I would buy every single one of you one of these:
http://www.amazon.com/Diva-Cup-Model-1-Pre-Childbirth/dp/B000FAG6X0
or these:
Seriously. I purchased one and have tried it out for two months now, and I am completely sold. It's green, it's cheap, and I am hard-pressed to find something more convenient since you can wear it for 12 hours at a time.
Re: If I had money to throw around
I'm all about being green, but I don't think I could remove and clean and replace this without gagging.
I swear, it's really not as bad as all that.
It's actually kind of comforting, in a weird sort of way....you always feel like you're losing so much blood, but in reality you're really not. Plus, it's just your own body doing its thing, you know?
Woo! Lady, you won't regret it. I'm going to stop before someone thinks I took a job advertising for the company or something.
Too bad there's not a referral program - I'd totally tell them you sent me their way.
My mom and I had a convo a few weeks ago about the environmental impact of pads/tampons [she'd seen some report on it or something], and I've been trying to figure out if there was a greener way to get through that time of the month. It's like the woman gods heard me or something. :P
I used to have one of these and used it for about a year. I didn't find it too gross to clean out at all and really liked not having to worry about changing pads or tampons multiple times per day (I removed and cleaned my Diva Cup about every 12 hours).
I had to quit using mine though, because, no matter how I trimmed the stem, the longer I used it, the more it kept increasingly irritating my lady bits (sorry, a bit TMI), especially at the end of my cycle.
I use these now:
http://www.amazon.com/FuzziBunz-Mother-Cloth-Menstrual-Comfort/dp/B002FSYR90/ref=pd_sim_hpc_3
I REALLY like them. They are really soft and comfy compared to disposable pads. I prefer the supers because I am tall and the regular ones tend to slide around on me. I rinse them out with cold water when I change them and wash them in with my cloth diapers. When I am done diapering (hopefully soon!) I will keep my small bathroom pail to put them in (one of those little trashcans with the foot pedal flip up lid) and just wash them by themselves.
These probably seem more "extreme" than the Diva Cup, though, since you have to put them in your washing machine, so I know I probably won't talk any of you into them. =P
No, but I'm really trying to be helpful here. That's fine and completely your decision if you don't want to try it, but I'd really prefer to not shut this idea down.
Not trying to shut an idea down, trying to be funny. Damn.
No, I understand. You hate the Earth. It's totally cool. ;-)
Totally thought you were serious okla, I'm sorry.
Please accept this bouquet of applicators as my peace offering.
You won't get flamed as long as you recycle the plastic applicator when you're done.
So this is gross but...I have found that the older I get, the more uncomfortable tampons get. In fact, I will barely wear them now (I wear huge ole pads) because they are soooo uncomfortable when I am at work.
I have heard a lot about the diva cup the past three or four years.....I think its time to give it a try.
I had the same issue with tampons, which is part of the reason I started using the Diva Cup. I ended up not having very good luck with it, either, in the comfort department, but I think it may have been in the way I trimmed the stem when I first got it. If I had it to do over again, I probably would have tried just left the stem as it comes.
I don't use them anymore, either. It's a really strange reaction, but I get horrible headaches when I do. My cycle is so light anymore with BCP's, though, that I don't really need all that much.
In college and high school, I only wore tampons. For some reason in the last couple of years, I am just not comfortable in them for long amounts of time. If I do wear tampons, I have to buy the all natural, organic, etc. brands. And forget supers! So weird.
I tried the diva cup but it just did not work for me. I really wanted to be a fan!