Join us for “We’re Ovar It,” a webinar discussion about earth-friendly menstrual wellness. It’s time to address how period products affect the health of our bodies and the earth through a discussion and Q&A with activists and experts within the earth-friendly wellness space.
A bit of background: In the United States alone, approximately 12 billion pads and 7 billion tampons are discarded each year. While many of these products end up in a landfill, others clog sewers or contribute to the staggering amount of plastics in our oceans. Tampon applicators can take over 20 years to break down in marine environments and can be ingested by animals, causing health complications or death.
Although physical waste from disposable products is significant, the largest environmental impact of tampons and pads is the processing of raw materials used in their production. In particular, the plastics used in pads and tampon applicators are made out of low-density polyethylene that requires energy-intensive processing. When you consider the whole life cycle of these products, fossil fuel emissions of plastic production damage the environment the most. (Stanford Magazine)
The webinar is being organized by two former NTHS students who studied this topic as part of their Integrated Global Studies School (IGSS) research project. You may have seen their booth at Going Green Matters 2019.
