- Oh my god, I'm so ill, this is the first talking
I've done this morning. (imitates choking)
Hello, the world is on fire.
We're in a climate crisis.
There's also an election coming up.
Make sure you register to vote, please, please, please!
And, also, some of us have periods,
and we can help the environment in a way, with our periods.
Not with our periods,
but with how we manage our periods. (chuckles)
So I want to start by saying that I am absolutely
not shaming people who use tampons and pads,
and no one should shame anyone
for the kind of period product that they use.
Some of the options that I'm going to go through
in this video are not for everyone.
Some people can't use them
for whatever reason, and that is fine.
However, if you can use them,
so if you have access to clean running water,
if you can afford the initial price point,
if, in some of these cases, you are able
to insert things into your vagina,
then I highly, highly encourage you to try.
However, because of the high initial price point,
it can be a very expensive trying,
especially if it then doesn't end up working out for you.
But again, if you can, please try.
If it does end up working out for you,
it will save you money in the long run.
And of course, reusable menstrual products
are so much better for the environment.
How much better are they?
Good question, so one person who has periods will use
11,000 disposable period products in their lifetime,
and tampons take longer to degrade than the lifespan
of a person who uses them, what?
I didn't know that.
In the UK, 4.3 billion disposable period products
are used every year, what?
4.3 billion, bil-lion.
And most conventional, disposable menstrual products
are made up of 90% plastic, and that includes
the product itself and also its packaging.
So, I think we can all agree that disposable menstrual
products are maybe not best for the environment,
and we're currently in a climate crisis,
so every little helps, although, like, I mean,
I could go on about how I just don't think
that we as individuals should be responsible
and the governments and the corporations, but (groans).
(sighs) It's fine, so in terms of the options out there
for reusable and sustainable period products,
I have three options for you.
Menstrual cups, reusable pads,
cloth pads, and period underwear.
And so we're gonna go through each one,
how it works, what is great about it,
what is maybe some of the downsides of it,
and the price point, and how long they should last you.
First, my personal favourite, the menstrual cup.
Disclaimer, I don't have periods anymore
because of the hormonal contraception that I'm on.
But when I did have periods, this was my fave.
And even though I don't have periods anymore,
I have kept it, because I probably will
have periods again at some point in my life,
and these things last a long time.
So I should be able to use it again?
We'll check the quality of it before I ever (laughs)
use it again, but for now, it's doing good!
So perhaps if you've heard of any of these,
this is the one that you've heard the most about.
There are lots of different brands that make menstrual cups,
lots of different shapes and sizes,
so definitely look into what you think is best for you.
This one is called the DivaCup.
I had no preference, it was gifted to me.
That is why this is the one that I use,
but it worked fine, so I didn't really feel the need
to go and test out other ones.
Other brands include Mooncup, Intimina,
who do a whole different range of things,
and Intimina actually do one called the Ziggy Cup
or the Ziggy disc, which is not a cup shape like this.
It's more like a flat lower dish, disc,
and what they say is that with the Ziggy disc in,
it is a menstrual cup, but you can also have sex
whilst that is in, penetrative sex.
Whereas with this bad boy, you can't have sex (chuckles)
at the same time with this in.
You would have to either have
non-penetrative sex or take it out.
If you need any persuasion or advice about period sex,
I made a whole video about that, and you can watch it here.
Most menstrual cup companies will offer two different sizes.
One is for someone who has not given birth vaginally,
and the second size is for someone
who has given birth vaginally,
or has a weak pelvic floor for whatever reason.
No judgement here.
It takes a bit of getting used to,
but it is very easy to insert.
You can either fold it in half
and (clicks tongue) insert it that way, boop!
And then it pops out inside you like that,
and then in order to take it out,
you put your finger inside and you squeeze it
to break the seal and pull it out.
So this one is called the C fold,
and you fold it in like that and then you put that
up your vagina, boop! (cup pops)
Pops out, and then the other fold,
I don't know what the name of it is,
but like a scoopy-scoop? (laughs)
You pinch it down like that,
and then it goes (clicks tongue)
up ya like that! (cup pops)
This one was my favourite, this one was my personal fave.
I found it a lot easier, (imitates popping) boop, pop!
The price range of a menstrual cup
is between 20 and 25 pounds.
However, the Ziggy disc that you can have sex in,
is like 35 pounds, so bear that in mind.
You will only really need one, so you only need to buy one,
and it can last up to 10 years.
Also, totes forgot to mention,
but basically all of this info is in my book,
"The Hormone Diaries: The Bloody Truth About Our Periods."
There is a whole section in there
about all the different kinds of menstrual
products out there, including disposable ones.
It's got errything, except for the one
that you can put in and have sex in,
'cause I didn't know that existed
when I was writing it. (groans)
Books get so out of date so quickly!
But still, please buy my book.
So at the end of every period,
to clean it, and then you can also do this
at the beginning of your next period,
just boil it in some water for like five minutes.
That's how you proper clean it.
During your period, when you take it out,
dump the blood in the toilet,
you can just rinse it in a sink.
If you don't access to a sink,
then just give it a little wipe with some toilet paper,
insert it, and the next time that you have access to a sink,
you can rinse it and that and (clicks tongue)
pop it back in, tre easy.
So that is menstrual cups.
On to the next one, period underwear.
So yes, these are actually my period underwear.
Again, don't have periods anymore,
but I kept (chuckles) these because I mean,
it's just black underwear, so it's fine.
Again, there's lots of different brands
that do period underwear.
These ones, I believe, were gifted to me by Thinx,
but there's loads of different ones out there,
and also, I was having a look on their website,
and since I got these, they now have loads more
different styles, lots of different colours.
It's very exciting, you don't just have to go for black.
And, on your lighter days, they even have period thongs.
I don't wear thongs.
So period underwear works because this bit,
where your fanny is, is thick and absorbs.
It absorbs all of that period blood,
and can tell you, it works.
However, I personally never use these on a heavy day,
because I had two, kind of like,
one for medium and one for light flow days.
So I can't tell you from personal experience
if they work on a heavy day.
However, they do have increased absorbency ones, so you can.
I absolutely loved wearing these
on days where I didn't fancy wearing a cup.
It feels so dry, it absorbs right into the lining,
so it doesn't feel like you're just sitting
in sticky period blood or anything like that.
You couldn't even tell, and then at the end of the day,
you just stick it in your washing basket
like you would a normal pair of underwear.
They usually last for about two years,
but it just depends on how well they've been taken care of.
I didn't realise this, which probably means
that if I ever get periods again,
I will have to swap these out for some new ones,
because they're pretty old.
I've not had a period in coming up to two years,
and I was using these for at least a year before that, so.
♪ Out with the old ♪
You can stick 'em in the wash just like regular underwear,
but do double-check the label because
maybe some of them are hand wash only,
but if I had hand wash only period underwear,
I might do it in the shower.
Stick it in the shower whilst you're there
and just stamp on it with soap as you're showering.
And depending on the brand and the style
and the absorbency level,
they can range from 20 to 35 pounds.
And yes, that is quite expensive,
as you wear it one day and then that's it,
you need to wash it before you can wear it again.
So if you want to use period underwear
for more than one day of your period,
then that will set you back quite a bit,
especially if you want two or three pairs
of different styles and different absorbencies,
but you don't have to go all in and buy everything at once.
It might just be something that you do over time.
Okay, moving on to cloth pads.
So these are the only ones that I actually
haven't used personally.
I bought these for this video, (laughs) in all honesty.
But they're so cute!
Look at (giggles) these, ah, ha ha!
And it's got a very satisfying popper on the wings.
(snap pops) Oh, yes.
So I first learned about cloth pads from YouTube, actually.
If you want to have your mind blown
and just learn everything about every
period product on the planet,
I would highly recommend checking out
Precious Star Pads' YouTube channel.
Oh my goodness, basically learned everything from her.
So I bought these off a shop on Etsy called The Fancy Pads,
and they had loads of different cool designs
and absorbencies and sizes.
So you can search on Etsy for people
who are making and selling cloth pads,
but then there are also some brands who are doing it now.
Lunapads is one, for instance,
but I'll leave links in the description
to lots more if you wanna check 'em out.
So this one was advertised as a pantyliner
with light absorbency and is six inches.
And this one was advertised as a regular liner
with regular absorbency, that is eight inches,
just so you can see for comparison,
eight inches and six inches, light and regular.
Oh my god, they're so soft, I wanna wear them as mittens!
So when you're looking to purchase,
you can look at the different levels of absorbency
and how many inches they are,
because that'll give you a good idea
of what you might need or what you want.
And in terms of price, this one was three pounds 60
and this one was four pounds 60.
So obviously, expensive for a pad,
but they're reusable!
You can use 'em again
and again and again, what am I doing?
I'm playing peek-a-boo with you.
♪ A peek-a-boo with menstrual pads ♪
And yes, these wings and the popper
is just designed to hold them in place,
because obviously they don't have a sticky back
or anything that can stick to your underwear,
but this pops around your underwear
so it (clicks tongue) doesn't move.
How to clean them, so you want to change
your pad every two to six hours,
which is similar to if it was a disposable pad.
And they can be cleaned in the washing machine
or hand wash, as well.
Now, this is where I would really recommend
Precious Star Pads for her videos on how to clean pads,
how to store and clean them, 'cause obviously,
if you're out and about and you need to change your pad,
you need somewhere to put your dirty pad.
And she has so many amazing solutions for you.
But basically, you just want to be carrying around
a wash kit bag, dirty laundry bag,
that you can put these in when they are done,
and then you also have a compartment for fresh clean ones,
that you can then put in your underwear.
And if this had period blood on it
and I needed to put it away in my bag,
you can just fold, fold, and then do up the poppers.
(snap pops) ♪ Ta-da ♪
Isn't that so smart, I love it!
Definitely keeping these for when I have periods again.
But obviously, with having to change it
every two to six hours, you will need multiple of these
if you're going down the cloth pads route.
You can either buy them individually
or you can get a pack, a set,
which will have different levels of absorbency in them.
And you can usually get a pack of about five
for 10 to 25 pounds.
But bear in mind that five of these pads,
depending on how heavy your flow is,
might only last you two days,
and then you also might not want to wear these overnight,
so something like period underwear or a menstrual cup,
or a tampon even, overnight, as long as you're sleeping
for less than eight hours, should be fine.
Oh, and I should've mentioned,
menstrual cup you can keep in for up to 10 hours.
So sleeping overnight in this is fine.
You wouldn't need to make sure you wake up
at a certain time so you've not had it in too long.
Unless you're (laughs) someone who sleeps
for like 12 hours, then wow, well done!
So I hope that maybe you've learned something,
that maybe this has opened your eyes up
to a kind of period product that you've
been thinking about, flirting with the idea of,
and hopefully this has maybe helped you
take that leap into trying it for the first time.
Would highly recommend.
If this is a topic that affects you and you are interested
in talking more about it with other people
who it affects and are also interested in it,
I have created a Hormone Diaries
community Facebook group,
and there's over 600 people in there at the moment
and you're all more than welcome to come and join.
People just post in there asking
for advice or asking questions,
and so there's been lots of chats in there
about different kinds of period products.
So if you do have any questions,
obviously you can leave them in the comments of this video,
but if you want more people to be able
to reply to you and give you tips,
then the Facebook group is probably a really solid place
to start if you have any more questions
about (clicks tongue) these.
Or if you have any experiences with them
and you fancy sharing, again, comments,
or in the Facebook. (screen whooshes)
So there are lots of ways that we can all band together
and help out in the climate crisis,
and with the environment and one of those ways
is by using reusable menstrual products.
Another one of those ways is voting
on the 12th of December in the UK general election,
and not voting for the Tories.
And the third way that I'm going to mention,
because there are many, many,
many other ways, is Team Trees.
I was invited to make a video as part of Team Trees,
and so I was like, "Okay, how do I make
"something about the environment but then
"also working it into the sex, relationships,
"and bodies topics that I talk about?"
Sustainable periods, here we are.
So Team Trees is a massive YouTube-wide charity
collaboration started by MrBeast and Mark Rober,
and they are working with the Arbour Day Foundation
to plan 20 million trees by 2020.
And the way that this happens
is that every $1 donation equals one tree.
$1, one tree, $5, five trees. (laughs)
$10, 10 trees, you get it.
They are already over halfway.
Currently, at the time of filming this, there have been
12,610,654
trees planted, that is wild!
My good friend and fellow sex educator Lindsey Doe
made a video for Team Trees about fucking trees. (laughs)
Just anything to do with sex and trees.
It's a brilliant video, go watch it.
And what she said in hers is that for every 10 comments,
she will plant one tree, and for every 10 shares
of the video on social media, she will plant one tree.
And I'm gonna do the same for the next week
after the video going live.
So for every 10 comments on this video,
I'm going to plant one tree, i.e.,
donate $1 per 10 comments,
and for every 10 shares of the video on Twitter,
I will also plant one tree
for the next week after this video going live.
And I highly encourage you to also share Team Trees
and make a donation and plant some trees if you can!
And also, use reusable menstrual products
if you're someone who has periods
and you can and you want to.
Thank you so much watching.
Please do give this video a like if you liked it,
and don't forget to subscribe, 'cause I make new videos
every week, and I'll see you in the next one, bye!