Hey Owlets,
The last year has made us all a lot more conscious of our impact on the environment. Scenes like the clear canals in Venice and fish coming back to waters that were previously too polluted to sustain life have been a massive wakeup call for everyone that we just aren’t doing enough to support the planet. I like to think that I’m a “middle line” kind of person - I try to choose more sustainable options if they’re readily available, convenient and don’t cost too much more, I bring my reusable coffee cup on walks, don’t use straws and carry a water bottle with me wherever I go. If I’m honest that felt like I was making a difference and I was pretty pleased with myself, but recently I’ve started to think that there is more I can do. Each person will go through an average of 11000 disposable period products in their lifetime - each of those is going to landfill along with their respective packaging. That’s a sickening amount of waste to produce when you stop and think about it.
Enter Cherriful.
Menstrual cups aren’t a new concept, but to be honest with you the thought of them kind of terrifies me. Deciding which kind you need is unnecessarily complicated and the instructions are always unclear, and when it’s something to do with your body it’s easy to feel anxious, but something about Cherriful’s branding caught my attention. They take all of the ambiguity and nerves out of buying a period cup. There are straight forward instructions on how to choose which cup you need and easy illustrated directions on how to use it.
If you go for the starter pack it costs £46.95 which includes a period cup, a foldable silicone steriliser, three reusable panty liners for lighter days (or to use as a back up to start with if you’re nervous that you’ve not inserted it correctly!) and a cotton pouch to store your cup when not in use and everything’s in pastel colours which somehow brings a smile to your face even if you feel like you need a week in bed.
Now, first of all I want to dispel the myth that reusable period products are expensive. Looking online, a pack of pads are £2.95 at the moment - if you get through one pack each month then the starter pack will pay for itself in just under 16 months. If you go for just the cup and steriliser at £31.95, then you’ve made your money back in under a year, all while severely reducing your impact on the environment.
Next, I want to talk about the design. My issue with other incarnations of reusable period products is that they just didn’t feel fully thought through. What were you meant to do with the cup if you were done using it in the middle of a day? Why do you only get one reusable liner when it takes time to dry after washing? Cherriful’s starter kit feels like they actually used the product to make sure it made sense before putting it up for sale. It’s so incredibly well thought out that it makes trying a period cup a lot less daunting. As someone who hadn’t had any previous experience with one, things like providing somewhere to sanitise your cup make so much sense but wouldn’t have occurred to me until I’d started using it.
The material of all of the products are also incredibly well thought out, and they echo back to the sustainable nature of reusable period products. I’ve spoken previously about cotton’s negative impact on the environment so I’m pleased to tell you that Cherriful liners are made of bamboo which is a much more sustainable fabric, so they’re comfortable and good for the environment. The menstrual cups are made of medical grade silicone, they’re irritation-free, hold up to 3x more liquid than one tampon and are proven to last up to 5 years.
I know that reusable period products can feel a little daunting when you’ve grown up being given the choice between disposable products but having tried them I can honestly say they’re not scary or even that much different to what you’re used to. If you are nervous then I would recommend giving the cup a try before your period just so you don’t have to stress about it, but the detailed instructions Cherriful give you makes it easy.
This month me and Cherriful want to give you the chance to try a period cup for yourself, so we’ve arranged a giveaway together. All you have to do is head to this website, pop your details in and check your emails for more information.
Good luck!!
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