My goodness, PCG :smack2: This was an eye-opener!!
I had to check it out for myself so I went to webmd and found this interesting article. I’m only posting excerpts, you can find detailed info here
Ever wonder what your grandmother, great-grandmother, and all the preceding generations of women used during their monthly menstrual cycles? Surely, with no 24-hour convenience stores, no mega-stores with endless aisles, and, if you can imagine this, no internet, buying disposable, single use menstrual products 24/7 was not an option for these ladies.
In fact, disposable, commercially manufactured menstrual products as we more or less know them - pads discarded after use and flushable tampons - only came to market in the 1920s and 1930s. And it was not until the 1960s that pads came backed with an adhesive; before that, belts were primarily used to keep them in place.
What then, was used? Everything from papyrus by the Ancient Egyptians, wool by the Romans, rolls of grass by the Equatorial Africans, vegetable fibers by Indonesians, and rags (hence the expression “on the rag”) in the United States. Some of these, such as knitted or crocheted wool pads and rags, were reusable: washed and ready for the next cycle; while others were likely disposed of after use, such as make-shift tampons wherein softened paper was wrapped around wood.
Reusable menstrual products are absolutely available today, having made a resurgence in the 1980s. There are several alternative menstrual products that may well be of interest to you during your menstrual years: reusable cloth pads, reusable menstrual cups, and natural reusable sea sponge tampons.
WHY USE RESUABLE MENSTRUAL PRODUCTS?
Now that you know about reusables, why might you choose to use them? Let’s take a look at some very good reasons many women have opted to use reusables for at least part of their monthly cycles.
**Environmental **
If you use disposables exclusively during your menstrual years, you will use approximately 12,500. Where do they ultimately end up? Typically, our sewage systems and landfills where they can take years to bio-degrade, and potentially centuries for the plastics used on applicators and packaging to bio-degrade. Many women have decided that this landfill mountain should not be part of their legacy to future generations, and hence choose reusables.
Economical
Let’s say a box of disposables costs about $5.00 per month (if you use all organic cotton, it’s more expensive). That’s $60.00 a year, or approximately $2,100.00 during your menstrual years, not taking into account inflation.
A reusable menstrual pad can last several years, a menstrual cup up to 10 years, and sea sponges from 3 months to a year. Particularly with pads and sponges, you will likely want to have several - just as you do with kitchen or bath towels, so that you can rotate and distribute usage.
Menstrual pads are approximately $8 to $12 each. Sponges can run $6 to $8 for a package of two. And, menstrual cups are approximately $25 to $35. You can easily save many hundreds of dollars by using reusables for part or all of your monthly cycle.
Health Related
Some women are concerned about using synthetic (rayon, or rayon/cotton blend) disposable tampons and pads, due to the potential health hazards associated with them, particularly Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS), and dioxin exposure linked to the bleaching process.
