fit any size of tampon (as seen below).
Designed and built by medical engineers, D is medical-grade BPA free with Antimicrobial Sanipolymeres baked into the applicator which helps keeps it hygienic. In order to clean D you wipe it, rinse off, and slot it back into it’s case.
D can also heat resistant so you can sterilize the product whenever is handy for you.
With the amount of plastic in oceans soon set to outnumber the amount of fish, D sounds like the perfect alternative for those of us who want to do our part for the environment, but are turned off by the thought of period absorbent knickers or moon cups.
DAME. / Vimeo
Dragon’s Den rejected DAME’s pitch for funding last year ridiculously saying it was “odd to pitch a business only half the population use”, meaning that DAME are having to crowdfund on kickstarter to get the product off the ground in time for launch in July 2018.
With 21 days left to back the product, DAME have raised £30,976 out of their goal of £20,000. If interested you can support their campaign here.
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dame Environmentally friendly tampons period pain