Every choice we make comes with its own set of consequences. Some are good, some are not, but almost all of them impact our lives in one way or another.
A year ago, I too made a choice that at the time, didn’t appear as quite important to me.
That choice was, letting go of synthetic sanitary pads & switching to biodegradable sanitary napkins.
Before I go into the specifics of my choice & how it impacted me, it’s important to make you understand the difference between synthetic sanitary pads & organic, biodegradable sanitary pads.
Every month during menstruation, women use a variety of menstrual sanitary products to contain their menstrual flow. A majority of these products are synthetic in nature, that is, they’re made using chemicals & toxins, many of which are harmful to women’s bodies.
In fact, a chemical called dioxin, which is very often used in the manufacturing of synthetic sanitary napkins, is a well-documented carcinogen, known to lead to ovarian & other types of cancer in women.
Since women use quite a large number of sanitary products in their lifetime, the chances of exposure to such harmful chemicals in synthetic sanitary products for them are considerably high.
This makes them vulnerable to a host of infections & diseases that arise out of the constant use of such synthetic sanitary products.
Also, since these synthetic sanitary products are made using artificial chemicals & toxins, they don’t biodegrade naturally & pollute the environment for long periods of time after being thrown away.
In this way, they contribute to pollution in the environment & make way for a lot of harmful toxins in the air, that in turn affect our long term health.
With all the furrow around climate change & ecologically responsible ways of living, it makes sense that women should give long thought to their menstrual sanitary product choices, for the environment as well as their personal health & safety.
With all this in mind, I made the conscious decision to shift to using biodegradable sanitary napkins from Noraa.
Noraa is an organic sanitary product maker that makes organic, biodegradable sanitary napkins using 100% natural, organic ingredients like cotton, bamboo, corn starch, virgin pulp, etc.
Over the course of a whole year, I have had the opportunity to observe the changes in my body & attitude that arose out of making the choice.
Below, I am listing all these changes one by one, so that all of you looking to make the change can do so after reading a personal account.
- Improved Health: Hands down, improved health was the biggest change I noticed in myself once I switched to using biodegradable sanitary napkins. I noticed that I wasn’t getting any ‘pad-rashes’, as was the norm with synthetic sanitary pads that I had been using for so long.
Nor was my vaginal area excessively dry, or itchy, as was again, a common occurrence with synthetic sanitary napkins.
Noraa organic cotton pads came with a highly absorbent, organic core that maintains the natural pH of the vaginal area to ward off dryness & infections, whilst also absorbing the menstrual flow superbly. - Increased comfort: Another plus point of biodegradable sanitary pads, is that they are super-soft, & utterly comfortable. They don’t cause itchiness or rashes, & don’t cause any chafing like synthetic sanitary pads.
Since they’re made of all-natural products, biodegradable sanitary napkins also don’t cause any discomfort that usually comes with sanitary pads.
I was able to be comfortable wearing those for a long time, hours on end, without any specific discomfort or problem, & this I take to be the biggest plus point of using biodegradable sanitary pads over synthetic sanitary napkins. - More ecologically responsible: Needless to say, since biodegradable sanitary pads are better for the environment as they degrade naturally & don’t linger around in nature, the biggest advantage of using biodegradable sanitary pads, right after improved health, was that I became much more ecologically responsible. Since organic products are anyway better for our overall health as well as the environment, choosing biodegradable sanitary napkins over synthetic ones automatically makes me feel a bit better about myself & my choices, & I feel more ecologically responsible.
- More In-charge of my body: Since I personally chose to be involved with biodegradable sanitary products for my health & well-being, I feel more in control of my body & my health. I have full control over exactly what I let near my body & my ultra-sensitive vaginal area, something that I couldn’t have said while I was using synthetic sanitary pads.
Giving me increased control over my body is just one of the things that I find amazing about using biodegradable sanitary pads, alongside all the immense health & environmental benefits. - More responsible for wildlife: Since they are made of all-natural products, biodegradable sanitary pads don’t cause any harm to the wild animals that eat them accidentally. Unlike synthetic sanitary napkins, ingesting biodegradable sanitary pads doesn’t cause them any particular discomfort or health issues, or worse, lead to their death.
Hence, by switching to organic, biodegradable sanitary napkins, I also feel more responsible for the protection of wildlife, which in turn leads to protection of the environment, as wildlife plays a vital role in maintaining the natural food chain in nature.
Since these wild animals depend on us human beings to provide them with food, I feel a bit more responsible than other women who use synthetic sanitary products that pose a great health risk to animals that eat them accidentally in search of food.
Helpful towards rural women:
Noraa as an organic sanitary product manufacturer brand provides employment to rural, undereducated women that don’t have any other means of income. By giving them an opportunity to earn their own money, it helps them become financially independent & break free of any harmful practices or domestic violence they might be going through in their families. It also helps young, teenage girls get employment opportunities that help them become the top breadwinner of their families & secure their own financial future.
Thus, I feel extremely lucky to be associated with a brand that endeavors for such a noble cause.
Also Read: Best Daily Routine to Follow to Live a Healthy Life
