Towards zero Menstrual Wastes: Ecological Balance Recommends Eco-Friendly Alternatives

VoN News Civil Society, Environment12 Comments on Towards zero Menstrual Wastes: Ecological Balance Recommends Eco-Friendly Alternatives

The Executive Director of Eco Balance (a Cameroonian non-profit organization), Ms Blessing Limbi, has urged women and young girls in Cameroon to adopt healthier and eco-friendly menstrual pads like cloth pads and cups.

         Cloth pads, eco-friendly alternative

Speaking to Voice of Nature News recently, Ms Limbi disclosed that the menstrual pads used by most women and young girls today increase menstrual wastes, which have negative effects on the environment.  “A woman in her menstruation lifetime generates up to 150kg of disposable sanitary waste and most often, they are disposed in plastic bags.  One disposable pad takes up to 800years to decompose in landfill. Again, burning them releases dioxins and furans, some of the most deadly toxins known to science into the atmosphere,” she explicated.

Besides the negative effects the pads used today have on the environment, the Eco Feminist said they are costly with associated unhealthy implications.  “From an economic view point, a woman in Cameroon for example spends at least 500XAF (0.88 USD) on disposable pads every month. Health wise, disposable pads are often bleached with chlorine, which produces cancerous dioxins and many women experience allergic reactions when using them due to synthetic substances,” Ms Limbi explained.

As to the feasibility and sustainability of the cloth pads and cup alternatives, she hinted that her organization will during the 2019 World Menstrual Hygiene Day, May 29, 2019,  train local tailors on how to produce cloth pads. The Executive Director added that she will also organise workshops to illustrate how the cloth pads are used.

Apart from being economical, Ms. Limbi opined that the cloth pads will reduce the quantity of menstrual waste that goes to pollute the environment annually. “Statistics from the National Institute of Statistics and the World Population Prospects hold that at least 6Million women and girls in Cameroon are of menstruation age. Everything being equal, if we all adopt eco-friendly menstrual practices, we will spare this land at least 30,000 tonnes of menstrual waste annually,” she expounded.

The zero waste concept of living according to Executive Director, goes beyond segregate, reuse,  reduce, and recycle; it  incorporate the principles of effective human and material resource utilization to avoid the conversion of discards into waste in a manner that revitalizes the local economy.

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12 Comments

  1. Waoh! Eco- friendly pads. you t a great initiative and very good news for women. I believe that the pads will go a long way to help against nature pollution. I wish that the pads would be made very accessible and affordable for all women. The women shall show up in their number for for the workshop on the production and use of the pad.

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