My Athena Cup
This subject is definitely very personally related to women so if periods and womanly matters gross you out I suggest you not read this post. If you’re an adult who knows its just a bodily function and is literally part of life and nature then continue reading because if I can inform any ladies to make this switch I will be so pleased. And I feel as if it changed my life so I want to pass on this little tidbit of information.
This year my goal was to make small changes in my life to help reduce my waste and impact on destroying the planet. Some of these include eating vegan more often, making more conscious decisions and buying more expensive things but better quality, basically binging items that no longer serve me by donating to a women’s shelter, driving less (easy when it’s winter and your home with a baby and toddler), using plastic less hair products such as shampoo bars and DIY hair masks/avoiding most makeup products all together, and making sure we consume basically everything we eat, not having to throw out food. Women’s feminine hygiene products are not a sustainable option. A) they’re gross and you don’t want that in your garbage bin, or even worse I know people who flush their’s as well which is absolutely horrible for your sewage system. B) We waste so much money on buying tampons why not put the fee up front for a one to 2 time cost rather than spending 1000s of dollars on tampons in a life time. C) They are so horrible for you. The toxic chemicals that are put into tampons and then shoved up our most precious lady parts is honestly scary. Genetically modified and chemical laden cotton, bleach, high levels of dioxin!!! Yuck. You do not need these ingredients anywhere near you let alone the sensitive walls and lining of your vagina.
I use the knock off “Diva Cup” version. You can buy it on amazon and it’s half the price of the Diva Cup. I have 2 of them I bought and for the past 6 months, from when I first got my period after having Ash and during parts of my miscarriage, I have been using it and its has honestly changed my life. I I recommend the first model if you are under 30 and have not had a baby vaginally. Use the second version if you are either over 30 or have had a baby vaginally. I use the second version obviously as a 30 year old woman who has had 2 vaginal deliveries. I will post photos of how to properly fold it before inserting it as a tutorial because I think the reason why people don’t use it is because is because they are intimidated about shoving stuff up their vagina and it getting lost or not being able to get it out. You fold it like the pictures shows and you can either lie down or squat or whatever is most comfortable but only when it’s folded will it go in properly. Once you get up and move around it should open up correctly and you will hardly even feel it. It should not cause pain or discomfort. The best thing about the menstrual cup is you can leave it inside your body for 12 hours. No worries about toxic shock syndrome or all the toxic chemicals that you are inserting to your body with awful tampons that are so expensive. It literally acts like a plug and is amazing how well it works. I feel as though I am becoming more in tune with my body as well. To take it out there is a little tip that you used to grip onto and just pull. It might require getting up in there and at times can be a little messy but I promise that it is still worth it. I use regular hand soap to wash my cup after each use and also boil it usually once after my period is over. You can also buy the “Diva Wash” and use that. I have used both the Diva Wash and hand soap and they both work great. I also have a friend who uses Cetaphil to wash hers.
I highly recommend getting a menstrual cup. I promise it is well worth it and you will wonder why you didn’t do it sooner. You will also feel good about being kind to your body, the planet and your wallet. I know there are certain situations in which a menstrual cup is not ideal or just won’t work at all so in cases like these I would urge you to look for organic tampons and maybe cloth pads which I have seen in numerous different places. I will drop a couple links:
Cloth menstrual pads: https://www.newmoonpads.com/index.html
Be good to your vagina ladies. After everything she goes through for us she deserves the best of the best.
