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Revisioning menstrual education  – Part 2

Revisioning menstrual education  – Part 2

Revisioning menstrual education By Kathy Walkling, co-founder of Eco Femme   In Part 1 of this 2 part blog series, we explored ways in which we, as a menstrual educators, can become more conscious of our ways of being and explained the importance of doing  our...

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Making the switch…Kelsey

Making the switch…Kelsey

Kelsey spent 7 weeks interning here at The Eco Femme headquarters in early 2017, here, she shares her journey from first period to her diagnosis of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (You can read a more detailed piece about her journey with PCOS here). Our thanks to...

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Eco Femme – a Flower of Auroville

Eco Femme cloth pads and menstrual programs have attracted curiosity and attention from many people around the world. How did it start?  Where did the idea originate? Why did two foreigners end up in India, creating this social enterprise? The thread that connects all...

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A Love Letter from our Co-founders

A Love Letter from our Co-founders

Eco Femme turns 10! In searching for an overarching metaphor to attempt to describe what this journey has been about, the one that jumps most naturally to mind is motherhood - so bear with us as the related metaphors start to flow! From the beginning, as our initial...

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Make The Switch… Natasha

Make The Switch… Natasha

Eco Femme Communications Manager, Natasha, shares her story on switching to sustainable menstrual products for better health. Periods have always carried a negative connotation in my head, largely owing to the painful cramps that keep me bedridden on my first two...

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Making the Switch…Jharna

Making the Switch…Jharna

Eco Femme ambassador, Jharna, shares her story on switching to sustainable menstrual products and becoming a menstrual health educator. I have always had a decent, mildly painful, only 5 day long period and had no physical reasons to make a switch to sustainable...

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Meet the ambassador: Tanvi

Meet the ambassador: Tanvi

It was a first for me when girls were paraded around almost in a walk of shame, simply because of a stain.  It was a first for me when we were applauded about talking in whispers about Stayfree and Whisper. As I stood performing my piece on menstruation at a...

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Be Part of the Solution!

Be Part of the Solution!

Some of you may have attended the Auroville Trashion Show back in early February or seen photos or videos on social media. It was a great event that we at Eco Femme were delighted to participate in for the first time. Founded in 2010, the Auroville Trashion Show aims...

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We need YOU!

We need YOU!

Dear Friends, we are posting regarding our Pad for Pad programme, which you may already be aware of.   Pad for Pad: Passing on the power of informed choice. Through this programme, we deliver menstrual health education and offer cloth pads to...

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Making the Switch…Frederique

Making the Switch…Frederique

  For our French campaign this week, 'Du Rouge Au Vert' - Eco Femme ambassador and retailer, Frédérique shares her making the switch story in French (English translation below) Comment je suis passé d’une consommation de produits d’hygiène jetables à une...

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The Language of Menstruation

The Language of Menstruation

  "It is important to examine the language we use, or the language that we have been forbidden to use, and question how it is instrumental in constructing how we think about our body and self....When we don’t talk about menstruation, when we emphasise the...

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10 reasons to switch to cloth pads

10 reasons to switch to cloth pads

1. They’re lovely and soft against your skin so you hardly feel like you’re wearing a pad. 2. They’re flexible so they mould to the curve of your body and move with you. 3. There’s no sticky backing so you never get your pubic hair agonisingly pulled if you get your...

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Menstruation flood relief in Kerala

Menstruation flood relief in Kerala

  The humanitarian crisis facing Kerala in the wake of the devastating flooding has prompted many concerned individuals and organisations to contact us regarding providing our reusable cloth pads to those affected and the big question is: “what products are best...

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Making the Switch…Kavya

Kavya Menon, a biotechnology graduate from IIT Madras, worked with rural communities to understand the need for menstrual hygiene, addressed taboos and introduced simple home remedies during her SBI Youth Fellowship tenure. Currently, she resides in Chennai, and...

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Pads for Sisters programme

  Did you know that with every pad you buy, you contribute to subsidising the price of pads sold to economically disadvantaged women in India?   Our Pads for Sisters programme was launched in 2013 to make our cloth pads economically accessible to women who...

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Eco Femmes’ guide to period tracking apps 2017

  This weekend, the Saraswati (or Ayudha) puja takes place across India. As per the mythological stories, it was on this day (29th September) that the Goddess Saraswati created powerful weapons to kill the demon named ‘Magishasuran’. The weapons were then...

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Natural menstruation

Natural Menstruation - no need for menstrual products? Is this really possible!? Talking about our menstrual flow, you might wonder just what would we do without our menstrual products? Without pads, tampons, cups or otherwise? If you type ‘natural menstruation’,...

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Eco Femme in Ladakh

From 5th - 20th July 2017, Kathy Walking, Nikethana Venkatesan and Mamta Kandari represented Eco Femme, Auroville on a visit to Zanskar Valley, Ladakh in collaboration with Roots Collective, an NGO based in Ladakh. The organisations Zanskar Adventure Point and Roots...

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Spanish week

Our newest volunteer, Ximena, is from Argentina...so we decided to have a Spanish week! She shares her personal experiences below. Stay tuned over on our social media all week to learn more! Bienvenid@s a la Semana en Español! Nos alegramos de compartir e intercambiar...

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Menstruation: How much do we bleed?

Menstruation: How much do we bleed?

By Stephanie Kraus Every month a woman that is menstruating uses some kind of method to handle her blood flow. We can see the blood going into the pad, into the tampon or menstrual cup and into the toilet basin. But have you ever wondered about the actual amount of...

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GST – what does it mean?

  You may have heard the acronym 'GST' being used extensively over the past month or so, especially if you live here in India. Goods and Services Tax (GST) is an indirect tax applicable throughout India which replaced multiple cascading taxes levied by the...

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PAD FOR PAD 2016-17 REPORT

Here is a report on our Pad for Pad progress from 2016-17.   Target for the year 2016-17: As Eco Femme continues to see sustained growth in commercial sales which finance the Pad for Pad program, we aimed to expand our reach from 4000 girls to 6000 – 2,000 via...

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What Michaela did last summer…

  Our ambassador, Michaela shared with us her experiences of promoting sustainable menstruation over the summer in Sweden. Our thanks to Michaela for sharing and if you're inspired by Michaela's work in sharing Eco Femme and discussing sustainable menstruation...

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Ecofemmetastic!

A cloth pad revolution is the enterprise's dream, But who are the individuals behind the Eco Femme team? Let us begin with Kathy, for the group she co-christened, Take her wise advice to your problems, as to them, she will have listened. Alongside her, Jessamijn, with...

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Let’s Talk About Menstruation!

Let’s Talk About Menstruation!

  I am starting to write this article today and today I am on the first day of my period. Here I am sitting in front of the computer, I am tired and don’t feel like concentrating. I am feeling good overall but I’d just like to have some time for myself. Luckily I am...

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Making the switch…Melanie

Former Eco Femme team member, Melanie, shares her story with us. Merci Melanie! 🙂 It's been a while now that I promised my colleague Laura I'd sit down and tell my story on switching to sustainable menstrual products...Today is the day! I'm now 24 years old and I...

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Making the switch…Yael

  Our ambassador in Israel, Yael shares her making the switch story... Well, the first time I got to know this beautiful idea, was during the time I was a nature activist. I volunteered for 3 years in a non profitable green organization in a commune life. We were...

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Making the switch…Hattie

One of our UK ambassadors, Hattie, shares her making the switch story. Thanks Hattie! My journey into making the switch from disposable to reusable sanitary products began with a desire to cut down on the amount of waste I produced as an individual. I didn't realise...

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Making the switch…Kathy

Eco Femme co-founder Kathy shares her making the switch story... When I moved to India to live in Auroville 18 years ago, one of the first things that I found myself having to contend with was how to dispose of my sanitary waste. In the west, there is at least the...

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Pad for Pad report 2015-16

Here is a report on our Pad for Pad progress from 2015-16.   Target for the year 2015-16: Our plan was to reach out to 4000 girls – half through sessions we directly implement with girls in our bio-region and half via implementation partners spread across the...

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Jane’s Magical Menstrual Tour Q&A

We caught up Jane, one of our ambassadors from Woman’s Wheel, about what makes a ‘menstrual pilgrim’ go to a country she knows no-one on a Magical Menstrual Tour’…   When did you first come up with the idea of the tour? Hahaha no surprises here, it came to me...

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Making the switch…Parul

Eco Femme supporter Parul shares her story... I was fortunate enough to have parents who didn't consider menstruation a taboo and I could freely talk about it at home. Moreover, at school, we had an orientation programme for the same to acquaint young girls about safe...

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Making the Switch…Rajasi

Rajasi shares her making the switch story. Thank you for sharing Rajasi! It's been 15 years I'm bleeding and I decided to write a reflection about it. I remember how my mother had handed me my grandmas' old saree and taught me how to use cloth. The cloth folds were...

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Comical Menstrual Music

Need a laugh? Want to learn the benefits of menstrual cups? Curious about what menopause is? Check out these humourous, melodious messages!   Lena D - Period Piece:   Tampon vs Mooncup rap battle:   Ellen Dolgen - Menopause Mondays:  

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Making the switch…Jane

UK ambassador and founder of Woman's Wheel, Jane shares her making the switch story...   My story about making the switch starts with me standing at my bright red front door in North Wales in 2012! My rucksack was packed and I grabbed my helmet before locking the...

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Making the switch…Laura

Eco Femme team member Laura, shares how she came to make the switch. Thinking back to the first time I learned of my fate as a female makes me laugh. I must have been around 10 or 11 and my mother told me that soon I would start bleeding every month and would continue...

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Making the switch…Caroline

One of our UK ambassadors and founder of Campaign for Cloth, Caroline shares her making the switch story.   I’m relatively new to the wonders of reusable pads, but after nearly two years of using them I can honestly say I will never use disposables again. I used...

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From our ambassador, Johanna.

We love to see how our ambassadors are getting on and wanted to share with you an event that our ambassador, Johanna, attended a few weeks back. Thanks for sharing Johanna! ????   I want to share some wonderful experiences with you. I got quite involved with this...

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Making the switch…Laurie

In the first of our 'Making the switch' blog posts, Eco Femme volunteer Laurie recounts her earliest experiences of menstrual education and how this shaped her experience.   Upon questioning what made me make the switch, my logical and inquisitive mind (OK, not...

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Eco Femme goes to Chattisgarh

Between the 15th -20th June, our Pad for Pad facilitator Harishini made the journey up to Balrampur district in Chattisgarh. The aim was to conduct some workshops using our 'Make Your Own' kit where the women and girls would get to make their own pads following on...

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Convenience at what cost?

Traditionally, women all over the world have used cloth to handle their monthly menstrual flow. These days, however, disposable menstrual products have become commonplace in many countries and are now gaining popularity around the world. Promoted for their...

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Fun and Lovely Ways to Introduce Menstruation

Language is not neutral; even when we want to talk about menstruation with daughters, younger female relatives or even sons, the scripts and resources commonly available tend to cast menstruation in a negative light—or make it purely biological. Here are 4 creative...

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Wellbeeing – a new retailer in Bangalore

Wellbeeing is our newest retailer based in Bangalore. Here is a little about their work and why they were inspired to stock Eco Femme pads. Wellbeeing (a unit of Aurazia Wellness Pvt Ltd) is an integrated health and wellness centre. It is a creative and unique blend...

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Eco Femme visits Auroville Eco Service

On the 17th February Eco Femme team members Jessamijn, Laura and Damla visited the Auroville Eco Service to attend the 1Hour initiative set up by a volunteer, Alex, working at the waste management centre. "Waste management is one of the biggest challenges of India and...

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Our new retailer in Colombia.

An introduction today from our first Colombian Eco Femme retailer, Manuela. As always, our thanks for sharing your story! Hello, my name is Manuela Varela and I want to introduce you to Hermágica, my feminine undertaking. It was born at 2012 in Bogota, Colombia (South...

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My Womb, My Mother Earth

Last Friday, an workshop took place at the Eco Femme headquarters in collaboration with Dhartimata Sustainable Workshop entitled My Womb, My Mother Earth. Hsiu Ping Lin of Dhartimata and Bonte Handmade Jewelry explains her project: "It started with a very simple idea...

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Isa and her work

We wanted to share a bit about a truly amazing lady, Isa, a nurse and environmentalist, living in Madhya Pradesh, central India. She conducts educational sessions and promotes Eco Femme pads from the rural range to village women from the surrounding area. The first 2...

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Lets talk about it!

Another fabulous article from Jane about why we need to open up the conversation around menstruation. As always, our thanks for sharing, Jane! Lets talk about it! Awareness, understanding, knowledge and open frank discussion can all be catalysts for amazingly positive...

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A new retailer in Kerala.

Today we hear from Bilal who runs a shop, Arcra, in Cochin in Kerala. Our thanks for sharing Bilal!   I became interested in selling and promoting Ecofemme washable pads mainly because they're environmentally friendly. There is so much waste, especially sanitary...

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Why Track Your Menstrual Cycle?

Another informative article from Jane about how much we can learn by tracking our menstrual cycles, shared with thanks from her blog, The Moon and the Womb. Menstrual cycle charts such as the one found in Eco Femme’s ‘make your own cloth pad’ kits are a really...

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Meet our new Full Cycle Kit!

  We are happy to present our new Full Cycle Kit! This kit introduces you to our pad range, containing different pad sizes to use during different times of your monthly cycle. Our newest kit is a great way to make the switch to a greener period and makes a great...

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An introduction from one of our Ambassadors…

This is a piece written by one of our ambassadors, Jane. She runs a Red Tent womens group and uses some of that group time to talk about and demonstrate our pads. There are a number of ways to get involved as an ambassador for Eco Femme and we are so grateful to Jane...

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Masika

Masika, the latest offering from Auroville Video Productions, is a documentary that informs women in India about the environmental and social impact of disposable sanitary napkins and suggests other alternatives such as menstrual cups and cloth pads. The film has...

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