It's your body, it's your health, it's your period.

Your period is a window to your health.

We all know about the importance of healthy eating and lifestyles, the pandemic has certainly increased our awareness of the implications of unhealthy living.

When it comes to periods and menstruation, likely due to it being a taboo subject, we are in general not as aware. Recent articles have highlighted growing evidence (accentuated by Covid19) that stress, diet and our environment can impact our menstrual symptoms and period. Fact is though, very few (74%*) of us even know what the period products we use every month, for half our life, are made of and how this can impact our health. With the vulva being one of the most absorbent areas of our bodies, it is really important to also care about what products and materials we are using on and in this, most precious of area of our body.

Plastic, dyes, perfumes, bleach and chemicals. None of us would ever consider eating any of these substances 🤮 but often the period products we use contain them, shocking right? Not really, because unlike our food, clothes and cosmetics, there is no legal requirement for manufacturers to declare the ingredients on any femcare products... so it's not really a surprise we don't know ... there isn't a label telling us?! 😩

Healthier periods start with knowledge

The high levels of plastic (can be up to 90% in a sanitary pad) and other chemicals used in period products are difficult to detect initially. They are bleached white and a great deal of R&D has gone into making, that top layer of a pad for example, as soft as possible and look as much like cotton as they can. But they're not as soft as cotton (do a comparison!) and there is growing evidence that they have a detrimental impact on our health .

The first thing you can do, is find out what's IN the period products you are currently using. It might be more difficult than you thought... if the ingredients aren't mentioned on your packaging then go to the website of the brand.

Soft like cotton ... doesn't mean it contains cotton

Phrases like ‘soft like cotton’ does not actually mean ‘made with cotton’ or contain ANY cotton at all!

For example if you find ingredients that include things like 'Polyester, Polyethylene, Polypropylene'; these are petroleum based plastics that take 450 years+ to biodegrade (if ever).

Hidden plastic and the health impact

Using plastic products in the sensitive and absorbent vaginal area every month is known and acknowledged by many doctors to cause ongoing thrush, infections & allergies. Plastics in menstrual products have also been found to contain carcinogenic and endocrine-disrupting chemicals. Exposure to chemicals such as phthalates, that have been found in period products, have been linked to reproductive harm and other health issues.

The ingredient 'perfume' can hide up to 3'000 undeclared chemicals

The ingredient 'perfume' itself can hide up to 3,000 undeclared chemicals. This terminology has been used for centuries by the perfume industry to protect their highly coveted and precious formulas.... it  is now (mis)used by many in the femcare industry to hide a whole range of unknown ingredients.

We founded Mondays to make a switch to a healthier alternative to the pads and tampons, that the majority of us use every month, extremely simple - with a hint of luxury to make that time of the month a bit more easy.

We have taken great care to ensure that there is complete transparency in our ingredients & that we have gained certification for our products and company like GOTS/OCS and VEGAN (which also means our products and brand is cruelty-free aswell).

Mondays' mission goes further

Our mission goes, however, further than just making plastic-free periods easy.

We want to open up the conversation about menstruation and increase women's, as well as men's, knowledge about periods and our menstrual cycle.

We also want to inspire our community to join us in making a positive impact on our environment by consuming less plastic or taking other eco-friendly and healthier changes in every day life, where and when possible. 

1% of every sale goes to charity

Mondays is, since our launch, a member of 1% for the Planet, a network of companies and charities who are committed to addressing climate change. 1% Tor The Planet is a non-profit, founded by the founders of Patagonia and Blue River.

What it means for you as a customer is that for every purchase you make, we donate 1% of the sales directly to our chosen '1% For the Planet Partner'.

One of our chosen charity is the educational and environmental non-profit City to Sea. With a core mission to 'prevent plastic pollution at source' - we feel we are closely aligned especially to their #plasticfreeperiods campaign and are blown away by the work they do. The team are based in Bristol, England and have won a countless number of awards for their Re-fill , Switch the Stick and most recently the inspiring Re-think Periods campaign. Natalie Fee, founder of City to Sea, is a Ted Speaker and author of a super book for anyone looking to make those small steps to cutting plastic out of their lives.

Join us & make the switch to Mondays

&

become part of the movement for better periods!