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21 April 2010
Posted in
4) Spring Health, Naturally
On the heels of International Women’s Day last March (8th); with Mother’s Day fast approaching; and as somewhat of a ‘feminine dedication’ to Earth Day for women everywhere!… we wanted to dedicate a section of our Spring Guide 2010 to the “unmentionables”.
Read At Your Own Discretion
First off, if you are a man and are reading this with a title like “For Women Only”, you are either curious by nature, wondering what is ‘off-limits’ to you, or ‘OK’ with delving into the “unmentionables” for a woman. Either way, we like your moxy!
Secondly, if you are a woman, you may be wondering, which “unmentionables” are they referring to?
For our part, we always knew unmentionables as more to do with underwear. Say if you went swimming and after drying off ‘mentioned’ discretely that you were looking for a pair of “unmentionables”… AKA panties!
Delving Deeper Into Personal Womanly Product Needs
But this time, we’re delving deeper. We’re going beyond the “undies” and right to those "monthly unmentionables”. Yes, that’s right, for Earth Day, we wanted to provide you with some more natural and planet-friendly products for that 'time of the month', as well as mention a few other personal feminine need items to follow.
We’ll approach this a couple of ways, regarding product types and option availabilities, as well as delve in a little bit from the standpoint of carbon footprint impact your choices make. Here are some ecologically sound choices and products to choose from:
- Feminine Pads
- Tampons
- Vendors (Soaps, Creams, Oils, Ointments, etc...)
- Women, Baby & Pregnancy-related Products
- Product Types With Natural Approach
- Where You Can Buy Them (Vendors)
- Your More Natural & Ecological Choice
Feminine Pads
If you can manage without tampons for your time of the month, consider the following when choosing your feminine pads.
Eco-Selection (#1-6):
1. Buy a brand made of natural materials.
Try to choose a product made of natural, healthier and more earth-friendly material such as organic cotton, free of harsh chemicals. With something resting up so close and personal against your body for an extended time, why would you want to choose anything else?
2. Buy a brand free of chlorine &/or harsh chemicals.
Once again, chlorine or harsh chemicals are not what you want to have up close and personal during your monthly experience.
Also, remember that chlorine or harsh dyes can affect more than just your body, prior to use, during the actual manufacturing phase of the product.
3. Choose a product sized for your needs.
More so even than tampons, the physical size of pad selected is impactful. Consider what flow you are experiencing and select products based on that need, choosing one with reduced flow capacity (and therefore size), as you move through your cycle and your flow decreases.
Again, the bigger the product you choose, the larger your packaging, manufacturing and related transportation needs will be, thus increasing unnecessarily your carbon footprint if product size and capacity requirement are not considered at time of selection.
Keep a variety of differently sized menstrual products in your washroom cupboard so you can select based on your need as opposed to what you have handy when you need it.
4. Try to select a pad with more biodegradable packaging.
A box is usually a box with respect to the different brands sold. However, some brands sell pads in more biodegradable packaging (or individual wrappers). When selecting your products, consider the time the packaging will take to biodegrade and the environmental impacts its manufacturing will have.
5. Never flush feminine products.
Flushing pads further taxes the wastewater treatment process unnecessarily.
6. Consider trying a re-usable, washable cotton pad for your monthly needs.
How do think women managed before the onset of the commercially manufactured feminine pad?
As with baby diapers, there was a time when women were unable to drive over to their local store and buy a box of feminine pads.
Just think of the copious amounts of waste material you will be preventing from the landfill when you consider that the waste is produced every single month… not to mention the huge reduction in your carbon footprint with respect to the manufacturing of the pads each month, their packaging, and the transportation effort to get to your nearest store, so you can ‘drive’ there to buy it.
Brand & Store Suggestion:
natracare: makes pads as well as tampons and can again be purchased at Planet Organic Market on Quinpool Rd, and possibly in the Natural Health section of some grocery stores. Their individual packaging is made of biodegradable material.
Hand-made Pads: There are an increasing number of vendors that sell cloth pads. Locally in Halifax, Nurtured Products for Parenting and Banana Bottoms are believed to sell these products.
Tampons
Not all women experiencing their menstrual cycle use tampons. And cloth pads are always an eco-friendly alternative. But for those who do, here are some product options and things to think about when making your choices about them.
Eco-Selection (#1-3):
1. Buy a brand that uses natural products, without any harsh chemicals.
Let’s face it, you’re putting these ‘in’ your body. Chlorine or chemicals are not what you want for a healthy choice.
2. Choose a product without the applicator.
The applicators add to the overall waste of the product at the time of use, as well as during manufacturing.
Many tampon applicators get flushed down the toilet and tax wastewater treatment facilities unnecessarily.
The shear size of the box in which the tampons are sold is doubled, tripled and sometimes quadrupled by buying tampons with applicators, ultimately creating a need to manufacture more box packaging (as well as inside packaging tampon sleeves). As well, the larger ‘required’ volume of product, for each ‘actual’ volume of desired product (ie: the tampon), ultimately increases the transportation carbon footprint since more trips are required to deliver the same amount of ‘actual’ product.
3. If you prefer an applicator, choose a brand that uses non-plastic applicators.
The non-plastic applicators will biodegrade more quickly and are likely less taxing on the environment to manufacture as well.
Brand Suggestion
natracare: Their slogan is “healthier by nature”. Product is available at Canadian-owned Planet Organic Market on Quinpool Rd, Halifax, and possibly also carried in the Natural Health section of some local grocery stores.
Vendors (Soap, Creams, Salts, Oils, Ointments...)
Vendors that carry products for the body like soaps, creams, salts, oils, ointments and more include:
- Atlantic Healing Hemp (Halifax Farmer’s Market, online & sell at HFX shows)
- Be Well Spa (Robie St)
- Beach Lane Lavendar Farms (Halifax Farmer’s Market)
- Bhavanna Yoga Boutique (Quinpool Rd)
- Bradshaw Esthetics (off Spring Garden-Birmingham?)
- Casaroma Wellness Center (Alderney Landing)
- Healthy Bug (Joseph Howe Dr.)
- Lalabee Bathworks (made in BC, but sold locally through My ‘Lil Package)
- Life Salon Spa (Aveda Seller)
- LUSH (Canadian company located in commercial shopping centers)
- Markets: Crafter’s &/or Farmer’s everywhere
- Olivier Savonnerie (based in NB with on-line ordering & also sell at HFX shows)
- pur alternatives (Barrington St)
- Solas Naturals (in the valley, but sells at local Halifax shows)
- SuperNatural (Young St)
- The Soap Girl (on-line & sells at local Halifax shows)
Women, Baby & Pregnancy-related Products
As with many places now, there are many vendors from which to purchase women, baby, and pregnancy-related products. Some are hand-made, or if manufactured, done so responsibly, and with the use of natural materials for their make-up and used during their production. Here are some products for which you can consider perhaps switching to a more natural approach, and where you can find many natural and ecological product selections:
Product Types With Natural Approach
There are a variety of women, baby and pregnancy-related products you can choose form that are either a more healthy &/or a more environmentally friendly choice. Here are a few examples to keep in mind when you are shopping for you, or your loved one if you have any, or any on the way:
- Baby Bottles: Glass options means you don’t need to worry about the 'nasty', off-gassing or leaching plastics!
- Creams, Lotions & Oils: for hands, feet, face, or body.
- Cleaning &/or Grooming Products: soap, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant
- Clothing: an endless list of items. Consider clothing that is made of natural or organic materials, locally, and even by hand if you can.
- Diapers: Cloth diapers, liners and pad inserts.
- Menstrual Products: Cloth pads.
- 'New-Mommy' Products: Cloth breast pads, booby-tubes (to reduce swelling) & baby slings.
- Pregnancy Products: Bella bands for your waist or belly butter.
- Toys: another endless list of items. Consider toys that of natural materials, locally, and even by hand if you can.
- More…
Where You Can Buy Them
Most of these vendors are small, privately owned businesses. Some have storefronts, some only sell at shows, and some sell on-line. Choose a vendor or manufacturer that reflects you and what you want to support:
- Banana Bottoms
- Halifax Crafter’s Sales
- Halifax Farmer’s Market
- Nurtured Products for Parenting
- My ‘Lil Package
- P’lover’s the Environmental Store (Park Lane Mall)
- Planet Organic Market
- Uncommon Kids (South Park St. & Sunnyside Mall, Bedford, NS)
Your More Natural & Ecological Choice
You may not use all of the products mentioned above. But chances are you use some of them.
When you do buy them, know you have options in the products themselves; how they are manufactured; by whom; and who sells them. Choose based on your needs and personal priorities about your health and that of the planet, especially now, on the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, 2010, and everyday.
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