You Want To Stick What Where?

You Want To Stick What Where?

In our quest to become "Greener" we tend to resort to earlier times in human history, going back to the days when we grew our own veges, recycled the milk bottles and used cloth diapers. But do we really want to go back to all those old reusable tendency's? I guess what I'm asking is do we have limits to our "Reusable" items?  Specifically I want to talk about reusable personal hygiene items. 

  I own an Etsy store and I make reusable and all natural laundry, cleaners  and kitchen items. They include Non-paper towels, scrubbing mitts, reusable sandwich bags but I have yet to venture into the reusable hygiene area. Not that I couldn't make them it's just that I personally have not yet walked that reusable hygiene path and I am not sure about how I feel about it. 

 But despite my resistance there is a booming market for those items. Just go into etsy and type reusable hygiene and you are blanketed with pictures of reusable panty liners, pads and yes even tampons. 

(This reusable Tampon can be purchased here)

The thought of washing my period items each month does not appeal to me, I'm not disturbed by it or anything (I have kids :) I disturb rarely) I just do enough laundry as it is.

(These reusable pads can be purchased here)

I would think you would have to purchase a bunch for starters unless you plan on doing a lot of washing. They also bring to mind a lot of questions. Do they leak? What are they made of on the inside? With Tampons what about toxic shock is the rate higher or lower?

(These Panty Liners can be found here)

I know that reusable diapers have made a real come back do you think reusable tampons and pads will go the same route? Will we all be wearing designer reusable pads in the future? 

There is another reusable option that has been around for a while with less laundry involved. 

The menstrual cup. It's reusable. Pretty simple. A menstrual cup is a flexible cup or barrier worn inside the vagina during menstruation to collect menstrual fluid. Unlike tampons and pads, the cup collects menstrual fluid rather than absorbing it. They are usually made from medical grade silicone which is a safe and hypoallergenic material. Menstrual cups are more cost-efficient and environmentally friendly than tampons, as they are reusable, and can be used for up to 5-10 years. They have greater capacity than tampons, and can be emptied every 12 hours, unlike pads and tampons which require more frequent changing. A woman need only wear the one cup and clean and empty it at the end of the day rather than carrying several pads or tampons. By keeping menstrual fluid away from the vaginal walls and vulva and unexposed to air, menstrual cups have less odor associated with their use than with the use of tampons or pads. When using a menstrual cup, the menstrual fluid is collected away from the cervix and held in liquid form as opposed to it been absorbed and held in semi-coagulated form against the cervix as is the case with tampons. (Thanks to wikipedia for that informative review :) They generally come in two sizes one for women who have had kids or are over 30 and kidless chicks and under 30. 

I have yet to use one, they can be quite expensive around 30-60$ But they do last 5-10 years so you save a ton of money in the long run since the average woman spends about 20$ a month on her period.

My girlfriend has one a loves it so I asked her some questions. Do they leak? Nope she has not had one leak at all. Are they hard to put in? Nope pretty easy just fold and insert, the package show you how. Can you feel them? No more than a tampon would. When you take them out do they spill? Never has that issue at all they are more clean than using pads or tampons she swears. 

I'm still unsure about the whole reusable period items, but I would try them especially the cup since I trust my friends opinion and she swears they are awesome. 

How about you? Have you tried any of these items? Would you? What is your opinion? Would love to see your comments below. .....Maybe I'll make some Star Wars reusable pads and see how they sell :)