Did you know that the average person who menstruates will use more than 11,000 disposable menstrual products in their lifetime.

This can amount to spending up to £18,450, which is quite a hit to your bank balance.

Disposable menstrual products can also be damaging to the environment, with one pad containing up to 90% plastic.

Here at The Students’ Union at UWE, we are passionate about tackling the climate crisis and share with our students tips on how to make sustainable swaps in your day-to-day life. That is why we gave UWE Bristol students the chance to try their choice of sustainable period product for free!

We set up stalls across our three campus sites to provide information on the products available, give students the chance to handle the products in person, and ask them if they wanted to be part of the trial. The options available were reusable period underwear, reusable tampon applicators, reusable pads, and menstrual cups.

While our choice of period product is a very personal one, we all have different preferences and needs, it is important to be able to make an informed decision about what is best for you. If you would like to learn more about what is available we have put together this short guide to help give you some more information about sustainable period products.

We had 103 students from the stalls sign up to be part of the trial. This is a 372% increase in take up compared to our trial last year! The most popular item students chose to trial was period underwear followed by menstrual cup, reusable pads, and then reusable tampon applicator[RC1] . 86 students then gave us their preference to order and 51 products were collected.

97% of students said they incorporate sustainable products into their future menstrual cycles and 40% of students said they will use them for every cycle. **

Feedback from participants:

“A brilliant way for students to access these sustainable products - I would not have been able to try them before due to having a student income.”

“I think it's excellent for students to try out new options that are sustainable. I've always wanted to a period cup but never bought one because of the upfront cost.”

“Sustainable period products have been game-changing for me. I am so happy to not contribute to more waste in this industry. Thanks for the opportunity!”

“Great and meant I could use it if I wasn’t sure my period would start and I wouldn’t have to worry about not having period products with me.”

While our choice of period product is a very personal one, and we all have different preferences and needs, it is important to be able to make an informed decision about what is best for you. If you would like to learn more about what is available we have put together this short guide to help give you some more information about sustainable period products.

**30 students completed our feedback survey on how they found using the products and whether they will continue.

References

https://www.natracare.com/blog/how-much-plastic-in-period-pads/

https://www.wen.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Fact-Sheet-Environmenstrual.pdf

https://serozerowaste.com/blogs/news/just-how-much-plastic-can-i-save-anyway

https://www.citytosea.org.uk/poll-explores-periods-plastics-and-the-publics-perceptions/#:~:text=Research%20suggests%20that%20by%20switching,pads%20over%20your%20menstruating%20lifetime