In honour of International Women’s Day at the start of the week, we’ve had a week of women’s & sexual health themed posts and giveaways. Up until now, they’ve been more focused on the wonderful range of green sanitary options available but I wanted to shift things on a bit today.

I’ve been thinking about the topic for today for a while – I’ve just never had the time to do all the research on the area I’d planned so I thought I’d open it up for discussion instead.

It’s an inflammatory statement that annoys a lot of people but it’s true – one of the worst things you can for the environment as an individual (well, two individuals) is have a child. Even if you do everything you possibly can to minimise their consumption and waste, the child still going to use up a helluva lot of the world’s resources in their lifetime. That’s not necessarily a reason not to have a child – but it’s a reason to be careful to make sure you don’t have them by mistake.

So what’s the best contraception as far as the environment is concerned?
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In honour of International Women’s Day on Monday, we’re having a week of women’s health and sexual health themed posts here on Recycle This – with lots of related giveaways.

It’s great having so many wonderful things to give away – the range of green, reusable sanitary products available these days is amazing — really something for everyone, whether you’re a pad user or want something inside instead.

There is a quite a lot of buzz around menstrual cups – like the Mooncup we’re giving away – at the moment but chatter about menstrual sponges isn’t quite so common – which is a shame because they’re a great natural option and these ones we’ve got to give away? BEST. NAME. EVER.

Jam Sponges are natural, unbleached sea sponges, sustainably harvested from the Mediterranean Ocean and used a bit like tampons – inserted into the vagina, they soak up menstrual fluid before it has a chance to escape into the wild. Unlike tampons though, they’re chemical-free, won’t cause Toxic Shock Syndrome and won’t cause a giant pile of landfill/block sewers. Treated with care, each sponge will last a year and is fully biodegradable so can compost when you’re done with it.

Plus – PLUS – they come with a shiny bag to keep the spare in AND a badge. (Do take the badge off the sponge before inserting ;) )

We’ve got two sets of these fab things to give away – again, they’re courtesy of the lovely Rachael at Moon Times. Just leave a comment below (doesn’t have to be long – “hi” or “jam sponge? hahahaha, that’s fantastic – puntastic!” will do ;) ) before noon (GMT) on Monday 15th March and I’ll pick a winner at random.

I’m happy to ship internationally and remember to leave your email address in the email address field – it won’t be published on the site but let’s me get in touch with you if you win.

UPDATE – Monday 15th 2010

Thanks to everyone who entered. Our lucky winners are…

urban craft and Rachel! I’ll be in touch with you guys soon to get your addresses.

Thanks again to Rachael at Moon Times for providing the sponges – a great green alternative.

In honour of International Women’s Day on Monday, we’re having a week of women’s & sexual health themed posts (and giveaways!!). Check out our older related posts too – such as unused disposable sanitary products or end-of-life menstrual cups.

I thought long and hard about whether to feature this because it’s the type of green action that makes Daily Mail readers exclaim “bloody hippies!!” and pledge to not reduce, reuse or recycle just to annoy us filthy, poor Good-Life-wannabes. But in the end, Cipollina’s comment yesterday convinced me – it’s not for everyone but blood is a cracking fertiliser.

The fluid emptied out from your Mooncup or pink water from rinsing out from your washable sanitary towels is a great source of natural nitrogen – it replenishes overworked soil and feeds the plants. People buy blood meal — the dried & powdered blood from livestock — as a non-synthetic fertiliser but why not cut out the middle man/middle cow? It’s as organic as you are.

There are some potential problems with just pouring it straight on the garden – some blood-borne pathogens can be transferred around and apparently it can attract ants – but one way to minimise the risk of that sort of thing is to put it through a hot compost heap. If you know you have a blood-borne pathogen, you might want to look into the situation with your condition further – although apparently even hepatitis, one of the longest surviving blood-borne pathogens outside the body, only manages about 30 hours before breaking down (shorter if heated/exposed to sunlight).

I found two very interesting discussions on the topic – this one and this one – explaining about different people’s experiences and methods but I wonder if anyone has used it for anything a bit more out of the ordinary…

Thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions?

Following on from yesterday’s washable sanitary pad giveaway (there’s still time to enter the draw if you want a shot at them), today we’ve got a Mooncup to give away. More free green stuff – hurrah!

Menstrual cups – silicone cups that are inserted into the vagina to catch menstrual fluid – are all the rage at the moment — and it’s not hard to see why.

Mooncups are made from medical grade silicone and will last for years and years. It’s such a waste saving when you consider the average woman uses around 12,000 disposable sanitary products during her lifetime!

Mooncups are not only good for the environment, they’re better for your body than chemical-packed tampons or plastic coated sanitary pads. They’re great for people with heavy flows (because they collect three times as much fluid as mainstream sanitary products) and also for light ones (because they don’t dry out the vagina’s walls like tampons can, so are easier to insert and remove).

Because they’re worn inside the body, they can be used while swimming and doing other sports too – a fantastic alternative to tampons really.

If you’ve ever wanted to try one, now could be your chance – just leave a comment below (just “hi” or “gimme! gimme!” will do ;) ) before noon (GMT) on Friday 12th March and I’ll use a random number generator to pick someone to win.

(I’ll pass the details of the winner onto Kath at Mooncup to make sure they receive the correct size for their situation/time of life.)

UPDATE – 12pm Friday 12th March 2010:

Entries are now closed and our lucky winner is comment 13 – congratulations Hannah! I’ll pass your details onto the Mooncup people so they can make sure you get the correct size cup.

For the rest of you, don’t forget you can buy your own Mooncup direct from Mooncup or through stockists around the world.

If you want to try something a bit different, there is also still time to enter our Jam Sponge – sponge tampons – giveaway!

Thanks to everyone who entered and thanks again to Mooncup for donating the prize.

In honour of International Women’s Day yesterday, we’re having a week of women’s health and sexual health themed posts here on Recycle This – with lots of related giveaways.

Yesterday, we were talking about how great reusable, washable sanitary towels are – much better for your body, your wallet and the environment than plastic disposable ones. Rachael from Moon Times has given us some wonderful handmade, super-soft pads to give away – if you’d like to be in the draw, just leave a comment on that article before Friday lunchtime (GMT).

But I know there are a good number of crafty people here who would prefer to make their own – and would prefer to make them by reusing and recycling old fabrics that might otherwise go to waste. Our grandmothers would probably have made them out of old sheets and the like but jersey cotton fabrics from old tshirts or baby clothes are probably better now – very widely available, thicker more absorbent and softer too.

I’m pretty sure I’ve seen knitted or crocheted pads too – although I can’t any details now — does anyone know anything about making those?

Has anyone got any patterns or had any experience of making their own? Anything to try? Anything to avoid? Is it worth adding wings and if so, what fixing works best? Any suggestions welcome!

Oh and stay tuned – I’ve got another giveaway for later today!

(We all wear white jeans while on our periods, don’t we?)