Well EmpowHER readers, it is time to start a new adventure. When I first began writing, I recounted my personal experiences researching and testing out birth control options. I lead you through food adventures exploring potential overlaps between healthy and affordable diets. I even snuck ridiculous references to my own sex life into these articles (see if you caught them…) much to my father’s embarrassment! Now I’m ready to take another dive into a realm of women’s health currently unfamiliar to me; alternative menstrual products. And you’re coming with me! Think of this exploration as a journey into the vagina. We’ll all learn together!
For several years I’ve been very interested in the menstrual cup but procrastinated fully investigating it. After beginning preliminary research, I can’t believe I waited so long!
First a brief overview: The idea of a menstrual cup has actually been around since the 1930s. Like tampons, they were developed as an alternative to the bulky buckle-on pads women wore to stem their flows around the turn of the century. Somehow, these cups were lost in the shuffle and only re-gained popularity recently in hippie hotspots and communities of avant-garde women’s health enthusiasts.
Basically, the product is a small cup you insert into your lower vagina (similar placement to a tampon). The cups are made of a hypo-allergenic material and designed in different sizes to fit a woman’s body at every age and stage. Just like tampons and pads, there are actually several different brands and types of menstrual cups to investigate. Some are disposable, (ex: Softcup, Instead) but most are meant to be re-used (ex: Mooncup, Divacup, the Keeper).
These reusable cups are awesome for several reasons:
1. They save you money. Think for a second how much money you spend each year on tampons or pads – close to $100, right? Imagine what you could do with all that money instead. (In my case – pay rent! Relatively important.) If economic downturn isn’t a good reason to research cost-cutting strategies, nothing is.
2. They reduce the amount of waste you produce. How many tampons or pads do you use during each period? Maybe 20-30? Think of where all of that cotton, plastic, cardboard, and other environmentally unfriendly waste goes to sit. As we teeter on the edge of environmental crises, the elimination of disposable menstrual products from your own trash pile can make a huge difference to Mother Earth. Not to mention your plumbing.
Stay tuned for the next article where I’ll go into more details on different types of reusable menstrual cups and their benefits. Also – I’m lucky to know a fantastic Diva-cup expert and enthusiast who can answer any questions you may have about the mechanics of acquiring and using a cup. Please post questions below!