Pledge a Sustainable Living on Menstrual Hygiene Day
Menstruation is one of the most significant process of a woman’s body. Like any other girl, my body too started undergoing this significant process. But was it just the body? No. With it, my mind too started experiencing a new cycle. A cycle of stigma, taboo which the society has buried deep inside. Since the time I started menstruating I have been experiencing this dark corner in my everyday life in every aspect of it. But. This persistent fight has made me come across my epiphany moments where I have explored my body and voiced my truest opinions of how I feel inside out and outside in. This blog is all about one of such moments where I realized I could change the way I live and where I live i.e. my planet.
Using a Menstrual Cup! Yes !!
Living in an urban city of the country I keep on thinking about the ways I could manage to live in a sustainable manner. Since last year I started with reducing the single use plastic from my daily life. This year took me to another step of eliminating Sanitary Napkins from my life. For a long period of time I wanted to bring this long overdue change which finally I have acted upon.
Sharing below my experience of using the cup for the first time..
- Patience!!
Being a first time user the first thing I experienced was how painstaking task it was to insert the cup into your body properly. Applying all the knowledge I gained through my web research, It required hell lot of patience while applying but yes once its done, you are happy to go.
- Saving the environment
According to Menstrual Health Alliance India, one sanitary pad could take 500 to 800 years to decompose for the plastic used in it. Each single day I was calculating the number of sanitary pads I would have added to the environment. Sharing from my own experience, It is an internal bliss to contribute to the cause.
- A hassle free period
While researching through dozens of articles and videos, I was wondering the feeling of wearing a Menstrual Cup throughout the day. Here was the first revelation to me, It doesn’t feel anything while it’s still there in your body. I can say it was period free from hassles, rashes, and of course the leakages.
- Forgetting if I am on my periods
Based on your flow, one can keep the cup inside their body for 8- 12 hours without emptying it. So practically you have to think about your periods once/twice a day. Because as I said once its there, you feel like any other day.
- No odor! Really!!
Yes that's true ladies it doesn't smell . And the science behind is while the menstrual cup is there in use, the blood is not in contact with the air, it does not clot and therefore does not smell.
- Revelation about my blood loss
While pads looks and feel completely saturated, inspecting your menstrual cup will leave you flabbergasted. On an average a woman loses 6–8 teaspoon i.e. 80ml of blood during each cycle. Thus most of the time you’ll find your cup empty even after using it for like 8 hours.
- Saving Money
An average women spend ₹1500- ₹2000 on sanitary napkin every year. By shifting to cup you can actually live on one fifth of its cost. Yes I am actually living now :)
A Liberating Experience
I was skeptic about using the cup initially. First, I didn't know anyone personally who would have been a using the cup. And second, it was just intimidating….
Although it was difficult to get hold of the cup initially starting from inserting it to the time of not feeling its presence. But one thing is sure that experiencing a disposable free period was a liberating experience of its kind.
On this Menstrual Hygiene day, I have started a transformational journey. I Look forward to hear more liberating stories from you all.
If you need any kind of advice or recommendation please write back to me. I will always be happy to see the shifts.
