Saturday, September 6

the diva cup [no, its not a horse race]

Last year before i started blogging i had been looking into tampon alternatives *memories of sea sponges from my uni days* and then i fell pregnant and didnt need to think about menstrual cycles for a while. But now that my body is back on track (whats the point of breastfeeding if you get your period!?) I had been meaning to talk to my daughter about buying some of these for months now and yesterday i fnally remembered. Now, for you male readers out there, if you havent already been enlightened to resuable menstrual cup use through your reading of other green blogs or your partner/sister/mother uses one or you are interested in eco-friendly 'feminine hygiene product' (god how Ive always LOATHED that term, its a bit like when news readers use the word 'panties' UGH, internal cringe, its so, so, so ummm.. uptight!) then read on or gracefully exit.


Now most things I choose to do she is very supportive of, sees the logic and approves. This was one that I really thought she may look at me with a 'what the?' expression and proclaim 'no way, that's gross'. But she didn't *pick me up off the floor someone* The girl's a champion. She asked me 'does that mean i never have to worry about carrying tampons around and having to take a bag to the bathroom?' (dont we all know that feeling) when i said 'Yup', she sad "yes please, that sounds really cool". Now this sounds really really cool. According to Diva Cup manufacturers, in 1998, 7 billion tampons and 12 billion sanitary pads and their packaging were disposed into landfills and sewage systems in the U.S. alone and menstrual cup usage obviously will reduce the serious eco-footprint of feminine hygiene. And thats not counting in manufaturing and distribution. So, i hopped on ebay this morning (dont fancy freecycling this one) and purchased 2 of the little contraptions. Maybe i will or wont let you know how we go...

16 comments:

emmani said...

LOL about the horse race!!!
Ahem! I'm glad you brought this up Kel...
I'm sooo excited because I just bought my mooncup a few weeks back. Very unfortunately as is usually the case, IT came just before I was off to the festival... So I rushed out and got a bit of practice in before we left.
I was amazed! It's fab... just one thing, while you get used to it use a pad, mainly at night because you twist around a lot. Apart from that I have never felt so relaxed, it's so easy and so clean. I'd never even heard of a mooncup until I read Nikkis blog, just shows you how hush hush eco products are here...even though they like to scream and shout about tampons and pads when I'm watching TV with my Grandpa!
Good luck and spread the word girls!
Actually I'm going to make myself a little mooncup button link on my blog, you can all have the html code if you want it.

emmani said...

I have got a mooncup button now... if you click on it and buy one, then I make 20% profit...hoorah!

You can set up your own button and get paid, if you have a paypal account by registering at:

http://www.mooncup.co.uk/sell_the_menstrual_cup.html

Therefore you can't have my html code unless you want to make money for me too!

Maybe the diva cup has an affiliate program too...

Kelly said...

LOL. onya emma!

Jo said...

it's the diva cup for me. fantastic!! once you get the hang of it, you'll never go back.

Kerrie said...

I have two bloggy friends who use the Diva Cup, both wouldn't use anything else now. I wasn't sure they were available for purchase here.

*Warning - possibly TMI following...

Many eons ago I used to use a diaphragm for contraception and it had similar actions as the Diva Cup, it was very convenient (until I conceived). I'd really love to know how you find them Kel...I have quite a light flow and often tampon use can be painful, too dry. I'll run it past my 14 year old daughter too.

Thanks for the reminder, will do a little research myself now. Where did you end up ordering yours..??

Jo said...

hi again - this is for kerrie :) I ordered mine from here... http://www.betterlife.com/prod_home_page.asp?prod_id=25058 it was half the price (so $25 all up including postage from the US) and arrived in just a few days.

Kelly said...

i just hopped onto ebay and bought from aussie distributor for $31. Other aussie online shops retail for around $45 that i have seen.

Kelly said...

oh..forgot your other question... aparently they havent been approved by aust bureaucracy as they are listed as a theraputic good blah blah but no known TSS effects so not in shops here as elsewhere. So have to buy from O/S distributor, until i found someone on ebay selling from OZ. Check out the link in the post and also Wiki, gives you some info on the history, been around sine the 1920s!

Kerrie said...

Thanks Kel & Jo...I'll look into it in the next day or so, I had a quick look at the website just now and couldn't help but smile at the "No Returns" policy for this product.

I'm feeling more and more like this is something I need to do. There are so many black marks against using disposable products.

How about we compare notes in a few months..??

Rixa said...

Please do keep us updated. It's something I'd like to use when I have the need for it again.

So, sea sponge tampons...what were those like?

pipnvik said...

(with a Kenny Calender accent)
Good Afternonon Ladies welcome to the regular running of the Diva cup, the trophy event for the likes of fine young fillies.

No Seriously good on you all, one for doing another bit for the environment and for bringing the issue of feminine hygene to the forum in a man friendly mannner.

See ya later Im off to the races....

PHil

Kelly said...

lol...onya phil for wading in, i was waiting for a bloke to comment!
thanks jo for your feedback and rixa, stay posted...

Laura Jane said...

Ah, I'm fascinated by these thingies. They look really great once you get over the washing them out bit. I have/had a light flow too, until I developed a fibroid (sigh) then I got a Mirena IUD that massively reduced endometrial buildup and leadds to much lighter periods if at all. So I never got round to using them and am so unpredictable now I will just have one day's worth, or heavy spots only.

I first heard about them years ago when I was writing for a nursing textbook on menstrual care.

I'm interested to know how you get on.

pipnvik said...

Kel darling ,
I'm an ex sailor, and Im the silly buggar that had to dismantle pumps in sewerage treatment plants on ships and dislodge all sorts of things. The worst offender for this was unfortunatly string from ladies hygene products.

So as you may now well guess where Angles fear to tread you may just find a Wombat....

Love your blog.
Keep it coming
Phil

Kelly said...

ok...will let ya'll know how we go, from 14 yo and 38 yo perspective.

Kelly said...

oh yeah , rixa, sea sponges worked ok, needed changing quite frequently depending on size, but they were prone to rather rapid disintegration making it an exciting venture and i was never fully convinced about sterility but these days the internet really helps finding out about these things. Not sure about farming issues and sea sponges but no one really thought about those things waaay back then.

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