History of Moon Times & The Environmental Facts!

Posted on | February 21, 2009 |

I first came across cloth pads when I was researching alternatives to disposable nappies- in 1989- I thought it was great- save money and the planet! My mother was horrified-it reminded her of the ‘rags’ of her youth! But I was determined to follow my instincts and use my washable pads anyway- in the late 80’s advertising was telling us to shove a tampon up us and get on with life- and my body told me to rest, regenerate and reflect while I was bleeding.

So with no design or sewing experience I made my own Moon Times- choosing pretty coloured and patterned cotton flannelette. They felt more like attractive underwear than a huge sticking plaster! Then I began making pads just for friends and family. After experimenting with various designs I have created (what I think is) the perfect pad that has wings for extra security, fastens easily and quickly with Velcro (hemmed in with zig zag stitch to prevent any edges rubbing!) and comes with a variety of ‘inserts’ for different flows.

When my daughter became a menstruating young woman- I gave her a gift of Moon Times- at first she was unsure, having been given the free packs and the info (from a certain tampon company) at school and the slight brainwashing of ‘periods are dirty, blood should be hidden away’, but of course she had grown up with me as her mum and soon embraced her Moons- she even took them to a sleepover and soon her friends were asking me to make them!

I still sew some of the pads myself but also outsource and have some students and single parents working for me. I was a single mum when I began the business and so it feels reallys good to support lone mums in this way. Work is flexible and they are able to work from home making the pads in their own time.

Because of having a baby & a child with special needs I only work part time, I keep my work to the day time in school hours where possible and try to keep weekends as ‘family time’. I have learned to say ‘no’ to work when I know life will become to busy and stressful- if I want to keep myself de-stressed, I need to keep a healthy balance of home and work life!

I am enthusiastic about all aspects of my business; teaching my workshops and Reiki I can encourage and empower people to make positive changes in their lives. Expanding my sales of Moon Times pads helps me to make a small difference environmentally and raise awareness around taking steps to be more eco-friendly- which is a cause I have been passionate about all my life!

And yes, I do use my own pads! I have happily bled on to my cotton pads since 1989, for me washing them has helps me ground and connect to my cyclic nature.

For more information about my workshops and classes click here

Environmental & Health Facts
Menstruation is a natural and healthy process. So why are we so hung up on the issue? Why, for so many, is it so associated with pain and negativity, surrounded by silence and secrecy? What effect does this culture of silence have in terms of our choice of sanitary protection and its implications for health and the environment?
Even if you only use ‘Moons’ at night it will reduce the amount of sanitary waste we women produce with ‘disposable’ products.
We spend an average 6.5 years of our lives bleeding. Most women in the world have no access to the luxury of disposable sanitary towels and tampons but the average woman in the ‘developed’ world uses 12,000- 17,000 of these products during her life. Taboos about menstruation have led to expensive, wasteful, polluting sanitary items, which bring unnecessary health and environmental problems. Moon Times Products are an alternative to disposable sanitary products.
In the UK we buy more than three billion disposable sanitary items every year; in 2001 we spent £370 million on them!!!
Four million tampons and pads are flushed away every day in the UK, adding to marine pollution.
It takes a tampon six months to biodegrade, a plastic sanitary towel liner lasts indefinitely.

Flushing sanitary protection causes 75% of blocked drains.
Then there’s the issue of the manufacture of ‘disposable’ products-despite being white disposable sanitary products are NOT sterile!!
Tampons are made from either cotton, or a mixture of cotton and rayon. Use of cotton of course raises issues of fair trade, pesticide use and genetic modification.
Rayon is chemically processed from wood pulp.
Disposable sanitary towels and panty liners are also made mostly from wood pulp, bleached from its natural brown colour.
Chlorine gas was originally the bleaching agent used, and was a source of dioxin, which is a known carcinogen-due to lots of campaigning from The Women’s Environmental Network they now use either chlorine dioxide or hydrogen peroxide. As a result of this and reduced use of chlorine in other processes, dioxin levels in the environment are tending to fall. Dioxins released during chlorine bleaching and plastics manufacture have been shown to cause cancer, miscarriages and damage to the immune system and toxic shock syndrome.

Moon Times pads are an ideal gift for:

young women new to their menses

new mothers who need soft cloth against their delicate tissue after giving birth

women who suffer from slight incontinence.

Moon Times are made with organic cotton flannelette and fair trade organic cotton. Inserts are available in organic cotton, hemp and towelling for extra absorbency. Flannelette is both soft and absorbent and used as the ‘top’ layer- next to your skin. You put an ‘insert’ (a small liner) inside the pocket of the pad (or a few if you are bleeding heavily) choosing cotton, hemp or towelling inserts. Pads have wings so they are very secure!

There are a few colour themes- plain organic (white or dyed colours), dark colours** and patterned* (*prints of flowers, butterflies, animal prints, rabbits, teddies etc dependant on what is available) and luxury ‘silky satin’ pads for those ‘special’ occasions!
** The top fabric on the dark, patterned flannelette and luxury pads are not organic

When you first use Moon Times, it may seem as if your flow is heavier or even lighter than usual- this is natural- I believe that some of the chemicals used in other sanitary products can affect the amount we bleed-also we may not be used to seeing our blood that closely!

Moon Times are the only manufactures of hand made organic washable pads in the UK. We also supply other ‘moon time’ products; moon sponges&cups, herbal teas, Women’s Wisdom Booklets and much more.

At Moon Times:
We empower women in body appreciation, environmental awareness and self-respect through the use of eco menstrual products.

We believe a healthy appreciation of our bodies and ourselves as women can be learnt through menstruation.

We believe when women are aware of the benefits of a sustainable, healthy, economically viable and comfortable alternative, they appreciate the contribution they can make by choosing alternative menstrual products.

We also believe women deeply appreciate learning about alternative and positive ways to think about their bodies.

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