Eco Lesbo Vego

Reduce: Menstrual Cups

About four months ago, I started using the most awesome item any woman could ever encounter. Nope, not that.* This awesome object is a small piece of medical-grade silicon. No seriously, get your mind out of the gutter!

I’ve been using a menstrual cup.

I don’t use it every day (although some people do), but every month instead of tampons, this bell-shaped cup has been catching my menstrual blood. It is one of the best investments I’ve ever made, and super eco-friendly. I have not just reduced but completely eliminated my need for tampons and pads.

How many women and girls say they love their tampons? I’ve never heard of one single person. Almost everyone I know of who uses a cup loves it, and is very happy to announce it to the world.

I love my cup! Here’s why:

1. No more disposable menstrual products filling up landfills and getting into the waterways!
2. Although initially a greater outlay (between $15 and $75 depending on which cup you buy), the cups last for up to 10 years, making cups much cheaper than tampons and pads.
3. Much less water and physical material (think of all that cotton vs only a little bit of silicon) is used to produce one menstrual cup every 10 years, than is used to produce the number of tampons and pads required for one person for the same amount of time.
4. No more tampon strings! They’re so uncomfortable.
5. Silicon is inert – no bacteria, no risk of Toxic Shock Syndrome.
6. Silicon doesn’t change the pH of the vagina, keeping everything balanced and healthy. I’ve never felt better.
7. Silicon doesn’t leave little cotton fibres behind.
8. Silicon is smooth, not dry and rough like tampons – much more comfortable to insert and remove.
9. No more taking a handbag or surreptitiously slipping a tampon into your pocket when going to the toilet at work or school. You can just empty the cup into the toilet and then put it back in. No-one’s the wiser.
10. No more running out of tampons at just the wrong moment.
11. It’s safe to wear a cup even when you don’t have your period, so you can put it in if you’re expecting to get your period some time during the day, and you won’t stain your undies.
12. Cups hold at least twice as much menstrual fluid as a tampon, so you need to empty it only half as often as you’d need to change a tampon.
13. Cups only leak if they are full or improperly positioned. When positioned correctly, they create a seal directly below or around the cervix so no blood gets past, unlike tampons which often go beside the cervix, especially if a woman has a short vagina.
14. Cups come in different sizes for differently-sized women (don’t be deceived though, the size on the outside is not reflective of the size on the inside).
15. Cups are customisable (you can trim the stem as much or little as you want) and some come in pretty colours!

I have a small Pinkcup, produced in the Czech Republic. It cost almost AUD$60, including shipping.

Small PinkCup folded in half (made by LadyCup)

Small PinkCup, with stem (made by LadyCup)

Yankee Elv has a large Miacup, produced in South Africa. It cost a little over AUD$60, including a donation to charity. Shipping was free.

Yankee Elv's Miacup with the bag and packaging it came with

The size difference between large and small (albeit different brands) can be seen clearly below.

The large Miacup is both longer and wider than the small PinkCup. The greater width in particular is important for women who have given birth.

The length of the larger cup made the stem uncomfortable for Yankee Elv, so she removed it. I find the stem helpful for removal, and my cup is smaller, so I have left my stem intact.

We researched cup types extensively before deciding which ones we wanted. I recommend everyone do the same, as different cups suit different people. See menstrual_cups on Livejournal for information and discussion.

PinkCup (top, with stem) and Miacup (bottom, without stem)

So anyway, now you know the benefits, and you’ve seen the pretty pictures – how do they work?

Basically:

1. Wet or lubricate the cup if desired (cold water can help it open a little better).
2. Fold into desired shape (I use the C fold, where you fold in half, then half again; Yankee Elv uses the Punchdown fold). If you already have a cup, which fold do you use?
3. Insert and let the cup open by itself.
4. Swirl your fingertip around the rim to ensure it’s in the right place (not to the side of your cervix), twirl it if you want to ensure a really good seal, bear down a little to ensure it’s really in the right place.
5. Go on your merry way; swim, run, cycle, work, sleep – whatever.
6. Remove the cup however much later you feel is appropriate (no longer than 10 to 12hrs), by breaking the seal then drawing it out gently, in an upright position.
7. Empty the contents into the toilet, then flush.
8. Rinse if desired, then reinsert.
9. At the end of your period, pop into boiling water for a few mins, then store til next month.

Watch the following video for more information, then research, buy and enjoy your own reusable menstrual cup! They’re good for you, and good for the planet.

*Use your imagination – I’m trying to keep it clean! My mum might read this blog. O_o

January 6, 2009 at 1:46 am 6 comments