Fifty - Greener Menstruation

Yup. I said it. I did birth control and now I'm going to green up my periods. I have been working at this for a while now, but I'm going to take it a step further. I will go step by step through my journey. Beyond green, think about these products, what they are made of, and where we put them. Don't we want the safest, most chemical-free products?

1. Greener tampons and pads
The first switch happened when I ran out of tampons in college after moving near the Wedge. I didn't want to make the trek to Target for just that one thing so I looked in the Personal Care isle and was amazed. I found Natracare products, read the box, bought some liners and tampons (applicator free) I started to learn more.

2. Party in Pants / GladRags
Still, I was using tampons that needed to be thrown away. Though difficult to go back to pads, I was startled by these figures from Tree Hugger: "73,000,000 women in the US use tampons. The average woman uses 16,800 tampons in a lifetime; 24,360 tampons for women on estrogen-replacement therapy. Assuming a 40-year period of fertility, that is over 30 billiontampons per year which must be handled by special sanitary disposal systems."
Yuck. I started with GladRags. Honestly, too bulky. Party in my Pants, if you can get over the stupid name, is actually really nice. The slogan's better -- Cloth Pads for the Princess on her Period. For only the cost of shipping, you can try out a liner for free. Marie Claire even has an article review of them. You could also make your own or even, if you can't do the pads, try Sea Sponge reuseable tampons. They last a few months, making them better that the disposable kind.

3. Diva Cup / The Keeper
I talked to my doctor and made the switch. I've practiced a bit, but all went smoothly and I am looking forward to my first real test coming up soon. (wow, usually not excited for these... :) )

It simply folds, is inserted like a tampon, and you remove and rinse as needed. You can wear it overnight, for extended periods of time, and don't have to worry about TSS. This is also going to save me a TON of money! One product for $35-40 does it all--and with no TRASH! Again, many have already written a lot about this topic and this product, so check out this brief posting from Tree Hugger for more details.

Still not convinced? Try this. Take a box of tampons. Divide the cost by then number in them. Decide how many you use in a month. A year? See how much it's costing you. Then, add in what it's costing Mother Nature. I think it's time to switch to something greener.

Peace!

Forty-Two - Greener Cookware

The cheap pots and pans laura and I have had for over the last 5 or 6 years have been beat up, scratched up, and, for a long time, have shown signs of teflon peeling as the non-stick coating gradually dissolves while under the duress of extreme heat. These pots and pans are made with a man-made material called polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) AKA Teflon, which has been shown to corrode and emit toxic vapors when under high heat over extened uses. Another man-made material, Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) or 'C8', has been used for many years to make pots and pans. A third substance used to create this cookware is petroleum which has America by the cojones to this day, even amongst growing sentiment against its use.

These materials have been lauded for their ability to repel oil, grease and water and, in general, make cooking easier for us. These materials have also been showing up in our bodies at greater amounts over the years especially over seas in countries that are using second-hand cookware at extreme heat for long periods of time. Dupont an avid user of PFOAs and PTFEs for a long time settled a class-action lawsuit with the Washington, WV community recently over abundance of PFOAs in the drinking water of the residents. This has led to 3 epidemiologists studying the level and impact of PFOAexposure on the health of Americans. The results of this ongoing study will be available this year.

Laura and I are green, no doubt about it. We want to know the story behind the goods we use; we want to know why a certain process is used and the materials used during that process to make products we buy. We are happy knowing that community members and epidemiologists are scrutinizing what we put into our bodies enough so that it is putting pressure on scientists to evaluate the materials used to making cookware more user-friendly while limiting the negative impacts to our health.

We are also pleased that the the handle of the 8" skillet is made of 70% recycled steel and the surface hard-anodized so it won't scratch. Plus, the skillet is versatile; it's oven safe up to 500 degrees which limits the amount of pans we use to cook and therefore have to wash, saving us time and energy.

Next up, we will be replacing our two large stock pots with one that is made from recylced materials.

Cheers!

Forty-One - Green Contraception

Guthrie told me this post was all me. :) I have been worried about contraception for many reasons, but mostly for the hormones that it puts into a women's body for such a long time. After reading this article on the Huffington Post website, I decided to finally make a switch for me and my planet. The Huffington Post decided to determine the greenest type of contraception out there. Many would say it's abstinence, but here are some interesting facts (without getting into too much debate). From the article, according to the Guttmacher Institute, "200 million women worldwide do not have access to family planning tools, resulting in 52 million unwanted pregnancies each year. In the United States, 50 percent of all pregnancies are unplanned." This is unacceptable, though that soap box is not this blog, so back on topic.

I'll give the summary on what the article discussed:

Condoms - 437 million condoms were sold in the US in 2008. There are now vegan options available (latex condoms contain a dairy derivative). Vegan ones are made from tree derivatives. Still, condoms produce a lot of solid waste each year and many are improperly disposed of. There are some condom companies listed in the article that donate money to charity or are fair-trade and biodegradable.

The Pill - the synthetic estrogen, progestin, etc are released into our water system through urination, which impacts wildlife and our own health when that water gets circulated back through our tap. Many aquatic species are seeing problems with males being feminized due to increased hormones in the water. The pill also comes in some of the most ridiculous packaging that is disposed of monthly.

Vaginal Ring (NuvaRing) - lasts three weeks and uses much less plastic packaging than the pill, though there is still the problem of the hormones.

The Patch - very similar to the ring, lasts one week and has less packaging than the pill, but still, there are hormones involved.

IUDs - 99% effective, little waste, can be hormone-free, and last up to ten years, though less than 2% of the US population uses this method. The up front cost is substantial, but is very cost effective over time.

Also, if none of these are appealing, you can look into the Family Awareness Planning. Nothing needed, if you abstain during your most fertile days (or you use a back up like a condom or diaphragm).

If you are interested, read the article, read lots more articles, talk to your doctor, your partner, and find what works best for you.

Last week I stopped my oral contraception, Microgestin, and went to the doctor to have an IUD inserted.  That's our number 41.

Peace!