Applicator-Less Tampons at Carnegie Mellon University
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PLEASE SIGN TO SHOW SUPPORT FOR ENVIRONMENTALLY-FRIENDLY, APPLICATOR-LESS TAMPONS ON CARNEGIE MELLON CAMPUS
HELP REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF WASTE PRODUCED BY CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY!
Ever thought about the number of pads or tampons you (or your best female friend or your girlfriend) use in a year? It's a little uncomfortable so you probably haven't really. Let's be real, however, that's a pretty silly reason, so take a minute to think about it now.
Now let's play a game where we estimate, very conservatively, the number of feminine hygiene products used by Carnegie Mellon women. As of Fall 2011, there were 6,733 female students, faculty and staff at Carnegie Mellon. We'll say that the average woman has her period for 3 days and uses 3 feminine hygiene products per day. Since the academic year is roughly 9 months, that means the average woman gets her period 9 times in an academic year.
Multiplying these numbers together, we find that Carnegie Mellon women use about 545,373 feminine hygiene products in an academic year. Since this number is based on very conservative estimates of the number of pads or tampons the average woman uses over the course of her period, the ACTUAL number feminine hygiene products used at CMU in an academic year is most likely much higher than 545,373.
Most women at CMU know that the university provides its female population with free pads and tampons around campus. If only a quarter of the feminine hygiene products CMU women use are taken from campus, that's still close to 136,343 products provided by the university. If only half of these are tampons, CMU provides an estimated 68,171 tampons in a single academic year.
BUT DID YOU KNOW THAT THESE ESTIMATED 68,171 TAMPONS CURRENTLY PROVIDED BY CMU CAN'T BE RECYCLED??
Once contaminated with bodily fluid, pads, tampons and tampon applicators cannot be recycled. Not to mention that most CMU women don't bother to recycle the cardboard containers these products come in. Most women use these tampons for one reason and one reason alone: they're free.
It's great that Carnegie Mellon provides feminine hygiene products to its campus population, but this generates a HUGE amount of waste, an amount that can be very easily reduced if simple changes are implemented. How, you ask? If Carnegie Mellon transitions to providing applicator-less tampons, a lot of waste will be avoided, reducing the overall amount of trash generated on campus.
Help make sure that Carnegie Mellon stays on the path towards a more environmentally-friendly future.
Please email feminine.friday@gmail.com for more information if you find applicator-less tampons scary or don't know how to use them and if you have any other comments or questions!
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