Disclosure – This is a sponsored post in collaboration with Grace & Green.
It comes around every month like clockwork, your hormones go crazy and you start binging on chocolate. Oh yes, today I’m talking about periods and importantly how to have an eco-friendly period.
The area of female hygiene is not a topic we chat about much. In fact I’d go so far as to say there’s a taboo around it. But when I revaluated my plastic use in my bathroom, the area of female hygiene naturally came up. So, let’s get up close and personal and talk about periods. And more importantly, how to have an eco-friendly period with the help of Grace & Green.
What Makes Grace & Green Different?
Grace & Green are a premium hygiene brand, with transparency and integrity at its core. They provide us with everything we need for an eco-friendly period with their organic tampons, pads and liners and it’s all delivered directly to your door for the ultimate in convenience. You can either buy individual boxes or subscribe and save money. And I have a brilliant discount for you of 50% off, so keep reading.
Their products work (!) Offering premium protection at that crucial time of the month. Also they’ve even managed to make periods look good again, with their great, sleek contemporary design. But we know it’s isn’t all about looks, so what makes them so different?
100% GOTS Certified Organic Cotton
Well for starters, Grace & Green’s products are made from 100% GOTS certified cotton. And this is good for a number of reason:
Firstly, it means your tampons and pads are free from pesticides, chemicals, bleach and fragrance. Now I’m not sure if you are aware, but the way that conventional tampons are made means that they do have low levels of dioxins in them. According to the FDA these levels are safe, however dioxin is a known carcinogen and a possible hormone disrupter. Given the number of tampons we will use in our lifetime, it might be something you wish to avoid. Grace & Green’s tampons are free from dioxins. They’re also unscented, which if you are someone with sensitive skin, may prove beneficial.
Those of you who are regular readers will know that I think that choosing organic cotton is usually the better option, please click here to read my blog post to find out why. And in this case the use of organic cotton means these female hygiene products have less of an impact on the environment. In this instance it means 71% less water and 62% less energy are used compared to convential cotton.
No Plastic In Their Tampons
Also, most tampons actually have plastic in them. They are made from cotton, rayon and polyester (or a variant). Because they contain plastic, they will therefore will take centuries to biodegrade. The average women uses approximately 11,000 tampons in her lifetime. And despite them being small, that is an awful lot of landfill. Grace & Green’s tampons free from plastic and are fully biodegradable.
And it’s not only tampons that are the problem, there’s plastic in pads too. Bristol based campaign group, City to Sea point out in their video Plastic Free Periods that some pads contain up to four plastic bags worth of plastic. But thankfully Grace & Green’s have developed all their hygiene products in a way that doesn’t damage the environment. They have no plastic in them and the pads and tampons are compostable.
Biodegradable Packaging
Most of the packaging our hygiene products come in isn’t biodegradable. Just think of all those plastic applicators, individually plastic wrapped tampons, the plastic bits you peel off your pads ….. the list goes on and on. In contrast, Grace & Green’s tampons are wrapped in a recyclable plastic, but their aim is to move to paper soon. The pads and liners are wrapped in a bio-plastic which is biodegradable.
You see sadly, our female hygiene products are polluting our seas too. Everytime we unintentionally flush a tampon down the toilet, we are causing havoc with our environment. When the Marine Conservation Society did a beach clean up in 2016, they found 20 tampons and sanitary items for every 100 meters of shoreline.
This is why Grace & Green founder, Frances Lucraft, had opted not to stock applicators with her tampons. As even when they are made from cardboard they are unsustainable. It’s also why the packaging not only looks good but is made from recycled cardboard that is printed responsibly.
Sustainable Manufacturing
The factory that Grace & Green’s products are made in is a converted water mill that generates more power than it uses. So not only is the energy used renewable. Through making the products they are actually giving something back. And they are also committed to the fair treatment of their workers.
Fighting Period Poverty
In short, Grace & Green aim to product our bodies as well as the environment, because all women deserve to have a safe period that doesn’t cost the earth. And they follow this ethos through with their social impact work. Grace & Green have partnered several NGO’s, including the Unmentionable, to support their work fighting against period poverty and to give back dignity to women all around the world.
Subscribe to Grace & Green for An Eco-friendly Period
When you purchase Grace & Green’s premium period protection, not only are you supporting a cleaner greener world, but also giving some of the world’s most vulnerable women access to safe consistent sexual and reproduction health education, services and protection as well as empowerment programs. What a great way for our money to be used.
Discount!
For 50% off your first subscription, please use code N4MUMMY G&G40 To sign up please head to Grace & Green, also follow their story on Instagram @graceandgreen
