let's talk about menstruation

Menstruation is both marvelous, and a bit of a pain. For me, a pad-hating tampon-user since the age of 14ish, the amount of garbage this monthly event was producing bothered me muchly. After all, menstruation is a natural, age-old alternative to manliness - why should it create waste to clog the dwindling waterways and chocked garbage pits of this tiny planet?

A friend of mine, many years ago now, persuaded me that tampon applicators were for chumps, and showed me the light of OB tampons. This pleased me, and I found it to be a much more comfortable option than sharp, stiff applicators. Know thine body, I thought - stick what needs to be stuck where'er it needs to go. But even this option troubled my enviro-mind, after a while. I knew that another internal, but reusable, option was out there, and I kept asking other women if they'd tried it. Well eventually I took the plunge and shelled out the bucks for a little rubber menstrual cup; I've been a proud user of a keeper for several years now.

Why I love my Keeper:
1) no waste
2) no monthly expense
2) i can wear it for a long long long time, and it's comfy
3) perfect for traveling, camping, etc.
4) cute. cute little carrying bag, too
5) conversation piece when left on the bathroom sink
6) get to know the flow - i make it, i see it, i can photograph it, play with it and more!
7) while not officially recommended, i've not found it to pose any impediment to social intercourse of the intimate kind
8) discreet for carrying around; and smaller than a box of anything else
9) no bleaches, dioxins, etc. to wear inside my not-at-all pristine body for nearly 25% of my life
10) that sense of belonging - the keeper family is free and fabulous!

That said, if I were to buy one today (of if I ever give birth and thereby necessitate getting the other size) I'd probably choose the silicone equivalent, since it can be cleaned at higher temperatures. That said, I'm v. happy with what I've got for now. I only wish I'd switched sooner.

Yay gadgets that make bleeding fun!