I went to You and The Planet panel discussion at the Royal Society last night. I was sitting behind a very tall man so when I put my hand up, the journalist did not see me. I have a very good question to ask the Climate change Scientists. I did not get picked so I walked up to Professor Sir Brain Hoskins (the professor of Meteorology at Reading) at the end of the session. I discussed with him my views about eco-friendliness on our planet.

Reduce plastic waste

I mentioned to Professor Sir Brian Hoskins that I watched a documentary on TV that China has refused to accept trash shipped there from the UK and the trash was shipped re-routed to Malaysia and people processed the trash mostly plastic illegally and they burned the plastic and causing air pollution and people living nearby the illegal factory, their health was affected by it. Malaysia is now taking action to save their part of the planet too.

I know we all love our planet and we will come out with good solutions to use less plastic. I am into eco-friendly products because I love my planet. We can make this change together. I know UK people already campaign to request supermarkets to use less plastic for wrapping and this will help to reduce the plastic waste later that is excellent.

I know another thing we can do, women have a menstrual cycle. The sanitary towels products available in the major supermarkets in the UK are not reusable. I did research on this and I have tested all sanitary towels I could buy from high street pharmacies, major supermarkets and I can even tell you, which one is soft and which one makes you itch! I found reusable/washable sanitary products available but they are not popular. Why? the cost is a bit higher and people not familiar with how to care for the towels/pads after use. Maybe the government can step in to help to promote this eco-friendly product and make it accessible to low-income families.

Reusable sanitary towels

This “how-to” was published by the Telegraph.

1. Shop around. CSPs come in a range of sizes, colours, and designs, from thin pantyliners to thick night-time and maternity pads. You can’t return used CSP but if you buy pads that don’t suit, consider selling them on – after laundering.
Wash your pads before use – some, especially those made of cotton or bamboo, become more absorbent the more they are cleaned.

2. Keep used pads in a bag or box if you can’t rinse them straight away. Most CSP retailers sell pretty and practical ones – but a plastic bag or box will do. Just don’t put it back in the bathroom cupboard immediately afterwards.

3. Rinse after use in cold water. Hot water helps bloodstains ‘set’ and become impossible to budge. Run the pad under the cold tap or soak to remove stains. You can use a stain remover if you feel you need to. Then just pop them in the wash.

4 Wear relatively close-fitting knickers. As tempting as big baggy period pants maybe, CSPs can move around more than disposables. Choosing pads with poppers helps, as does wearing knickers with a good amount of stretch.

Everyone can take part to help to save our planet, no matter how small your action, it helps.