Period Pride

Organic cotton tampons, silicone menstrual cups that last five years, and eco-friendly, leakproof underwear are just the start. It’s a whole new world in the ‘feminine products’ aisle—and Canada has become a centre for both sustainable period products and empowering conversations. To get here, women had to ask a lot of questions about the questionable tampons and pads that spend an awful lot of time in the vagina.

in 2015, and for several years prior, what WVE rally protesters wanted clarity about was chemicals linked to cancer and allergies that they suspected were present in most conventional pads and tampons.

Since companies are not required to disclose all the components that go into their raw ingredients (pads and tampons are classified as ‘medical devices’ and labelling laws don’t require the disclosure of unintentional ingredients), WVE expressed concern about how cotton and rayon were treated, and the traces of chemicals in vague labels like ‘fragrance,’ ‘flex foam’ and ‘adhesives’.

“We believe that women need more information about what these generic terms mean—and what chemicals they include,” a WVE organizer told the CBC.

At that turning point rally in New York, one woman’s sign was a sketch of a uterus that declared it “loves accurate labels”.

Why do women need to know what they’re really putting inside their bodies, month after month, year after year?

Our Chemical Parts

Most women will menstruate for about 40 years, using 16 to 20 tampons every cycle (no, gentlemen, not one tampon for the whole period). That’s a possible 12,000 tampons in a lifetime. Total tampon time spent in your uterus? Six years.

And in all those cycles, what is your vagina exposed to?

Many conventional products use a chlorine-bleaching process that can create toxic by-products, including dioxins. Dioxins are known carcinogens, they’re hormone disruptors, they’ve been implicated in endometriosis and they bring chemicals to the reproductive and immune systems.

Cotton that has been exposed to pesticides and insecticides also puts us at risk of more exposure to dioxins, as does rayon. Dioxins are good at sticking around, accumulating in fatty tissues. (And if they’re slow to break down in our bodies, they’re sure to do the same in waterways and landfills.)

Lastly, many of the hundreds of chemicals that can fit under the umbrella ‘fragrance’ term are also hormone disruptors, as are parabens.

How much of that exposure is safe?

While feminine hygiene product makers claim their tampons and pads aren’t harmful and that these are only ‘trace amounts’ of chemicals, studies are lacking and advocates say when it comes to our reproductive organs, no amount of chemicals is safe.

Now, with more awareness about the potential impact of what could be inside a tampon or pad, and your body, and with more labelling transparency, women can educate themselves and make choices.

If you’re a menstruator here in Canada, all the better.

Radical Pads and She-pioneers

You might have noticed that Canada’s period products industry is kind of having a moment. After decades of bulky, bleachy non-innovation around the world, a handful of mostly women-led, carbon neutral companies from across the country are offering an almost dazzling array of sustainable, safe and even fashionable choices. What’s more, these brands are turning up the volume on a conversation that’s shifting period talk from one of embarrassment to one of empowerment.

A Plethora of Period Products

Here are just some of the radical options that are safe for your vagina and our landfills, and great for body positivity.

REUSABLE PADS Aisle

Gender-neutral styles of underwear for transgender and non-binary menstruators are a new addition to their line of reusable cloth menstrual pads, underwear and cups.

Cups

The name says it all. Made from medical grade silicone, the cup sits inside the vagina to collect menstrual blood rather than absorb it. This means that it can be worn for extended periods of time without the risk of toxic shock syndrome. They come in two sizes for those under or over the age of 25 or those who have given birth.

Liberty Cup DivaCup

TAMPONS Natracare

This is the world’s first organic cotton tampon. Started in 1989, the company has led the way in awareness for both women’s health and environmental care. They have a full line of pads and tampons, all with zero chemicals, plastics or toxins.

UNDERWEAR Revol Cares

Revol Cares makes sustainable and obsessively-perfected, PFAS-free, leak-proof underwear. They prioritize safe materials that are sustainably sourced, and make reliable leak-proof undies that are a dream to wear, so you can feel just as good in them as you do about them.