Let's Talk Period

Let's Talk Period

Gone are the days when menstruation was spoken between hushed whispers and sanitary napkins were hidden between layers of newspapers wrapped in black plastic bags. There is an awakening of sorts in the women of today and they do not shy to discuss about “that time of the month” anymore. An uprising is taking place and women have taken it upon themselves to educate and create an awareness among their male counterparts about the perils of menstruation and to banish the taboos associated with it. They touch the pickle, water the plants, wash their hair and enter the kitchen.

And with this awakening has also come an awareness- an awareness of sustainable menstruation. Ever wondered where all the sanitary pads and tampons go? Though every household generates sanitary wastes, there is no proper disposal method for it. So once they are wrapped and thrown into the garbage bins, they are then collected from the street corners and dumped into the landfills. Most end up flushed in the drains clogging them. And those in the garbage are sorted by hand. yes. They are eventually handled by human hands which makes them prone to infection and all sorts of diseases. Or they are otherwise burnt in incinerators adding to more pollution with cancer causing dioxins in the air.

DID YOU KNOW?

There is a legal structure concerning the disposal of sanitary napkins. The Municipal Solid Waste Management Rules of 2016 have mandated to wrap the soiled napkins (classified as non-biodegradable waste) in pouches provided by the manufacturer.

Some statistics to get your guard up:

- Only about 10-12% of women in the country have access to/ choose to use pads. That’s around 36 million women.

- That comes to approximately 400 - 700 million used pads that need to be disposed of.