Thursday 8 October 2015

Reusable Menstrual Products Week


We are sad to say that Go Real cannot take the credit for the idea of holding Reusable Menstrual Products Week. The credit goes to Rachel Myers, read on to find out how and why she wanted us to do this!

“I first stumbled across Reusable Menstrual Products when I was exploring the world of cloth nappies for my babies. My initial thought was ‘Gross!’ but the more I looked into what they were the more I wanted to know. I was already using cloth nappies on my babies due to disposables causing horrible nappy rash and we found cloth to be so much kinder to their bottoms.

Every month I would dread my period due to the horrendous cramps, I hated how disposable pads felt all hot and sweaty, tampons were always so uncomfortable, and without fail every month I would develop thrush just to add to my discomfort, but this is all part of the curse of being female, right?! It was just something I had to put up with and suffer through.

The more I researched about Reusable Menstrual Products, the more I heard people talking about how comfortable they were and how they no longer hated their menstrual cycle (I know, they must me mad! How can anyone LIKE their ‘Monthly Curse’?!).
I decided I had to give it a shot, anything was better than the current solution of hiding in my bed with a hot water bottle, chocolate, strong painkillers and a tube of Canesten cream. But how could I find out more? There were a few groups on Facebook but you had to really hunt to find out what you wanted to know and even more searching to find where to buy them, a lot of the information was word of mouth.

One evening when discussing this in a Facebook group I said what we really needed was a campaign similar to Real Nappy Week, where you can find all the information you need to know in one place and for one week sellers run competitions and discounts for those who are looking to switch. We started talking more about how it would work and what sorts of things we could do to spread the word about Reusable Menstrual Products.
The next day a friend of mine, an environmental activist and Eco-blogger said she was keen to get the idea off the ground. We set up a group of cloth pad makers and sellers started to talk more about the idea, she then told me she had been contacted by Go Real who wanted to help us host this campaign.

Over a year later and we are preparing for the first annual Reusable Menstrual Products Week in October. We have a week long campaign set up with information and giveaways. We have the support of over 20 businesses including cloth pad makers, menstrual cup companies and eco-friendly shops who have kindly donated products and prizes. And we also have a team of 43 women across the country who have been given Demo kits to take round their local communities and spread the word face-to-face about the wonderful world of Reusable Menstrual Products. There will be various events happening online and around the country that we want people to get involved with and invite you all to find out more, whether you are looking to make the switch yourself or you are looking to help a friend or family member.

There are many benefits to switching to reusable menstrual products including health, financial, environmental and even psychological. Whatever your reason for trying Reusable Menstrual Products you can find out more information on the Go Real website and make sure you are following us on Facebook and Twitter so you don’t miss any of the campaign.
Let’s get talking about Reusable Menstrual Products.”

Rachel is still very much involved in RMP Week. We talk with her most days about ideas and she volunteers on our Facebook page!

Keep an eye out for our news letters and on our Facebook page to keep up with what's happening next week! 

#PeriodTalk #DitchTheDisposables #RMP2015

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