Are periods killing the planet ?

Every month, women swim in The Red Sea. That's right, today I'd like to talk about a more feminine subject: periods. Or period protections to be precise.

13 times a year and 520 times in her life, a woman needs a pad or a tampon. It represents a consumption of 1447 pads every second, or 45 billion every year, worldwide.

Sanitary protections such as pads or tampons are not so disposable on the environment.. Indeed, it takes 500 years to this products to faut degrade, which means just as long as a plastic bottle. According to Greenpeace, it makes the sanitary protection industry one of the most polluting in the world.

However, we can find some alternatives such as the cup, and even washable pads. I've personally been using a LadyCup for 2 years now and it has changed my life. For the little bees who don't know what is a cup, here are some explanations. A menstrual cup is made in a flexible medical silicon (non allergen). You put it at the entrance of your hoohah and it directly collects the blood.

These are the two ways to insert it, the picture is pretty explanatory.. ;)

The pros of this cup are:
it is
- ecologic: zero waste,
- economic: once you buy it, it lasts for 10 years,
- invisible: you can't see or feel it ! Which is great when you exercise or go to the beach for example.

The cons would be:
- it can be expensive: it costs around 20 to 30 dollars. (I bought mine durig the sales and had it for only $9 !)
- you have to know your body: indeed, you insert it with your fingers so, if you're not comfortable with that it can be a problem.

If you're using regular protections, pads and tampons represents 0,5% of your waste. You could think that it's nothing. However, we are more than 3 billion women in the world. That makes a lot of pads... Right, girls ? ;)