Narrator: India grows more bananas
than anywhere else in the world.
But about half of each plant goes to waste.
One company is turning that waste
into biodegradable sanitary pads
that could help more people
have safer periods.
With disposable plastic pads on the rise,
can banana stems save the country
from mountains of trash?
We visited Saathi
to see how it's using worldwide waste.
When Saathi started out in 2015,
only about a third of women in India
had access to pads.
And that can mean more than just discomfort.
You're missing out on school or work
for those five days every month.
And that sets you back.
Narrator: Tarun Bothra and Kristin Kagetsu
set out to help
without creating more plastic trash.
And they found the answer in farm waste.
Just one banana plant stem
can yield up to 3,000 pads,
according to Saathi.
The stalks only bear fruit once.
So after each harvest,
farmers clear the fields
to make room for new growth.
Chirag Desai is a researcher
looking for new ways
to use these leftovers.
Narrator: His team has turned
banana plant fibers into
fertilizer, fabric, and even candy.
Narrator: The first step
is to cut the stalks in half.
Workers pull the halves apart
layer by layer.
They feed these celery-like chunks
into machines
that leave just the stringy fibers behind.
Workers wash the fibers
and dry them on a line.
Then they're ready for a second life.
The founders set up stations
with machines like these
around the country
so local farmers can extract fibers
from their own crop waste.
Narrator: Saathi pays the farmers for the fibers.
Narrator: Farmers can also
use the liquid from the stems
as fertilizer.
At the Saathi factory,
workers feed fibers into machines
that cut them into shorter pieces.
The next step is turning those pieces
into this fluff.
The founders told us
this part is a trade secret.
Narrator: This is the absorbent core of the pad.
Narrator: Workers layer the banana-fiber core
between other sheets.
Tarun says these sheets
are made from plants,
but wouldn't tell us which plants.
He says he's worried
about other companies copying Saathi.
After the pads are cut to size,
he tests some out from each batch
using water mixed with ink.
Narrator: Saathi says the adhesive
on the back of the pads
is nontoxic, but wouldn't say
exactly what's in it either.
The pads are ready
to be sanitized using light.
Narrator: Finally, workers package the pads.
Narrator: They wrap each one
in yet another secret, plant-based material
and seal the packets with heat.
The founders say the pads
and all packaging
are 100% biodegradable.
And they sent their products to a lab
that confirmed this.
Narrator: Conventional pads
are made mostly of plastic.
If all the menstruating women in India used them,
it would create an amount of trash
10 times the weight
of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch every year.
Saathi says if buried,
its pads will break down in under six months.
If they're left out in the open,
it's more like 18 months.
Before disposable pads were invented,
people often used cloth, dried plants,
or whatever absorbent things they could find.
I would not say that
these are always unhygienic
methods of menstruation.
But what makes it hygienic or unhygienic
is whether the material is clean,
how long it is used for.
Narrator: Many in India still use
cloth for their periods,
which can cause infections
if it's not washed and dried frequently.
Saathi sells its pads at pharmacies,
at specialty stores, and online.
And for each pad the company sells,
it gives one away for free.
Narrator: Most of the free pads
go to people in rural areas,
who are less likely
to have access to them
compared to those in cities.
Narrator: Experts say free pads are helpful,
but education is also key.
We really need to go beyond
just provisional pads now
and talk about what it means
to hygienically use them.
Four to six hours
is the maximum one should use,
and definitely change after that.
Narrator: When Saathi introduces its products
to a new area,
it organizes talks about menstrual health
for local women.
At one recent session, Tarun spoke about pads
and handed them out to attendees.
Narrator: And price isn't the only issue.
Cultural taboos can also
stop people from buying pads.
Narrator: Though it's becoming less common,
some traditional communities limit women's behavior
while they're menstruating.
Narrator: Alka Ben has worked at Saathi
for about five years.
In that time,
she's seen attitudes towards pads shift.
Narrator: She's able to support her family
with her earnings.
Narrator: Over the last 10 years,
access to pads in India
has risen dramatically.
Art, activism, and government programs
are making it easier to talk about periods.
Narrator: But about one in four women in India
still don't have sanitary period supplies.
That's tens of millions of people.
But seeing how things have already changed
keeps the founders going.