Let's cut to the chase. Everyone knows, and numbers show, that it's mostly women bearing the brunt of environmental work. Despite not getting any formal acknowledgement of positions, 57% of women are present in the conversation and making active choices to be more sustainable and eco-friendly.
Yet, their comforts and needs are forgotten in the conversation, to the extent that they're shamed on Instagram and YouTube for not being sustainable enough. It's the age-old "perfect environmentalist" trap where we shift the focus on consumers and how they're not doing enough, thus looking away from the industries and systems that make living an eco-friendly life a nightmare.
But why am I specifically talking about women?
Because of the way the "sustainability community" looks at menstruation.
Let's see what the discourse is. Now, many creators do approach this issue sensitively, but some do not. We are talking about them.
1. If you care about the environment you won't use disposable period products.
Yes, sure they've chemicals that some argue are bad for health, but how much do we hear about that as opposed to hearing about plastic in landfills and pads? Or how...
2. Using a menstrual cup is one of the easier eco-friendly swaps.
Except when it's not. The same goes for cloth pads.
Menstrual cups work in cultures where women are taught autonomy and how to use them. Not in places like India where the concept of virginity and menstrual shame are predominant, leading to cases where women get hurt because they can't pick the right-sized cup. And let's not forget- what about those with vaginismus? Or those without access to clean water to clean the cup after every use?
The problems don't stop at the cup. For cloth pads, proper cleaning can be a cultural issue, especially dying them in the sun. Moreover, cloth pads are tough to secure and one of the most freeing things for women was the ability to not be ruled by their flow. Should we take away women's freedoms to work and play and call it environmentalism?
While promoting these swaps is important, why not also highlight organizations like PadCare which are trying to make single-use pads eco-friendly at the end of the their life-cycle and reduce the plight of waste workers who have to dispose of them?
This is similar to the plastic straw problem. The problem isn't that cups and cloth pads and such alternatives exist or that they're encouraged. They should be. In an ideal world, we would all have access to the most eco-friendly products that work for us.
But in the real world, when we demonise something a group needs, especially an oppressed group, we end up harming or alienating that group. Just like some disabled people need plastic straws and an all-out ban will negatively affect their quality of life, the same happens when we shame women for disposable period products without a nuanced look at their circumstances. Or when companies try to take advantage of that to make fake eco-friendly products. For there are easy-to-use alternatives, but in the sea of products and greenwashing, they rarely reach their target at the right time.
Can we come to a point where we educate, encourage, and help people use more eco-swaps without making life tougher for those who need disposable options? And also innovate better options that serve a wider group of people while not destroying our planet.
More importantly, instead of attacking those who are making an effort, maybe even the bulk of the effort, can we move to a point where we are holding systems, governments, and major polluters accountable for excess and unnecessary pollution and ecological damage?
Just a thought. After all, what do I know? I'm yet another woman trying to keep a habitable planet a reality.