Go with the flow

T he design may have been patented in the 1930s, but it’s taken until 2019 for the menstrual cup to go mainstream.

As awareness grows around the environmental impact of disposable products, sustainable period solutions, such as cups, washable pads and absorbent underwear, are gaining in popularity.

Internationally, menstrual cup brands Mooncup and Lunette have been change-making for years, and period underwear brand Thinx has been making waves of late. Even Tampax has recently introduced a menstrual cup, a sure sign that reusables are going mainstream. Locally, a number of socially minded, entrepreneurial New Zealand women are getting on board the movement to make menses more sustainable.

“We think it’s a no-brainer,” says Robyn McLean, co-founder of the New Zealand-made Hello Cup. “You weigh up using one [menstrual] cup for five, six or seven years versus all the energy and waste that goes into making and disposing of single-use products.”

A menstrual cup is easily inserted into the vagina, where it collects blood for up to 12 hours, making