Save the Planet, Use A Menstrual Cup
Today is Earth Day, which is all about celebrating our planet and recognizing the importance of environmental protection, such as by reducing waste.
Single-use menstrual products, like tampons and pads, are a significant global contributor to plastic waste. They can contain up to 90% plastic and often end up in landfills—where they can take up to 500 years to break down, “potentially releasing toxic chemicals into the environment as they degrade and generating microplastics that threaten the health of ecosystems,” according to a 2021 UN report.
Saalt is a company dedicated to creating sustainable, reusable period products, such as menstrual cups, menstrual discs, and period underwear. These products not only help the environment by reducing single use plastic waste, but they can also help address period poverty.
“Disposable products, they're great. They solve a problem for a time. But really, when you get down to the bare bones, if products are donated that cover a one month cycle for women and girls, it covers them for that one month,” Cherie Hoeger, CEO and co-founder of Saalt, says. “That's not a long term solution. The real only long term sustainable solution is reusable period care.”
Hoeger started her company in 2018 after a phone call with her aunt in Venezuela, where pads and tampons hadn’t been available in stores for years. She says it made her think of her own five daughters and their “dependence on disposables.” She furthered her research on any available alternatives, and developed her own products.
The Saalt menstrual cup, one of the company’s best-selling products, uses 100% medical grade silicone and can last for at least 10 years, Hoeger says. The average menstruator gets their period for around 40 years and uses about 17,000 tampons or pads; with the proper maintenance, one Saalt menstrual cup can last an entire lifetime of periods, cutting down on both costs and landfill waste.
In addition to selling products, they also run pilot programs that aim to provide education alongside product donations to areas fighting period poverty. Products like menstrual cups and discs can be confusing and even scary for people unfamiliar with them, so Saalt prioritizes education.
“We send our cups to the staff members in the program, and we would… have a training session with them and teach them how to use the cups, how to troubleshoot them, how to support others and teach about using them, so they're very well trained,” Hoeger says. “And then when we donate our products to the community at large, then there's people that those community members can come back to and ask their questions.”
Saalt is the first period brand to certify as plastic negative, which according to Hoeger means “we removed twice as much plastic out of the art out of the environment as we produce in our supply chain.” They also have a B Corp certification, demonstrating their commitment to “high standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency.”
“We really aim to be the reusable leader [and] we really only focus on reusable, sustainable products, and that is really core to who I am and my core values,” Hoeger says.
As Saalt continues to grow, Hoeger looks forward to expanding sustainable period technology to more products down the line.
“One of the things that makes us unique is that we really focus on innovation,” she says. “We're launching our teen line soon, and we're hoping to take our technology to swimwear and athleisure. There's so many different uses, and there can be a lot more done with incontinence as well. We have a lot of big dreams.”
Bringing reusable menstrual products into the mainstream conversation and encouraging their use will help important causes, from saving the planet to fighting period poverty.
“I want more people to switch to more reusable, sustainable options because it's better for the planet, it's better for their bodies, and it's a more comfortable, better experience overall,” Hoeger says.
If you’re interested in trying out Saalt’s reusable period products, use code ED324PeriodPulse at checkout for 30% off menstrual cups and discs.
