Monday, June 05, 2006
i'm so glad
ok, hold onto your decency! i'm about to discuss menstruation!
this week, after much deliberation, i purchased reusable/washable cotton menstrual pads.
now before you remark how gross you think it is, i would like you to imagine all the disposable pads a woman uses in a month (maybe 15), a year (think 180), or during the thirty-five-or-so menstruating years of her life (around 6,300), think of all those chemically-treated, plastic-backed, dirty pads filling a landfill, or washing up on your local beach. (i frankly wouldnt be surprised to witness such an event on the shores of lake michigan.) is that gross? you bet.
and i've come to see that it's also kind of irresponsible, ecologically speaking. i take a considerable care to bring my own bags to the grocery store, to recycle everything in site (to which all those who have walked down kinnickinnic with me can attest), and to reduce my consumption of fossil fuels by biking, busing, walking and car-pooling, and yet, because of this strange attitude our society takes toward menstruation (please don't talk about it, and don't let anyone know that it's going on, and oh, oh, let's dispose of the evidence of your uncleanliness as discreetly as possible.), i didn't even realize that i was doing anything so unabashedly discordant with my own personal philosophy.
but there is an alternative. so think about it. it took me a few months to get over the idea of having to *deal with* menstruation, but after observing the amount of waste created in my household each month by just two menstruating women, i'm convinced.
i'm curious to know what you think, ladies and fellas alike.
posted by emily oi! at 2:33:00 PM
0 comments
i'm so glad
ok, hold onto your decency! i'm about to discuss menstruation!
this week, after much deliberation, i purchased reusable/washable cotton menstrual pads.
now before you remark how gross you think it is, i would like you to imagine all the disposable pads a woman uses in a month (maybe 15), a year (think 180), or during the thirty-five-or-so menstruating years of her life (around 6,300), think of all those chemically-treated, plastic-backed, dirty pads filling a landfill, or washing up on your local beach. (i frankly wouldnt be surprised to witness such an event on the shores of lake michigan.) is that gross? you bet.
and i've come to see that it's also kind of irresponsible, ecologically speaking. i take a considerable care to bring my own bags to the grocery store, to recycle everything in site (to which all those who have walked down kinnickinnic with me can attest), and to reduce my consumption of fossil fuels by biking, busing, walking and car-pooling, and yet, because of this strange attitude our society takes toward menstruation (please don't talk about it, and don't let anyone know that it's going on, and oh, oh, let's dispose of the evidence of your uncleanliness as discreetly as possible.), i didn't even realize that i was doing anything so unabashedly discordant with my own personal philosophy.
but there is an alternative. so think about it. it took me a few months to get over the idea of having to *deal with* menstruation, but after observing the amount of waste created in my household each month by just two menstruating women, i'm convinced.
i'm curious to know what you think, ladies and fellas alike.
posted by emily oi! at 2:33:00 PM
0 comments
