Why I made the Switch to Reusable Pads.

     There is a big stigma behind periods. They make women and girls feel ashamed, so we hide our periods. THERE IS NOTHING TO BE ASHAMED ABOUT! Hold your head up high ladies and keep them there!

     I haven’t always the bold person I am today but I never was ashamed to have my period. I don’t conceal my pads and I would even walk out of the store with pads in hand, no bag. But, my real shame was not truly committing to the environmental change I was trying to hold myself up to. I wanted to impact the world in small ways. I started by recycling, buying recycled item, reducing my plastic use and stop using single use items. I never thought to look at my period the same way. I thought buying pads from recycled materials was enough, it wasn’t and it still isn’t. I needed to make a change and that’s just what I did.

     Reusable pads are one of the main reasons I started Ethel Mae. I was sick of buying disposable pads every month. I was on a tight budget. I am an actor, living in one of the most expensive cities in the United States. If you know anything about actors here, in Los Angeles you know we hustle and you know its tough out here! Every month I would buy pads and pantyliner for about $10 plus tax. So $120 a year or more depending (light or heavy cycle), could have been 2 weeks of groceries for me. 

’The U.S. bought 5.8 billion tampons, and over the course of a lifetime, a single menstruator will use somewhere between 5 and 15 thousand pads and tampons, the vast majority of which will wind up in landfills as plastic waste.’ *

     I was overwhelmed, was sick of paying so much for pads and I was equally sick of how much waste I was producing. During my research I discovered reusable pads and I ordered them and I was not let down! As women, we shouldn’t have to think about things like paying for necessary items to go through our day. I know that the “Pink” Tax and what I call the “Being a girl” Fee is not going anywhere anytime soon. But, I want to give women and girls the choice to not have to think about their periods every month. I want to share my revelation with the other women and girls. My whole goal is to show others that reusable pads are amazing! In fact they are easy to clean, cost-effective, eco-friendly and most importantly comfortable.

*National Geographic: How tampons and pads became so unsustainable