Dr Lara Owen is currently researching menstrual stigma and sustainability at the University of St Andrews, funded by the Scottish Funding Council. Environmental consultants Kate Chambers and George Cole at Resource Futures have led research on reducing the impact of disposable menstrual products. Together, they look at how the supply chain can foster menstrual sustainability, policy changes needed to make this happen, and how these can help address the social stigma that lies at the heart of this complicated environmental issue.
When it comes to period products, there is an assumption that menstruating inevitably means using disposable, single-use pads and tampons. Such products date from the 1920s and used to be made of cotton, but over the past 40 years have contained increasing amounts of plastic.
Many of us grow up unaware that there are more sustainable ways to manage menstrual bleeding. This lack of awareness is linked to limited menstrual education and misinformation about how to correctly dispose of single-use products.
It is estimated that ‘approximately 700,000 panty liners, 2.5 million tampons and 1.4 million sanitary towels are flushed down the toilet in the UK every single day’ instead of being binned.
Unfortunately, disposable period products are contributing to the UK’s growing plastic marine litter problem. As a result of flushing, disposable period products become sewage-related debris (SRD) and are consequently found in marine environments all around the coastline of the UK, littering beaches and damaging wildlife.
Menstrual stigma and the use of disposables
Until recently, menstruation was almost entirely hidden from society and has been a source of shame for many who menstruate, including women, girls, transgender, intersex, and non-binary people. Despite much work being done in recent years to tackle irrational stigma surrounding menstruation, Plan International UK found that 56% of 14-year-old girls today feel embarrassed by their period.
Although menstruation is a natural process, it has been framed as unclean and sometimes even as dangerous. This persists in the current wording surrounding period products, such as ‘sanitary’ and ‘hygienic’.
Such terminology frames menstruation as a problem to be fixed, whilst also emphasising notions of disposability as linked to cleanliness. When you are ashamed of something and have been told it is ‘wrong’, you want to get rid of it as quickly as possible.
Although menstruation is a natural process, it has been framed as unclean and sometimes even as dangerous. This persists in the current wording surrounding period products, such as ‘sanitary’ and ‘hygienic’.
Period management is not just a ‘woman’s issue’. These ideas about menstruation are socially constructed and the legacy of shame tied to menstruation is a social issue that needs to be understood and dismantled.
Tackling this stigma means not only looking at our own perceptions of menstruation, but also at the practices surrounding it, the interests of the multinational corporations that profit from single-use products, and the advertising that encourages us to use them.
The link between menstrual stigma and the use of disposables means that these systemic issues are crucial to the normalisation of more sustainable practices for managing menstruation.
The market economy of single-use period products
Period products are marketed as ‘discreet’, continuing the narrative that periods should be kept secret and are shameful. Advertising, product design and branding profit from anxieties around leakage and the accidental display of menstruation, with the global market value of disposable ‘feminine hygiene products’ reaching $21.6 Billion (USD) in 2020 and expected to reach approx. $52 Billion (USD) by the end of 2023.
Resource Futures estimates that a switch to reusables could shrink the value of the market by 88% – 98%. But while using reusable, sustainable products like menstrual cups, cloth pads and period underwear results in a saving for the consumer, these products have a negative impact on the linear business model of disposable product manufacturers, where products are treated as fast-moving consumer goods.
Although some multinational companies are now offering more sustainable products (e.g. organic cotton tampons, applicator-free tampons), the major period product brands remain committed to the disposable model.
In 2021, Bodyform became the first multinational brand to sell a reusable option in the UK market, but overall, the reusable market has been left to smaller independent manufacturers and online retailers who have limited resources to challenge the dominance of the disposable.
Identifying moments for change
Brand loyalty is high in the disposable period product market. Throughout the 20th century, multinational corporations created films and literature for UK menstrual education programmes which framed disposable products as the safe, healthy, and normal way to manage menstruation.
Research by Zero Waste Scotland found that most adolescent menstruators are introduced to disposable period products by their school or a family member, and once they have found a product that works for them, they are reluctant to change.
Although some multinational companies are now offering more sustainable products (e.g. organic cotton tampons, applicator-free tampons), the major period product brands remain committed to the disposable model.
However, consumer loyalty can be disrupted through trends and lifestyle change. These factors can act as gateways for the adoption of reusables. Undergraduate students may be more open to the sustainability values of their peers than to habits learned at home. New motherhood can open parents to thinking about the toxicity and sustainability of the nappies they use, and this can then lead to openness to reusable period products.
The rising interest in reusables
In recent years, interest in reusable menstrual products has increased. The figure below shows the steady increase in Google searches for the term ‘menstrual cup’.
There has also been growing awareness of other reusable options (such as reusable pads and period underwear), and an understanding that switching to a reusable alternative has a positive impact on waste reduction.
It is estimated the use of a reusable product ‘results in a reduction of 99% of the waste that would be generated using single-use products’.
Economic and retail barriers to adopting reusables
Despite growing consumer interest, there remain barriers to engagement with reusable products. Research has shown that awareness of reusable products is growing but access remains an issue.
Some menstruators report sustainable alternatives being difficult to find, or disposable period products dominating retail space. For consumers, not only can reusables be hard to locate, but the upfront cost of reusable period products is higher than an immediate disposable alternative.
Reusable products save the user money over the duration of the products’ lifetime (cups can last ten years, cloth pads can have a longer lifespan), but the initial cost can be off-putting. Moreover, there is the perceived time and inconvenience ‘cost’ of switching from an established product.
First-time users are wary of buying a more expensive product that is perceived as potentially difficult or risky to use. On the other hand, those who do switch report high levels of satisfaction with reusable products.
Reusables rely on access to clean water and privacy, so poverty and menstrual stigma can be a factor in discouraging users to switch, as users may not have reliable access to washing facilities or may want to avoid washing products in public bathrooms. Without addressing the multifaceted cost and retail barriers, it will be difficult to encourage a wider audience to try a reusable menstrual product.
Taking financial and legal responsibility
Zero Waste Europe’s The Bloody Manifesto (2020) calls for ‘a European wide reuse target’: 30% by 2030, rising to 60% by 2040. This ambitious target can only be realised by ensuring that producers of disposable period products take responsibility for the environmental impact of the products that are put on the market.
At present, the cost of managing the waste – and associated environmental issues – from disposable period products is shouldered by the taxpayer and society as a whole, not the manufacturer or retailer.
One option is the introduction of extended producer responsibility (EPR), making producers financially responsible for their products at end of life. If designed well, this policy will incentivise producers to minimise waste and could create a level playing field between disposable and reusable products within the marketplace.
At present, the cost of managing the waste – and associated environmental issues – from disposable period products is shouldered by the taxpayer and society as a whole, not the manufacturer or retailer.
The rise of reusables could shape more of our legislation. In accordance with The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, public spaces and workplaces in the UK are required to provide ‘adequate and appropriate’ washroom facilities; all businesses and public buildings must provide a suitable means for ‘disposing of sanitary products’.
It will be interesting to see whether sustainable management of menstruation is factored into the design of washrooms in the future, as more people use reusable products. This type of inclusive design could present an opportunity to challenge the social structures that create stigma and shame around menstruation.
Creating a reusable revolution
Periods are a normal part of life. As the stigma around menstruation is challenged, there is finally a real opportunity to make period management a positive and empowering process, where everyone has access to products that work for them.
The rise of reusables is allowing more of us to demystify our periods and to make informed choices for our own health and wellbeing, as well as that of the planet. But this systemic change to break a cycle of shame and mystery around periods is not going to be easy and will not be delivered by the market alone.
Supporting policy and social change will make sustainable period management truly transformational.
