When Aunt Flow comes for her monthly visit, avoid greeting her with the usual feminine products that take up room in landfills, use more plastic and pollute the air with chemicals from manufacturing emissions.
In her book Ecoholic (Vintage Canada, 2007), (Vintage Canada, 2007), Adria Vasil reports that about 12 billion pads and 7 billion tampons are tossed into the garbage and go to landfills each year in the U.S.
Consider the environment during that time of month and try greener sanitary products. There are several types of pads, available at many health food shops, that are made with biodegradable materials, aren't treated with chemicals and pesticides and have less (and more eco-friendly) wrapping.
If you want to waste-not, buy a menstrual cup such as The Keeper or the Diva Cup, and you can reuse it every month. For more info, check out thekeeper.com and divacup.com.
