As womxn, we tend to spend a lot of money on menstrual products every month. Unfortunately, many of these products are made on non-degradable plastics that can harm our environment. Thankfully, these 8 menstrual companies are creating products that not only help our environment but help womxn and girls with their menstruation needs.
Launched in 2015, LOLA’s goal is to create a brand for womxn starting from puberty to menopause. Starting with an organic cotton tampon ($8.00-9.00 for a box), LOLA has expanded to sell other products, such as liners, lubricants, cleansing wipes, heating, probiotics, and even a first period kit.
Customers who shop with LOLA contribute to the company’s mission to provide free menstrual products to womxn.
Etica World provides menstrual products that are both environmentally friendly and help to address period poverty. According to Etica World, every womxn in the United Kingdom uses an average of about 11,000 disposable menstrual products in their lifetime. This excessive waste leads to a buildup of plastics that the environment cannot naturally break down.
At Etica World, the company sells organic cotton pads, ranging from daily liners to night time pads, with prices between €3.25 to €3.50 per pad. All of Etica World’s pads are biodegradable and compostable.
Aside from their environmental work, Etica World also partakes in addressing period poverty by allowing customers to donate a pack of their pads to a girl or womxn in need of menstrual products.
Affi, the founder of Freda, creating the company after considering the hygiene issues female refugees could be suffering from while stuck at European borders. As a refugee herself, Affi aimed to start a brand in which she could provide womxn with environmentally-friendly feminine products that could help with period poverty.
All of Freda’s products, including tampons and pads, are made from organic cotton, all compostable, biodegradable, and hypoallergenic. Freda also provides customers with the opportunity to subscribe to a monthly box priced at €2.50 per month to personalise to fit their feminine needs.
For each product sold, Freda sends products to a womxn in need.
Ruby Love sells period underwear made of organic cotton, dri-tech mesh, and an absorbent liner. According to the brand, the underwear can be worn all day, absorbing up to 2.5 tampons worth of blood.
Ruby Love offers different underwear styles, such as bikini, hipster, high-waisted, briefs, and seamless to provide an extensive inventory for customers to choose from. Sizes range from Small to 6X, making the brand very inclusive to womxn of all sizes. The price of a single pair of panties starts at $17.99 (USD).
There aren’t any free pad or tampon dispenses in the restrooms for womxn and girls to utilize in certain schools or workspaces. Fortunately, Aunt Flow has recognized this issue by offering free pads and tampons to students and businesswomxn.
Claire, the founder of Aunt Flow, created the company after not having access to menstrual products in public when she needed them. With Aunt Flow, businesses and schools can purchase tampon and pad dispensers for their restrooms. With these dispensers, womxn and girls don’t have to pay for menstrual products when they’re at school or the office.
For every ten pads or tampons sold, Aunt Flow donates one product to someone in need of menstrual products. In total, Aunt Flow donated 500,000 menstrual products as of this year.
Check out Aunt Flow’s website here.
Created in 1993, GladRags aims to change the narrative about menstruation by offering education and reusable menstrual products. GladRags sells organic cotton cloth pads that can be washed and reused, inserts, menstrual cups, and value kits. Based in the United States, GladRags ships its products across the globe in biodegradable and compostable packaging to eliminate the use of plastic materials. GladRags’s cloth pads are priced between $11.87 to 29.49 (USD).
New customers can check out the GladRags code on their website to get their first pantyliner free!
Often, PMS (premenstrual syndrome) symptoms can be the worst part of a period. Thankfully, Flo created a product that can help alleviate those symptoms. FLO Vitamins are the first-ever gummy vitamin designed to relieve PMS-related symptoms, such as stress, cramps, and digestive issues, to provide a less painful period.
FLO vitamins contain chaste berry, Dong Quai, vitamin B6, lemon balm, and other ingredients to create a gummy vitamin during the menstruation period. A one-month supply of the FLO PMS vitamins costs $29.99 (USD) for a one-month supply, or customers can opt for a subscription plan, bringing the price down to $24.99 (USD)
Consumers can choose between FLO Vitamins or GTFO gummies for immunity, which are available here.
DAME’s mission revolves around three initiatives: sustainability, accessibility, and acceptability. The company began in 2015 when the founders realized how much plastic is used to create menstrual products. With this in mind, they started to develop menstrual products that are environmentally friendly to reduce plastic production in the menstrual product industry.
DAME offers products such as a reusable tampon applicator, organic cotton pads, tampons and liners, and much more. Customers can start a subscription box to receive DAME’s products monthly, which costs €7.99 per month.