Have you ever seen organic period products (like Natracare) on the shelf next to non-organic brands (like Tampax) and wondered: are organic pads and tampons better?
Choosing period products that feel right for you is an essential step towards getting through your period comfortably. Some of the things to consider before choosing your period products include:
- Whether you prefer pads or tampons
- How comfortable you feel about wearing a tampon internally
- What activity you’ll be doing throughout the day
- How heavy your flow is and what absorbency product to choose
Once you’ve decided which product to choose, you can choose between organic and non-organic. You might have an inkling that organic period products are better but not be sure about why exactly that is. Your vagina is one of the most absorbent parts of your body and what is placed near or inside it can become easily irritated and uncomfortable, so it’s important to consider the ingredients of your period products, and how these could affect your body.
We’re here to share our top six reasons why you should use organic products for your period!
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Organic tampons and natural pads are better for your body
Typical pads and tampons contain nasty toxins such as dioxins, which are by-products of the chlorine bleaching process used to make cotton and wood pulp look clean. Dioxins are known to cause cancer and are present in conventional (non-organic) tampons and pads.
Natracare pads and tampons are made from good stuff like 100% organic cotton, wood pulp and compost-friendly glue. Natracare doesn’t bleach with chlorine so you don’t have to worry about unwanted chemicals around your most delicately balanced parts.
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Organic tampons and natural pads are better for the environment
Organic period products are primarily made with organic cotton! Organic cotton farming works with nature, not against it, as per the principles of organic agriculture (which are ecology, health, fairness and care). Nature’s balance is observed and respected. Harmful pesticides and herbicides aren’t used, so dangerous chemicals don’t leach into waterways, and soil life is protected. Organic cotton also requires takes up less water and energy to grow, reducing the resources used to make organic personal care products. What’s not to like?
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Organic tampons and natural pads are better for wildlife
Because organic cotton farming doesn’t use harmful pesticides, the birds and the bees are protected from unintended and unnecessary harm. Conventional farming is heavy in its use of insecticides, which have been proven to contribute to a major decline in wildlife, including species of birds, bees, butterflies and other pollinators.
16% of the world’s insecticides are used on cotton, and more than 75% of the world’s food crops rely on pollinators. So if you like food being available in the world, it makes sense to choose organic products!
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Organic tampons and natural pads are better for cotton farmers
Organic farming works with farmers to ensure that they protected from the health impacts of dangerous chemicals, and that their land remains fit for growing crops on, which ensures their families financial security into the future.
Cotton farmers are no exception to this – read more about how cotton farmers benefit from going organic.
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Organic tampons and natural pads are free from polluting plastic
Plastic pollution is everywhere and the problem isn’t going away anytime soon.
Natracare period products are plastic free – and have been since 1993.
Conventional products are packed full of plastic – the average pack of pads contains the same amount of plastic as five carrier bags. Plastic like this takes hundreds of years to break down into smaller microplastics, which will end up in sea animals and the environment.
Natracare’s plastic free tampons and pads, on the other hand, are totally home compostable and will disappear (over a few months) into compost fit for the garden!
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Organic tampons and natural pads come at no greater cost
Organic period products are not actually much more expensive than conventional products! There’s a misconception that organic products are wildly overpriced and way too expensive for the average person to afford, but this often isn’t the case.
On average, a regular applicator Natracare tampon costs 13.3 pence. A regular Tampax tampon costs between 9-17 pence per tampon.
A few extra pennies pay to protect your body, the environment, wildlife, farmers and future generations – organic is a great way to wield your purchasing power!
Natracare sells GOTS certified organic tampons and plant-based pads made with organic cotton. View Natracare’s range of organic and natural tampons and pads here.
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Things to consider when switching to organic
If the benefits of organic period products have got you thinking about choosing organic period products from now, here are some things you should look out for:
- Keep an eye out for the Global Organic Textiles Standard (GOTS) certification when shopping for organic period products. This is a clear way to be sure that the products you buy are grown, manufactured and treated organically.
- Organic tampons don’t eliminate the risk of toxic shock syndrome. TSS is thought to occur as a result of bacteria build up, so to avoid TSS it’s important that you change your tampon every 3-5 hours, and don’t wear one overnight. The same applies whether your tampon is made from rayon or organic cotton.
What’s your most important reason for choosing organic products? Get in touch with us to let us know or leave a comment below.
Who wrote this article? Asking for a class research project and I need to cite my sources. Thanks!
Hi Kaylee, you can cite Natracare as the author 🙂 good luck with your class research project!
Reading this article has made me so informed about my future and the future of my sanitary product choices!! will definitely be switching to organic products soon!! thank you so much for this!
Happy to help! Glad you found it useful 😊
I recently switched to organic pads and tampons and I love them! I feel better, they’re more comfortable and there’s barely a price difference between them and what I was previously using!
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Very persuasive!! Thank you so much, I’ll start using 🙂 .