quit clogging up our you know whats (landfills and toilets!)

I have been hesitant to talk about something here because really, who wants to think about what happens to all those tampons and pads after we girls are done with them. But seriously, have you ever thought about how may you'll use in a year? In a lifetime? Or what that costs? Multiply that by how many menstruating women. That's disgusting right? Sorry, but I think we should talk about it.

According to Menstruation.com, "discarded tampons and disposable pads contribute hugely to landfill waste. In the US alone, there are over 85 million women of menstruating age, and according to the National Women’s Health Network, they contribute approximately twelve billion pads and 7 million tampons to landfill each year."

But even more so than that is the entire aisle in a pharmacy or grocery store with the dizzying array of versions of the same product from 4 major manufacturers. Tampax, O.B, Kotex and Playtex. All of those tampons all contain Rayon (among other things). Take a look the next time you're out shopping and look at the "ingredients" and see for yourself. Interestingly, I looked at the O.B, Tampax, Kotex and Playtex websites and none of them gave any listing of ingredients in the products but a few did give damage control links about Toxic Shock Syndrome, bleach, rayon and other nastiness. Nice, thanks for that. Oh yeah, thanks for pushing your free sample on me too.

The only tampon brand proudly listing what their tampons are made of was Natracare. You know, the ones that can only be found by visiting a natural health food store. Not a big grocery or drugstore chain. Why is that? Why do you have to go out of your way to find a tampon that isn't processed to nines, filled with crap and comes packaged with a plastic 'applicator' in a little plastic bag inside a cardboard box! I clearly don't understand why women do not more readily have this choice.

Speaking of the non-natural easy to find tampon, I found a few other tidbits of info that you might like to hear:

-"bacteria called staphylococcus aureus, responsible for toxic shock syndrome, breeds easily on synthetic fibers such as rayon and viscose found in all commercial tampons."
-"commercial tampons may expose you to chlorine, and other bleaching agents. Chlorine can cause the production of dioxins, furans and organochlorines. Health risks from exposure to organochlorines include: immune system inhibition, birth defects and the production of cancers."
-"Studies also suggest linkage to endometriosis, breast cancer and other female reproductive disorders."
-"99% of all Toxic Shock Syndrome cases are found in women wearing rayon-blend tampons."
From here.

Goody Gumdrops. I can't believe I let my lifetime of stuffing carcinogenic packed synthetic fibers up my twat go on as long as it did. Behold the Diva Cup. No more money flushed away, no more treks to the inconvenient health food store, no more weird feelings about what exactly is in that thing thoughts. More importantly, no more waste, landfill, and excessive packaging. I highly recommend if you are a consumer of Playtex, Kotex, OB, Tampex, or any other major 'feminine product' company that you consider a healthy, biodegradable, or no waste alternative.

So there.