Few months
back, we had cleaning activity in Srinagar, Banashankari 2nd stage government School as a part of Green
club initiated by youth for seva. We had to take the students around the school
to pick up all kind of wastes and clean the premises. Since there were so many
students, we didn't have enough glouse to provide everyone, we decided to use
hand wash after all the work. The work started, students were divided based on
work and lead by individual volunteers, but later we found that we cannot
continue the waste collection for certain category of waste with those small
kids!! And we stopped this at certain places despite having hand wash to remove
the dirt.
Can you
guess what kind of waste that would be!!??
None of us
could have concerned of it except those who have really experienced finding
that waste piece of non-bio degradable material on road sides.
That is the
disposable sanitary napkins used by all adult women!! Our team was concerned to
get this touched by small kids.
The safe
solution for the disposal of this waste is to burn completely. Most of us would
dump it to the municipality vehicle or throw it in the areas where we consider
the waste would be collected by corporation people. If it gets disposed safely
that would be fine, if not this is a threat. The menstrual blood stuck on them
becomes bed and butter to microbes. And those which gets on to the landfilling
and reaches the mud in the road side could become the palace for bacteria and
viruses. Contagious diseases are easily born and spread. It was more
considerable fact when we found it in the school premises.
Approximately
half the population of world are women. Two-third of them certainly uses disposable
sanitary napkins. On an average if they use 4 napkins each month, 48 per year
and 480 per decade. Chances of around 2000 napkins are used by each woman in
her life time. Think of the whole women population generating this impossible
waste. There can around 560 thousand tons of napkins getting added to the total
non-decomposable waste every year. If it is burnt out, the air is polluted, ash
generated, otherwise soil is polluted and the health of many living beings is
also polluted.
What can be
the remedy?
Use
washable cloth napkins. We would have seen our mothers and grandmothers using
it. We still think we may not be comfortable to run around and cannot travel
comfortably. So, let us remember the names of all women warriors like Jhansi
Lakshmi bhai, Chand bibi sultana, Marie curie, Mary Edwards walker, Queen
Cleopatra, Mother Theresa, M S Subbalakshmi and many more who were existed
before the introduction of disposable sanitary pads and their achievements and non-discontinued
hard work. When it was possible for them, it is possible for us too along being
green women.
You can
make your own cloth pads. Now you can even get congenial washable cloth
menstrual pads available in market. Find the link www.ecofemme.org or you can order writing at aidsite@gmail.com from Jivika. You can also find more
dealers online for cloth pads. The initial cost seemed to be high, but over the
time and for the multiple uses, this is inexpensive. I have bought few from a
shop called “Wellbeing” in Sahakarnagar, Bangalore and have used also. I am
completely alright with it. You too can bear washing it for the sake of
avoiding waste generation for land filling and contamination of water and soil.
And there are lot of health advantages involved like less causing rashes,
contact dermatitis for the sensitive skin in using the cloth pad(For more info -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloth_menstrual_pad).
We have
cared for our beauty enough :), but this is also the time to care for beauty of
Mother Nature and to become an eco-friendly woman.
Hope you
all would find it sensible and take action immediately. And share it with
others to spread the awareness.
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