The grand finale|| Congratulations! We are celebrating the successful completion of "Ladies Without Plastic - Environmental challenge" by Sofonie Dala, Angola. Webisode 14

 

Congratulations!

The grand finale - Green Menstruation

 Ladies without plastic - Key to reduce our carbon footprints

The first edition of our challenge - Ladies Without Plastic - Mulher sem plastico, came to an end. This is the first and only climate change show in Angola where women and girls are challenged to switch from disposable menstrual pads to reusable ones in favor of the environment.

Project presentation

As prepared for delivery

Good evening, everyone, and thank you for always being here with us!

My name is Sofonie Dala, I'm pleased to be celebrating with all of you the successful completion of our Women Without Plastic – Green Menstruation Campaign!

The main objective of this movement is to help end period poverty in Angola by empowering women and girls in making reusable pads. We advocate for behavioural change to reduce earth vulnerability to climate change and global warming from disposable sanitary pads, at the  same time mobilizing women and girls to switch back to the use of reusable sanitary pads and napkins than disposable sanitary pads that have local ecosystem vulnerable to climate change and global warming.

Creative innovation - Sewing reusable sanitary pads to boost income

We conquered Vanessa, she is one of the local women taking part in our campaign to create eco-friendly, reusable cloth pads. We will be sewing several fabric and organic cotton sanitary pads a day on her machine and distribute them at national level.

Moreover, we started supporting communities  with a life-changing skill and helping to protect the environment at the same time. 

We provide interactive training in how to make safe, washable and reusable sanitary pads, so people always have access to safe menstrual protection, can help protect the environment, and can create a small income for themselves and their families by selling their extra products at the market. 

Interview with Catiana Lueji - Environmental Engineer

Our today's guest is Catiana Lueji, she is an environmental engineer and expert at RNT Angola.

Catiana is a 27 years old environmental engineer and works hard to protect the environment. Some time ago when she became aware that disposable absorbents pollute the environment, she stopped using them immediately and opted to use silicone menstrual cups.

According to her, plastic absorbents have been  causing a lot of damage and pollution in the environment, so she recommends women to look for other alternatives such as menstrual cups and washable absorbents as a solution to this problem, which is also more economical and sustainable.

She also explained that women should not be afraid of these objects because the menstrual cup is made of silicone and not plastic, it does not change the size of the vagina and does not cause urinary infection and can last up to 15 years when properly treated.

How to use:

The menstrual cup is one product that’s been gaining in popularity. Usually made of medical-grade silicone and last 10 years leaving very little waste, menstrual cups are inserted into the vagina, where they collect blood during menstruation.They are also safe and easy-to-use, as they can be sterilised using boiling water. 

Campaign Report

Plastic pollution is a serious problem and not one that should be treated lightly.  Disposable pads and tampons create a lot of waste that goes to the landfill. Much of it is non-biodegradable. They also create pollution of the land and water from the cotton growing process, as well as the manufacturing process. Safe, affordable menstrual products are essential for anyone who menstruates. But around the world, millions of women, girls and people who menstruate can’t afford to buy or don’t have reliable access to the safe menstrual products they need.

With an estimated 200 million adolescent girls living on the frontlines of the climate crises, the link between girls´ education and climate change deserves urgent attention.

In this challenge we explored the powerful role that girls education can play in tackling climate change. Our campaign ended up collecting several stories from girls and women. We conducted in-depth interviews with girls and women aged 12 to 35 years old to explore the acceptability of reusable menstrual products interventions in our communities and aslo to explore implementation issues and their views regarding the effect of menstrual products interventions on the environment.

Common menstrual products being promoted in Angola include commercially made disposable pads and menstrual cups. This large-scale plastic production releases vast amounts of greenhouse gases, which cause air pollution and global warming.

Unfortunately, we have never seen  in supermarkets, nor in traditional and digital media promoting or selling washable pads.

According to our research, overall, adult women preferred reusable pads and young girls preferred disposable pads. Most girls highlighted that they are not prepared to use reusable pads simply because they do not want to have contact with menstrual blood and others because they do not want to wash it because they are too lazy to do this several times.

Angola is a country where most women live in extreme poverty. Many women and girls face several challenges including affordability, poor disposal methods, lack of attention on sanitation facilities, lack of equal access to education and the lack of knowledge about the negative impact of human actions on the environment. 70% of the girls interviewed knew nothing about climate change and the damage that their plastic pads have been causing to our environment, others simply never heard about other sustainable alternatives like reusable pads and silicone menstrual cups.

We also talked to some girls who are close to their 15 years old and are still not menstruating, the symptoms they show are similar to the symptom of amenorrhea. Incredibly they are not concerned about contacting a doctor, according to them late menstruation is hereditary because in general, girls in their family start menstruating when they are 16 or 18 years old.

Angola is currently facing the worst drought emergency in the last 38 years as a result of climate change. The effects of the drought include: shortages of food, lack of potable water, cattle dying from disease and malnourished children (among other things).

Angola also has been struggling to manage municipal waste: the capital Luanda alone produces 6,000 tons of solid waste every day, which the city has struggled to manage. Meanwhile, storm runoffs and sewer overflows, mean that a lot of waste ends up in the ocean. At the same time, waste from the oil and gas sector and other industrial activities may pose a serious environmental concern.

Luanda is the capital and largest city in Angola. It is Angola’s primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban center. Located on Angola’s northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Angola’s administrative center, its chief seaport, and also the capital of the Luanda Province.

We strongly recommend women and girls switch to reusable feminine hygiene products. By reusables, I mean a menstrual cup, reusable cloth menstrual pad, or a pair of period panties.

 

The end of the campaign is not the end of the movement, thanks to all  of you who believes and supports our work, we hope to see you soon!

Here’s a glimpse of what living without plastic in order to reduce climate change looks like for women and girls in Angola.

Please click the link below to watch all the series, from 1 to 14:

1. Campaign introduction by Sofonie Dala

2. Day 2 -  the story of Luquenya

3. Day 3 - the story of Luisa

4. Day 4 - the story of Helena Julha 

5. The story of Suzana and Isabel 

6. Day 6 - the story of Laudy 

7. Day 7- the story of Engracia

8. Day 8 - the story of Isabel Marques 

9. Day 9 - the story of Marcia -Marcelina

10. Day 10 - the story of Georgina and Vilcya -late menstruation 

11. Day 11 - the story of Viviane 

12. Day 12 - the story of Isabel-Branca 

13. Day 13 - the story of Deolinda

14. The grand finale - webisode 14

One in 10 girls in Africa miss school because they don’t have access to sanitary products, or because there aren’t safe, private toilets to use at school. 

There is no doubt that our initiative will help keep girls in school and create a future for themsleves.

“Pads are used when money is available and pieces of cloths or blanket are used when there is no money”.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Ditch Disposables - Avoiding single-use items. Sustainable lifestyle challenge by Sofonie Dala - Angola

It’s time to #DitchDisposables and refuse everyday products which cannot be reused! 

Swap single use items for reusable alternatives. If the current trend continues there will be more plastic than fish in the oceans by 2050!

Shifting consumer behavior away from disposable products to reusable ones

We mean, instead of using disposable pads and tampons that are discarded after just one use, consider using reusable products instead.

Femenine pads and tampons can harm the environment. What’s the alternative?

Over 50% of the world’s population menstruates, and yet conversations about feminine hygiene and the ecological impact of product choices woman make in the space, wasn’t spoken about. Menstruation can be an unpleasant, emotional and painful experience. That time of the month can also be costly — and wasteful.

Menstrual pads are made up of up to 90 per cent plastic and nearly all tampons contain some plastic. “Single-use plastic has a big footprint, both when it’s made and when you throw it away”.

“There’s a huge carbon footprint that goes into making these products, and then they get thrown on the ground, washed into rivers, eaten by fish.” Furthermore, when they become litter, they do immense harm. They take a long time to break down and in the meantime, they’re ugly, they choke fish, they block waterways.

Over 100 billion sanitary napkins, tampons and applicators are dumped into landfills every year. When wrapped in plastic bags, feminine hygiene waste can take centuries to biodegrade. The average woman uses over 11,000 tampons over her lifetime, leaving behind residue far beyond her lifespan. 

What are the Alternative Options for everybody?

Not flushing tampons and pads down the toilet is one thing that everyone can do immediately to help enact change. Educating parents about more sustainable period products is important, as it encourages both parent and child to seek reusable options.

Here are some other steps you could take to make your period more sustainable (and potentially healthier):

1) Choose reusable menstrual hygiene products like menstrual cups, period underwear and reusable sanitary napkins.

2) choose organic cotton if you can ― and support transparent brands.

3) Demand that corporations make plastic-free sanitary products.

4) Help make menstruation a bigger public policy priority.

The menstrual cup is one product that’s been gaining in popularity. Usually made of medical-grade silicone, menstrual cups are inserted into the vagina, where they collect blood during menstruation.

Interesting that menstrual cups, reusable pads and sponges are readily available but haven’t gained much traction so far.

“The reality is the products that are more environmentally friendly … are going to be more expensive.” It’s also possible that some people with physical disability are unable to “reach their cervix to insert a menstrual cup.”

There is an urgent need to innovate and find sustainable and yet practical solutions to feminine hygiene challenges. 

The problem with stigma is that it often denies women a vocabulary to deal with the issues around menstrual health and hygiene. Open dialogue is the first step in changing the way women deal with menstruation and can create awareness around the need make a switch.

Moreover, the manufacturing of disposable menstrual hygiene products (an almost $6 billion industry) generates a total carbon footprint of about 15 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually. That’s the equivalent of burning about 35 million barrels of oil.

#AnatomyOfAction

#ActNow

#GlobalGoals

#ProteinSwaps

By reshaping our needs and wants, we can collectively make the difference in reaching Sustainable Development Goal 12, to ensure responsible consumption and production.