I'm gonna come right out and say the thought about over consumption that most often fills my mind, "American's are wasteful pigs." Yes, that is harsh. In fact, it is judgmental and short sighted, nonetheless it is how I feel about the issue. Stranger still I am not the perfect no impact person; although I wish we all could be, rather I am only aware of the waste and angry about it. We have created an economy dependent on mass consumption and extreme waste. This has as much to do with our abuse of natural resources as it does our need to acquire more and more "stuff".
Don't get me wrong, I don't feel helpless, and I do as much as I can to reduce my overall impact, especially how much waste I generate. But, I also want to do more and the way we have structured American lifestyles and culture makes this very very hard. In my opinion too hard! I imagine this is why so few people make changes to their daily life and consumption, because it is very complex to make these changes. This three part series will focus on some of the easy and cost effective changes I've made and how others can do the same.
The Diva Cup
The Diva Cup and other menstrual cups, are one of many ways women can save money and reduce their impact on the planet!
Its a biological reality that women menstruate; our consumer economy figured out just how lucrative this is and created a disposable solution about 100 years ago. This solution has since filled our landfills, with tampons and sanitary pads. Around the world these same products wash up on our beaches and float through our rivers. If you're thinking "ick" you are right! Products which typically contain polyethylene plastic, carcinogens like dioxin, and synthetic fibers in our water! I don't want this in my body and I certainly don't want it in my environment!
The average woman uses over 9000, tampons in her lifetime. Think about the implication of this for our landfills; packaging, plastic applicators, and the products themselves all require more and more resources, energy, and waste. By comparison one tiny diva cup can last for years and can be used over and over again. I won't go into the finer details of use and how (for that you can go here), instead I want to use the example of the diva cup as a way I believe we can shift how we consume and improve our overall quality of life. While the product itself is only used by women the benefits can and will benefit everyone. Sometimes being sustainable is expensive, think solar panels and electric cars, but more often a sustainable choice is easy convenient and saves money. The diva cup is an amazing way to do just that. Ladies, you can reduce your impact on the planet and your wallet as well.
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Part Two
Part Three (coming soon)
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