Let There Be Blood

Sometime ago, I read an article in a leading news site about 'menstrual pollution' in India which rightly pointed out the hazards of using non-biodegradable materials to make sanitary products.

But the article missed one major point. How many Indian women actually use sanitary napkins? Only 12% of the total menstruating population - a major chunk of which is made up of urban women.

Plastic pads are not just harmful to the environment, its users too are exposed to a number of health hazards. Switching over to alternatives will be better for all.

The article mentions every possible alternative to the plastic sanitary pads - reusable cloth napkin, biodegradable sanitary napkins, (100% cotton) tampons, and silicone menstrual cups (a one time purchase - lasts up to 10 years).

The latter two are less popular in India, mainly due to the illogical thinking that those who never had sexual intercourse technically can't use them. It is supposedly reserved for married women.

Tampons are known to cause Toxic shock syndrome (TSS) among a small fraction of its users.

Reusable pads (cotton panty liners) need to be properly washed and sun-dried to eliminate harmful bacteria, or else they will cause various infections to its user. Simply put, they should be laid out in full view like regular clothes, but most women are not comfortable with that and simply dry them in closed quarters. Use of strips of clothes in lieu of pads should be stopped at all as they are extremely uncomfortable for their users, so much that they can’t even move around properly, let alone walk (to school- 20 percent girls drop out of school completely upon menarche.

Menstrual cups are the most hassle-free solution, eliminating the problem of disposing any pads at all. But for reasons mentioned above, these are avoided.

Here we are at crossroads.

Assuming 15% women use any of these products, should we ignore the rest 85% of the women and girls who are forced to use cloth/ashes/leaves as alternatives to these pads just because what they use does not pose any environmental threat?

Continuous use of plastic pads on one hand and non-use of any sanitary products at all on the other hand are two problems that should be tackled at the same time.

Complete switch over to biodegradable pads will end one major problem. But these pads will still be picked up by the same people unless we develop a better garbage sorting and disposal system. Most Indian households bundle up all types of waste together which are then sorted by the rag-pickers.

To sum it up, this is what needs to be done:

a) complete ban on plastic sanitary pads,

b) before that, make biodegradable napkins/ tampons cheap and accessible,

c) even before that, convince women to use these napkins/tampons/menstrual cups in the first place.

d) start by building toilets. Where else would they dispose the used products or the fluid?

e) Separate bins for separate types of wastes- rag pickers should not be made to do what they do.

Lastly, diapers, incontinence pads pose similar threat to the environment, its not sanitary pads/tampons alone that the rag-pickers have to deal with. So let us handle the issue in a way that does not deter women from using them.

(reproduced with minor changes from an answer of mine on quora.com)