Don’t Hide It. Period: Time to Carry Your Sanitary Napkins in Style!
We all know that plastic bags come at a very high cost to the environment and negatively affect human health as well, so what if you had an option to carry your sanitary pads around in a pretty bag?
Going to the neighbourhood pharmacy for a pack of sanitary napkins can be quite an ordeal. Many times, the shopkeeper does not ask me upfront about which brand I prefer and instead keeps pointing at the shelf till I confirm. The chosen pack is carefully taken out, wrapped in newspaper, and then, as an added “precautionary” measure, thrust into a black bag, and only then is it handed to me.
I remember as a child, I always associated the packing of a sanitary pad packet to that of packing meat bought from a local shop because both had to be wrapped in black bags!
We all know that plastic bags come at a very high cost to the environment and negatively affect human health as well, so what if you had an option to carry your sanitary pads around in a pretty bag?
“Don’t hide it. Period.” is a campaign which encourages you to wear your period accessory. Neha Tulsian, the founder of the campaign, told The Better India,
“We thought it was important to change the mindsets around periods. The word is whispered in hush tones, almost like it’s an embarrassment.
Nobody talks about it or addresses it, and women whisper when they have to ask their colleagues or friends for a pad. We are trained to believe that it something to be embarrassed about, but the period is a normal biological phenomenon as natural as eating, drinking and sleeping.”
To change mindsets, and allow women to embrace periods, the campaign reinvented the conventional sanitary napkin packaging in an innovative manner.
The pads are packaged in a canvas bag featuring bright red and orange polka dots.
NH1 designs collaborated with Nykaa and Not So Serious by Pallavi Mohan, and an exclusive T-shirt for this project has also been designed for the campaign.
“The campaign was launched on January 17, 2018,” Neha told The Better India.” She added that “The canvas bag contains 10 regular sanitary pads, and each pad carries a tagline that is aimed to spark conversations around the subject and dismiss the taboos that are still prevalent.”
These pads are exclusively sold on Nykaa and are available at Rs 285 for a packet of 10 pads.
The total revenue generated through the campaign will go towards The Better India and Aakar innovations to set up a factory in Ajmer which will employ local women to manufacture and distribute biodegradable, low-cost sanitary napkins.
You may also like: Not Just Padman, Here Are the Many Heroes Making Menstruation Easier for Women
“Our model is currently looking set up the Aakar Mini factories at rural and semi-urban areas where women are trained to make low-cost napkins to be sold in their communities where there is lack of both, accessibility and affordability while also generating livelihood for rural women,” said Neha.
You can support this cause by going to the ‘Don’t Hide It. Period’ website, and buying the packets of sanitary napkins.
The campaigners also welcome you to write a message on their virtual pad and initiate conversations about your experiences and opinions on how we can end the taboo of menstruation.
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