The local watershed is where we have the largest physical impact on the environment. Menstrual pads by their very nature are disposable products, and every menstruator uses approximately 20 of them per month. That’s a big fraction of the dry waste that they produce.
How can we do better?
Papaya pad, placed in a rapid decomposition (not composting!) machine.We declared war on plastics embedded in our product. Most pads use a super-absorbent polymer (SAP) as their core layer, because frankly, nothin absorbs better – as evidenced by countless TV commercials showing how much blue liquid they can soak in. (Seriously, who bleeds blue water?!)
The problem with plastics is that once they hit a landfill and start disintegrating (a process that can take several years) they decompose into “micro-plastics” which is a generic term for fragments of plastic so small we can’t even see – but are chemically active, form compounds with toxins that are abundant at landfills, and then end up either in the watershed or in the local food chain. They also often leach out toxins that originate from the plastic itself, such as Phthalates.
At Papaya, we took a different approach. Instead of using a super-absorber, we use a combination of a cotton fiber absorber and a natural bio-sourced coagulant (our secret sauce!) that transforms liquid blood into a coagulated paste – using our bodies own natural mechanism!
The result of this innovation is a core layer that sucks in blood and retains it even if it is later squeezed! Natural, safe, and environmentally friendly! (Consequently, btw, our pads are only good for blood. If you’re menstruating semi-clear blue liquid, we may not be able to help you. 🙂 )
With the core layer taken care of, we also eliminated plastics from the front and back sheets (made of all-natural fibers) and made sure even our packaging and release sheet are plastics-free. The best way to make sure you don’t pollute the environment with plastic compounds? Don’t have plastics in your product to begin with!
So every month, know that you’ve eliminated about half a kilogram of plastic-based trash.
Did we stop there? Of course not! Every manufacturing process, including our own, creates waste. (Think of the leftovers when you’re cutting shapes out of a whole sheet of paper) – and the waste can be comparable in weight to the entire product!
More on this later, but our waste goes directly to a composting facility, so in fact your monthly savings are closer to a full kg of plastic based trash!
