eco-minded moontime, part 4: organic cotton tampons

hola friends!  the grand experiment marches on into its fourth installment!  this month, i’m reviewing organic cotton tampons.  if you’re unfamiliar with my project, please check out my general post on eco-minded moontime, my post on cloth pads, and my post on menstrual cups to see what i’ve been up to.  i’m acting as a menstrual guinea pig of sorts, reviewing all of the safe and effective alternatives to mainstream feminine products.  as always, the discussion will be frank, so put on your big girl (or big boy) panties, and let’s soldier on! (right after we enjoy this trippy but hilarious menstruation animation!) Read the rest of this entry »

eco-minded moontime, part 2: cloth pads

so this month, i chucked my disposable menstrual products in favor of re-usable cloth pads.  (please read my previous eco-minded moontime post for more general info and a broader look at what i’m working on.)  of all the alternatives that i’m trying, this one is the most often maligned.  a quick trip to farcical info boards like yahoo! answers yields a wealth of disdain and disgust at the idea of washing and re-using menstrual pads, but as i indicated in my last moontime post, these feelings are indicative of our cultural problems with menstrual blood.  most of us don’t flinch at the idea changing a diaper, yet this act involves handling feces, something capable of making you quite sick if it manages to weasel its way into your system.  menstrual blood is just that—it’s blood.  and more than that, its your own blood.  it may be messy, but its the outward sign of our ability to reproduce as a species. Read the rest of this entry »

eco-minded moontime, part 1

this was actually the first blog entry that i wanted to do, but i figured that i needed to lure you in with innocuous topics like tea and laundry before diving head-first into MENSTRUATION!!!!!  ok, how many of you cringed when i said MEEEEEEEEEENSTRUATION!!!?  no seriously–i was actually reluctant to write this entry because, in general, people jump so quickly to defcon 8000 when anyone talks about periods.  when i recognized this as a concern of mine, however, it reminded me how we as women desperately need to talk about menstruation—to tease out all of the discomfort, the squeamishness, and also, for so many women that i’ve met, the guilt and self-loathing—the embarrassment at what should be (what IS) a beautiful and natural Read the rest of this entry »