Introduction to The Eco-Sustainable Menstrual Project
Menstruation: a natural phenomenon
Menstruation or menses, the natural (bio-physiological) process by which women bleed uterine (reproductive) matter through the vagina, ensures the continuity of human life on this planet. For every baby that is ever born there is a mother that menstruates. Women comprise half of the world’s 8 billion people and each woman menstruates for 4-5 days a month, for a period of 40 years during her life-time. Thus, the total menstruating days of an average woman add up to approximately 6 years.
According to data, close to 900 million girls and women all over the world menstruate on any given day. Yet, the taboos surrounding menstruation make it one of the least spoken about across cultural geographies. Even today, young girls are taught to whisper should the need to talk about menstruation ever arise, so much so that, most women become aware of menstruation only when they experience their first menstrual cycle (also known as ‘menarche’). In India, approximately 70% of girls first hear of menstruation at the onset of their menarche.
Considered a ‘female problem’, boys and men generally remain unaware of this life-sustaining phenomenon for a large part of their lives. Since our formal education systems too do not dedicate sufficient time and resources to address the subject of menstruation, even those girls and women who have some knowledge of menstruation lack complete awareness of it. According to a study conducted in South Asia, 98% of school girls had no idea where the menstrual blood came from.
Since menstrual blood is considered ‘dirty’ and ‘impure’, menstruating girls and women often find their freedoms restricted and are even barred from seeking health services in times of need. The physical discomfort and pain experienced by women during their menstruating days is often exacerbated by unhygienic and life-threatening practices. Due to the high cost and inaccessibility of commercially manufactured menstrual products, 88% of menstruators in India are deterred from using them on a regular basis and instead resort to using unsafe alternatives like dirty old rags, newspapers, dried leaves and hay, plastic, wood shavings etc. In some cultures menstruators are made to wait out their menses in sheds meant for animals, denied food and even water for washing and cleaning themselves. Being uneducated, most mothers themselves are ignorant victims of sociocultural diktats, who understand little about the importance of good nutrition and hygienic practices during the menstrual cycle. As a result, many girls and women suffer from anemia and reproductive tract infections (RTIs). Unsurprisingly, the first experience can be a traumatic one because girls are often between the ages of 9 and 11 then.
Additionally, the lack of access to functional toilets and adequate water supply forces 66% of menstruators to manage their menses in the open and in ways that are unhygienic as well as unsafe. This becomes a deterrent to pursuing education in the case of students, and to employability in the case of working women, further giving rise to gender inequity. It has been found that in India, 63 million adolescent girls do not have access to toilet facilities at home and that separate toilet facilities for girls are available only in 3 out of every 5 schools. As a result, girls prefer not going to school during their menses, thus losing between 40 and 50 school days every academic year. It has also been noted that inadequate toilet facilities in schools result in 23% of girls discontinuing their schooling every year.
Despite efforts being made by the central and the state governments to improve sanitation through various public schemes there are challenges like access to running water for washing and cleaning menstrual products; private and hygienic spaces for changing, drying and storing menstrual products; and the safe and dignified disposal and
management of menstrual waste, that still need to be addressed at scale. By not talking openly and sufficiently about menstruation and by not addressing the taboos around menstrual blood, the interconnectedness between the feminine and nature can easily be overlooked.
Environment & Pollution
Plastics are often considered to be a modern marvel. The 21st century has witnessed a sharp rise in the use of plastics and synthetic polymers (PSPs) across almost every sector, including the space industry. However, a surge in the global plastic production from 1.5 million tonnes in the 1950s to a staggering 400 million tonnes in the year 2022, has resulted in major environmental concerns. Since they are lightweight, versatile, durable, and inexpensive, PSPs are predominantly used in food, healthcare, transportation, construction, textile, electronics, and packaging industries.
Approximately 40% of the globally manufactured plastics are meant for packaging, and are discarded immediately after use, like bottles for drinks, wraps for food and grocery and packaging for medicines. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), plastic waste equivalent to 2,000 trucks of garbage is dumped into the world’s lakes, rivers and oceans every single day. Every year, an estimated 8 million tonnes of plastic waste enters the oceans through coastal communities alone. According to researchers, the volume of plastic by weight in the oceans could become more than that of fish by 2050.
The chemical structure of most PSPs makes them non-biodegradable. Plastic waste can be generated and can enter the Earth’s natural environment at any point i.e., during the production, consumption, and disposal stages of the product. Once it has entered into the environment, this waste breaks down into micro fragments called microplastic and nanoplastics that may take anywhere between 100 and 1000 years to completely decompose. Pollution from plastic has affected land as well as aquatic ecosystems, and can now be found in every habitat of our planet, from the tundras of Antarctica to the coral reefs of the tropics.
Five large plastic debris zones or trash vortexes have so far been discovered in the Earth’s oceans. Also known as garbage patches these areas can best be described as ‘plastic soup’ floating around in the ocean. While the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans have two garbage patches each, the Indian Ocean has one. The North Pacific garbage patch that was discovered in 1997, is the largest and covers an area of 1.6 million square kilometres or 6,20,000 square miles. According to researchers, all of the five debris zones are increasing in magnitude every day. Once broken down into tiny fragments of microplastic, most of this debris eventually settle down at the bottom of the ocean or the ocean floor, threatening marine life and altering marine habitats.
There are approximately 3,50,000 artificially-manufactured chemicals in the world that have been proven to adversely effect planetary health. Studies suggest that plastic alone contains at least 10,000 such toxic chemicals. Thus, anywhere between 19 and 23 million tonnes of toxic waste leaks into the natural ecosystems every year disrupting natural processes. This is posing a big challenge due to the high environmental cost that is associated with it. More than 1500 marine and terrestrial species, including earthworms, birds, cows, turtles, dolphins and whales, are known to ingest plastic. A recently discovered species of amphipod has been named Eurythenes plasticus, after its gut was found to be contaminated with plastic. Microplastics have been found in human organs such as kidneys, livers, and placenta. Additionally, carcinogens found in plastics and plastic products leach into the ground water system, which when ingested over a sustained period of time can deter development and can cause neurological disorders.
According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), plastic products were responsible for 3.4% of the global greenhouse gas emissions in the year 2019, with 90% of these emissions having been caused by the conversion of fossil fuels into new plastic products. The consensus among researchers is that the global plastic industry will be responsible for 20% of the global oil consumption and contribute to 15% of global carbon emissions by the year 2050.
