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Why more women are switching to reusable menstrual products
AP News ^ | Updated 8:33 AM CDT, August 11, 2025 | Caleigh Wells

Posted on 08/11/2025 11:58:17 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum

It was six months ago that Selin Celikoyar bought her last tampon and switched to a reusable menstrual disc.

“I had already been wary of tampons from an environmental perspective and also from a biological perspective. I felt that they were very wasteful and expensive to consistently keep buying,” she said.

The flexible discs and other reusable menstrual products are gaining traction as alternatives to the billions of single-use pads and tampons that get tossed into landfills every year. Products such as the discs, silicone cups and period underwear can be reused for years, so they’re cost-effective and long-lasting in addition to helping people reduce waste. The popularity of the reusable alternatives has grown since the pandemic, when it was easier to experiment with period products in the privacy of a home bathroom, according to women’s health experts.

Celikoyar said she used tampons and pads for years because those are the options she grew up knowing about. But when she saw her friend make the switch to a menstrual disc, she decided to try it too.

“The experience has been such a game changer,” she said.

Single-use products wind up in landfills

About 12 billion disposable pads and 7 billion tampons go into U.S. landfills every year, according to Dr. Luwam Semere, chief of obstetrics and gynecology at Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara. Pads are mostly plastic. Once they’re in the landfill, they take up to 800 years to degrade, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Single-use pads and tampons are by far the most popular period products. Women’s health expert Dr. Navya Mysore said that’s not because they’re better, they’re just usually the first options kids are shown.

“It was often...”

(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...


TOPICS: Health/Medicine
KEYWORDS: yuck
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1 posted on 08/11/2025 11:58:17 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
TMI

2 posted on 08/11/2025 12:00:08 PM PDT by Governor Dinwiddie ( O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is gracious, and his mercy endures forever. — Psalm 106)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Is this one of those “Must Be Discussed As A Group” topic?


3 posted on 08/11/2025 12:00:16 PM PDT by lee martell
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

What do female elephants use for tampons?


4 posted on 08/11/2025 12:03:03 PM PDT by central_va (The I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn...)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

*** The discs get inserted farther in, so they don’t interrupt intercourse. ***

Super gross. I can’t even imagine doing this, much less wanting to.


5 posted on 08/11/2025 12:03:06 PM PDT by FamiliarFace (I got my own way of livin' But everything gets done With a southern accent Where I come from. TPetty)
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To: Governor Dinwiddie

It really is.


6 posted on 08/11/2025 12:03:33 PM PDT by FamiliarFace (I got my own way of livin' But everything gets done With a southern accent Where I come from. TPetty)
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To: lee martell
You did click on it. Can't say the title did not warn you.
7 posted on 08/11/2025 12:03:42 PM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear ( Not my circus. Not my monkeys. But I can pick out the clowns at 100 yards.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Uh... no thanks. I am positive Mrs. VPINTHEAK would not do this unless there was no other option.


8 posted on 08/11/2025 12:04:58 PM PDT by vpintheak (Screw the ChiComms! America first!)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Before you know it we’ll be back to cloth diapers for babies.

(Or maybe tampons will get repurposed?)


9 posted on 08/11/2025 12:05:17 PM PDT by 9YearLurker
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To: Governor Dinwiddie
TMI

More like TIM.


10 posted on 08/11/2025 12:06:44 PM PDT by Tell It Right (1 Thessalonians 5:21 -- Put everything to the test, hold fast to that which is true.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
are gaining traction

Really? Let's see some numbers ...

This smells like propaganda with no basis in facts.

11 posted on 08/11/2025 12:08:42 PM PDT by NorthMountain (... the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Great information that everyone needs to know.


12 posted on 08/11/2025 12:09:56 PM PDT by larrytown (A Cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do. Then they graduate...)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Can’t wait to see chicks hosing off the reusable stuff in the front yard.

I bet leftist chicks will whip them out at their protests to use as a weapon.


13 posted on 08/11/2025 12:11:09 PM PDT by fruser1
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

We have a trash burner that generates power for the grid. Best way to manage trash.


14 posted on 08/11/2025 12:12:11 PM PDT by Chickensoup
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Back in the day they were called ‘grannie rags’ - washed and hung out to dry.


15 posted on 08/11/2025 12:12:49 PM PDT by SkyDancer ( ~ Am Yisrael Chai ~)
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To: 9YearLurker

I washed diapers for four. Actually pretty easy to do

the young valkyries here are now all washing diapers.


16 posted on 08/11/2025 12:14:28 PM PDT by Chickensoup
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To: NorthMountain

they have been trying to gain traction since the 80s without success.


17 posted on 08/11/2025 12:15:37 PM PDT by Chickensoup
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To: central_va

“What do female elephants use for tampons?”

Annoying tourists...


18 posted on 08/11/2025 12:16:38 PM PDT by Mr Rogers
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

I find it hard to believe that ‘800 years to degrade’ business.


19 posted on 08/11/2025 12:18:14 PM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: Chickensoup
LOL!

Figured as much ...

To the best of my knowledge, neither Mrs. Mountain nor any Daughters of Mountain use(d) such. But I don't ask too many questions.

20 posted on 08/11/2025 12:18:38 PM PDT by NorthMountain (... the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed)
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