Plastic wrappings strewn across the barren parking lot…Stray animals picking and sniffing at the bloody plastic rotting under the harsh sunlight…I and many others are forced to walk past this grim scenario everyday, turning our eyes away from the need of the hour. Driving through the city, one can sight large billboards advertising ‘whisper choice’ and ‘stayfree’, I ask myself – is it really a matter to “whisper” about anymore? Can we really “stay free” and “carefree” from the looming health risks of unmindful disposal of such waste?
These new age commercial products – plastic gel based pads and silicon Lady menstrual cups etc- block out the old homegrown methods used by our great grandmothers, making them look completely useless. But these were the real ‘green products’. Sure they need some improvements and there are ways we can revisit them, only if we try. So why don’t we collectively demand for a greener period and save our earth from the rising plastic disposal?
Even today, many women in the country do not have even a piece of cloth to cover and keep themselves clean during menstrual cycles. We need to reach out to them. Provide them with affordable and easily accessible products when they need it the most. Also, it is high time we realize the dangers of improper biomedical waste disposal. Putting measures in place to allow women to responsibly throw used sanitary napkins, will not only relieve most of us from unnecessary embarrassment, but also help in ensuring environmental health of the community at large. With new biodegradable sanitary products available for use, we are standing at the brink of a “period of change”, ready to be embraced.
–Ritika Jain
Student, B. Tech Biotechnology
GGSIPU Delhi
This post is part of Period Of Change, a 5-week campaign organized by The Kachra Project along with Earth&us that aims to mobilize people (both men and women) around menstrual waste as a starting point to lobby for change in current practices in MH waste management.
