Hallo Earth!To commemorate your day so that today I decide to write a post(I'm hybernating these days,hehehe..). As my mostly posts are product reviews,so here I do a review for some products,as a continue from my prev.post(here).On that post,you can see that now I don't use disposable menstrual pads anymore.Why?because they use uncertain source(can be paper,can be cotton). The worst is paper/pulp,because it can be sourced from paper that has been bleached to make it bright white(yes,bleaching.Imagine our white shirt that has been bleached with chlorine and/or other chemical.A bleached menstrual pad?Eww..).Some claim that they use cotton,oh well.. okay..that could be a good alternative,but you can't be 100% of that(I mean,how to differ that?we usually just using it directly without tearing the layer to prove it authenticity).In fact,those who claim using cotton as material of disposable pads,usually price their products higher,can be 10x than non-cotton one.And,paying 10x higher for something that will end up in our trash can???That sounds ridiculous for me.And bleached paper doesn't sound good either.Oh,I mean at all.
And yes,now I use cloth menstrual pad instead.These are some menspads that I have(click on the brand name to go to their web directly):
A.Made in Indonesia
1.Baby Oz
Size:Regular(
Materials:
Inner:microfleece
Side Inner:Bamboo cloth
Outer:PUL
Absorber:Microfibre
Easily removing stains no matter bad the stain is.It has pocket inside it where you can add extra layer in it.Easily drying.I love this one much!
Size:Night ( 27,5 x 9,5 cm )
Materials:
Inner : Suede Cloth
Insert : 2 layer microfiber
Waterproof : PUL
Outer : Cotton/100%Polyester
Somehow this one has a kind of plastic layer in it which makes sound everytime I change my sitting position.Thickness is medium,and the stain is easily removed.
The only thing that I don't like is the plastic layer,noisy and feels humid as well x_x..
3.GG
Size: Night(22cm x 28cm)
Material:
Inner:suedecloth
Outer:Polyurethane Laminate (0,8 mil) atau PUL
Absorber:Microfibre
This is soft,but somehow being the hardest one to remove the stain.Take time to dry.Not my fave one.
Size:All size
Materials:
Inner:Velour Cotton
Outer:Parachute waterproof
Absorber:Microfibre
B.Non Indonesian:
Size:Regular(8"L x 7.25"W)
Materials:
Top-100% Micro FleeceInner
Layers- 85% Polyester, 15% PolymideBottom(waterproof layer) 100% Polyester Laminated.
This one is very light!!And stain is easily removed aswell(though compared to my fave brands,this one takes more time to remove the stain).The only cons is that this isn't that thick,so less absorp.
Size:Large:W22.5 x H27cm
Materials:
100% cotton fabric & absorbent layers
100% cotton fabric & absorbent layers
PU coated polyester waterproof
Led-free buttons *Double buttons
I love momiji!It has red color and pattern as inner layer so that I don't need to worry about the stain.Light weight too.The only thing that I don't like is that this one has the roughest fabric among all of my cloth menspad.However,it's still tolerable.
By far,my fave ones are:Baby Oz,Cluebebe,and Momiji.They dry easily and stain removable easily.About absorption compared to disposable menspad ones,don't worry!Cloth menspads are much better in absorption than disposable menspad one.They come in various size too,so choose one that fits you the best!:) This kind of cloth menspad is a substitute of disposable menspad.
How about substitution of tampon?There's this diva cup where you can use and wash it after using it.Both are much better alternatives for us,our health,our money,and our earth. Imagine how many menspad alone that has been wasted in our garbage waste sorting/handling?Let's do the math in Indonesia alone:
Our 2011 population census showed us that we have 127,700,802 female population.Among the number,there're appr.+/- 39,800,000 female in women's fertility peak age. If each of this women using disposable menstrual pad monthly,so there will be:
39,800,000 x 3(we change it at least 3x a day) x 7(days of our periods) = 835,800,000 disposable menspads that have been wasted in our trash per-month. WOW....imagine it!Some of the disposable menspads have plastic layers to prevent it from menstrual leak which only means one:harder to be destroyed by nature. At that amount,monthly,in Indonesia alone??? And how many exactly the number that has been wasted in this world?We Indonesian isn't the only one who uses it,there're many women across the globe who use it aswell.Just imagine,how many space that we need to waste that material?You count your self.
No wonder that we,in Indonesia alone is beginning to suffer from not other than:garbage!At least there're 3 humiliating cases by garbages that pop up in the media:
One in Bandung,where the city was overwhelmed by its garbage.
Another one is in Leuwigajah,where a hill"made"of garbage suddenly fell down and got into people's houses(garbage's landslide). Some ppl died on this accident
The latest one happened in Ambon,the beautiful island of Maluku.
True,there're other wasted materials that contribute to this garbage problem.Indonesia is the world's no.4 country with biggest population in the world after China,India,and the US.I'm sure that those 3 countries contribute more garbages than us considering their population,but hey...we're on the same page about this!. In Jakarta(the capital of Indonesia)alone,there're 6 millions ton of garbage that people throw daily.I have no idea how many garbage that we(the whole Indonesia people)throw daily and to count it makes me sick of the reality that we do produce LARGE amount of garbage everyday.And women here contribute more than 835 million of disposable menspads monthly.There should be something that we Indonesian women can do about this instead of turn blind eye on the reality of how many garbage that we produce by our menstrual cycle.Cloth menspad is deffinitely a good alternative,but many women that I know dragging their feet in doing so.
Let's start it with my aunt and her reason:
A:"I don't have time to wash it".
Me:"you can wash it on washing machine".
A:"But it's more expensive".
Me:"You bought disposable cotton pads which is 10x higher in price than disposable pulp/paper pads since you have problem with your reproductive system..Why not swap it with this which is healthier and you can use it as long as you want to?".
Then she said"yeah well..I'll try to sew it my self then.."
...and she never did it untill today.
My friend and her reason:
F:"It's such ashamed to hang it to dry,how about if a men knows it?"..
Me:"You also hang your bra and underwear,and men may watch it when they walk by near your house fence,but why you don't feel ashamed about it?".
She had a moment of silence...
....and said"It's just such a weird thing.."....
..dear friend if you read this,how could a piece of menspad is weird for you while there're even tons of weirder panties shape out there,the thong,the G-..you know it..that even sounds more"normal"to you?Okay friend..hope you'll stop excusing and change your mind now..
Should I continue with what my cousin,niece even said about it?No need to,since I've made a conclusion that basically whatever their reasons are,the main point is one:they're lazy to change their current lifestyle.Yes,a lifestyle to dispose anything with something in mind as an excuse such:"that the government will taking care of it for us",if not"it will be rooten by nature down there on the ground",the least"something will bring it to the sea and will be buried down there under the sea(in the depth of where Jules Verne novel's character lives maybe..)",etc.I'm sure if we all can travel to Mars or Pluto by now,even they'll have"maybe we can export it to Pluto.."excuse..
Apparently,the reason no.1 is failed.Our government is overwhelmed by the number of trashes that we've made everyday.If not,there won't be those"died by garbage's landslide"accident.Please bear in our mind,government only consists of some people while the garbage that they taking care of is just too large,in daily scale too!.Sure machine will help,but by adding more and more garbage,that will be useless.And don't wait'till nature dissect it its self.Some materials can't be dissected easily,and to burn or vanish them will be poisoning the air.Some materials even will still there even when you're already buried(which means they exist that long on the ground).And the sea..this is the nastiest thing about garbage.Though garbage seems to be our local problem and someone who lives in pacific island,or Africa,or wherever whom read this post and think"Oh well,we don't have that problem.We're even lack of population.We live happily,lay down on the beach,soak up the sun,and catch fish whenever we're hungry just like what you see on SIMS castaway..".
Are you sure?Check this:
There're these Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Basically it's a gyre of marine litter that is characterized by exceptionally high concentrations of pelagic plastics, chemical sludge, and other debris that have been trapped by the currents of the North Pacific Gyre.The size of the patch is unknown, as large items readily visible from a boat deck are uncommon. Most debris consists of small plastic particles suspended at or just below the surface, making it impossible to detect by aircraft or satellite. Instead, the size of the patch is determined by sampling. Estimates of size range from 700,000 square kilometres (270,000 sq mi) to more than 15,000,000 square kilometres (5,800,000 sq mi) (0.41% to 8.1% of the size of the Pacific Ocean), or, in some media reports, up to "twice the size of the continental United States". See this map:
That's how the trash is spreaded.That plastic trashes in the ocean not only poluting the water,but also trap animals:
Poor dolphin(or sea lion?):
Poor dolphin(or sea lion?):
courtesy of NOAA
Turtles:
courtesy piperbesanji.blogspot
mygreenventure.blogspot
just means.com
sfcitizen.com
Even plastic debris was found inside the body of a dead birds:
dipity.com
Some of our handsome buddies even got trapped too:
he got trapped in a hook!!can you believe that?
this is a horror!
See,those are our trashes!Even if you have no garbage problem,your country never imported any,you can get this garbage right to your seashore and your fish probably eating it too which means,you also eat the plastic indirectly,my friend!:)
Not so happy fact eh? That's why,this garbage problem is a global problem,crossborder whoever we are and whenever we live. So whoever you're an Indonesian,an American,an Australian,a fan of Osama,biggest supporter of Obama,a Moslem,a Christian,a Druze,an Agnostic,A geek,A Psycho,a superstar, please..taking care of your garbage wisely.Separate garbage by its category will help much(I see that our government has provided trash cans based on that(organic-non organic,but seem people don't care to separate it correctly).Use your product wisely,excessive buying will only lead us into a product junkie(and the products become junks its self,literally). And,if you're a women..think about how many disposable menspad/pantyliner that you've throwed during your lifetime.Where will it go?will you be willing to go to the place where it goes and breathe the air of the place there? You know the answer your self and that equals the answer of the existency of the disposable pads that you use itself.
And no,this isn't a speech from me as I always sleep everytime I hear a speech,so boring.This post is something that you have to read to remind you all!Unless you want,years from now to live with hills of garbage near your house where you brush your face with the latest blush on,expensive lipstick on the market,wearing designer shoes,and spraying french perfum worth million a bottle just to...cover the smell of garbage hills near your house?? Ewwwwww..!If you want it,so you can simply ignore this post,and do nothing! :).
So,please think about what you're using now.When will we wake up about this garbage problem?Waiting untill it's all too late for us?Please..we can do much better things than that now!..