May, 2018 - One Future Collective

Sustainable Menstruation – The Impact of Menstrual Products on the Environment

by Ayesha Mehrotra ● Posted on May 30, 2018

Isn’t it time to make the eco-friendly switch?

Environmental impact caused by sanitary waste is one of the significant topics in discussions today. A plastic, industrially manufactured, disposable sanitary pad requires about 500–800 years to decompose. Thousands of tons of disposable sanitary waste is generated every month all over the world.

432 million pads/ sanitary napkins are generated in India annually, the potential to cover landfills spread over 24 hectares.

This is a ridiculous amount of pollution which is hazardous with toxic chemicals leaching the soil, strong and harsh odours emitted by the waste disposed of in landfills or buried in the soil.

This waste is toxic and hazardous to human health as well. Most of the chemicals from these pads reaching the soil causes groundwater pollution, loss of soil fertility. Disposal of this sanitary waste is also a big question mark. A Solid Waste Management official from the BMC is quoted to have said, “There is no clarity on whether sanitary napkins should be classified under bio-medical waste or dry waste, there is also no awareness regarding the disposal even among those who stay in societies, whereas in slum areas it is usually thrown in nullahs (open drains)”. While incineration is being proposed as a solution, the costs of scientifically-managed incineration are risk-prone, with bio-medical waste incineration firms charging as much as Rs 22/kg of sanitary waste in cities like Bengaluru. This could cause respiratory harm and skin allergies. Many women flush down disposable sanitary napkins after use, clogging underground drains and manual scavengers bearing the health cost for the same.

With awareness and health campaigns all across India being active in popularising the idea of sustainable menstruation, there are healthy ways to utilise menstrual care products without any impact on the environment. Menstrual blood is said to be a healthy fertiliser for the soil and provides a nutritious environment for plants and shrubs to grow in. The journey of menstruation and environmental health goes a long way, with some revolutionary trends coming up in the recent past. The Cup and Cloth Campaign by the organisation Green the Red provides ample information and detailed concepts of sustainable menstruation in India. Such initiatives provide a positive outlook towards sanitary waste disposal being replaced by reusable, low energy input menstrual products such as menstrual cups, cloth pads, and period panties. These are brilliant innovations with safe health benefits and cost-effective utilisation.

Many Indian women still use scrap cloth from old saris and towels, the traditional method for managing menstruation since times immemorial. Sustainable menstrual products provide a platform to utilise safe and affordable items which are easily accessible to poor women. Many organisations such as SaathiPads and EcoFemme provide employment, generating a livelihood for these women which allows them access to good and sustainable menstrual care. Most sustainable menstrual products are initiated through rural livelihood management initiatives, where menstrual health and a pollution-free, hassle-free environment for these women is possible and implemented. The benefits of these products are seen in all spheres, enhancing the lives of these women with greater accessibility, better opportunities and better health care provisions.

Advantages sustainable menstrual products offer:

1. Menstrual Cups

The most cost-effective and inexpensive, with a lifetime up to 10 years without any health hazards.
Medical grade silicon is utilised to make menstrual cups, with lowest chances to contract any vaginal infections, diseases or itching out of all products currently available in the market.
Since the cup holds the menstrual blood at the cervix, it prevents the blood from flowing through the vaginal canal, allowing for hassle-free sexual intercourse.
Extremely travel-friendly, allowing it to remain for hours without any discomfort or worry. Does not need to be changed often.
Usually leak-proof, which ample storage and does not emit an odour.

2. Cloth Pads

Women with sensitive skin might benefit from cloth pads because, unlike regular pads, they’re made of cotton and not plastic and don’t irritate the skin.
Cloth pads are free of irritating materials, so you can avoid unnecessary exposure to the synthetic ingredients in disposable pads and tampons.
While they do have a high one-time cost, they are inexpensive in the long run since they can be washed and reused.
If you are already annoyed about of handing your money over to big mass-producing corporations who probably don’t have your best interests in mind, check out the companies that specialise in providing safe and healthier alternatives. You will be supporting local artisans generate income along with providing livelihoods for other women.

3. Period Panties:

Period panties are designed in triple layers of fabric. These are worn with cloth pads for best results.
The first layer is absorbent which absorbs every liquid.
The second layer is water-proof thus avoiding leakage.
The third layer is cotton — which is responsible for providing optimum comfort to the wearer. The three layers of fabric ensure that there is no leakage. All materials used for designing a period panty are breathable and comfortable.
A Period Panty ranges between Rs 200 and Rs 600, a modest pricing for a product of great utility. They are also easily available for purchase.

Approximately 20 pads/tampons per month, equating to 240 per year which over the average lifespan of a menstruating female (approximately 40 years of periods) gives us the grand total of 9,600 feminine hygiene products used during one woman’s lifetime. Now multiply that by the 3.5 billion women on the planet and we have a considerable amount of potentially avoidable waste!

The environmental benefits of these products create a significant, applaudable and positive impact on the planet, where every woman’s contribution to this transition from disposable to sustainable menstrual products matters.

**Source: Green the Red, Economic Times**

Let’s make the Earth a greener, better and safer place, one red revolution at a time!

For more information on how to make the switch and on utilising a variety of products, click here and here.

Feature Image Credit: menstrupedia.com

Ayesha Mehrotra is a Volunteer Researcher at One Future Collective and a passionate environmentalist. Through her writing on this platform, she hopes to encourage all generations to understand the importance of equality, liberty, justice, and happiness.

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Sustainable Development Laws in India

by Ayesha Mehrotra ● Posted on May 30, 2018

When it comes to the environment – what’s happening in the legal system?

The problem of environmental pollution can be dated back to the evolution of life on Planet Earth. Science and technology, industrial growth, and exploitative resource consumption have brought about devastating environmental impacts in places across the world. Some important acts have been introduced in the Indian Legal system such as The National Green Tribunal Act 2010; The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981; The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974; The Environment Protection Act, 1986; The Hazardous Waste Management Regulations, etc. However, these laws are facing a severe problem of implementation at the ground level, making many question the effectiveness and seriousness of environmental laws in the country. It was a while before the Constitution added the “right to live in a healthy environment” under Article 21 explicitly.

India is one of the few countries with elaborate provisions for the environment in the legal framework. The courts in India largely relied on Article 21 for applying the law to the decision making process on various perspectives and provisional duties related to the environment. Protection of the environment can give rise to many challenges in a developing country. Hence, administrative and legal strategies are extremely important to ensure environmental harmony. T Damodar Rao v Special Officer, Municipal Corporation of Hyderabadwas a landmark case for High Courts in India to take up responsibility in specific and concrete decision making. Despite severe penalties, environmental laws in certain places seem erratic in their implementation and ineffective at many levels of administrative mechanisms. Through the educational lens, roping in the University Grants Commission and making Environmental Science a mandatory subject for schools and universities, it is still inconclusive how effective this has been toward making progressive social change and awareness among the youth. There is a glaring question mark on whether enforcement of a specific individual right to a just and humane environment affords any flexibility in terms of balancing environmental values as opposed to other interests of economic growth or production value.

Many conflicting instances arise in terms of implementation and the feasibility of decisions when it comes to Environmental Law. With spaces of breach in human as well as natural spheres, coming up with a decision in favour of either can be difficult to understand the federal balance and perspective. The courts have also laid down that protection and improvement of the environment is mandated for all institutions across the country and is a right as well. India being a developing nation with interests in growth and burgeoning developmental ideologies, the mandates of Courts are envisioned in a development-oriented manner, where the concept of Sustainable Development arises. A relatively new concept for India to focus on in terms of resource utilisation is reducing our collective carbon footprint and pollution levels. Sustainable development law is found at the intersection of three primary fields of law: international economic law, international environmental law and international social law. It refers to an emerging substantive body of legal instruments, norms and treaties, supported by distinctive procedural elements. This is incorporated on the justification that future generations may benefit from policies and laws that advocate environmental protection as well as developmental goals. This has recently been recognised by the Supreme Court in the M.C. Mehta (Taj Trapezium Matter) v. Union of India case.

**Photo by Guus Baggermans on Unsplash**

The question of advocacy by the administrative, legislative and judiciary arises again. How relevant is the novel concept of implementing the law on a social, moral and ethical ground? The Indian Legal System is yet to address the loopholes in the Environmental Law in the State, with an increasing pressure of population, accessibility and resource consumption. Looking at different areas of environmental conservation, protection and preservation, the law remains an inaccessible space for many till date. What then, can be done for the public to access law as a regulatory and decision making body?

A notable action that could be taken is:

Making the system more accommodating and approachable- Making it easier to read and understand the law provisions and statutes regarding Environmental Law for the general population and better mechanisms for efficiency as well as transparency within (courts) and outside (public spaces) the systems of administrative, legislature and judiciary can go a long way. Law is generally regarded as a Utopian system of action. Making it a more approachable and public-friendly system would allow it to work on an easier transition for the public. Systems such as Public Interest Litigations are focused on allowing people to issue and procure information from within the legal system on the matter of interest at hand. The Law is trying to focus on easier access for appeals and better capabilities of integrating the public interest within judgements and cases.

Let’s hope that the move towards this positive transition helps Environmental Law gain recognition as an independent and just body in India.

Feature Image Credit: legaldesire.com

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Living Walls — A Solution to Reclaim Our Spaces

by Shivangi Adani ● Posted on May 30, 2018

Working towards greener and cleaner tomorrows.

One can walk under a cacophony of trees in certain areas of Mumbai, but I believe that this will only be for a few more years. I lived in a quiet area consisting mainly of 3 to 4 storeyed buildings before the beginning of uncontrolled development in the city. There was a time when I would stare up from a distance and see the clear blue sky, or yellow gulmohars in the distance. Now, all that is left are cranes and skyscrapers. Apart from the fact that the disorganized popping up of buildings is ruining whatever aesthetic value the city has left, the other major consequence of this development is the reduction in green spaces in Mumbai and other urban cities. However, with the current increase in the rate of population, especially in a city like Bombay, the urban sprawl cannot be escaped.

Now that urbanization has and continues to take up most of the space around us, green walls i.e. living walls seem to be a solution for the coexistence of green spaces in the city and the need for development with the growing population. Green walls, revolutionized by a French Botanist called Patrick Blanc, are plants grown on walls and other structures through scientific methods. Currently, they are the best bet in boosting limited spaces. Green walls make reforestation and green living possible within the confines of an urban city.

It is a well-researched fact that trees and plants are good for a person’s psychological and physiological health; from lowering stress levels to improving the immune systems. Studies have proven the effect of indoor plants on stress hormones. Phytoncide is a compound derived from plants, which seems to improve immune system functions. In fact, in 1982, Japan made Forest Bathing a part of their national public health program.

The most important benefit of having green walls is curbing air pollution. Plants improve indoor air quality and clear the air of harmful toxins and dust. Since the past few years, an increasing number of countries are experiencing hotter summers with every passing year; it will continue to get worse. Heat waves are increasing health problems, causing a general change in the working abilities and mental state of people, making them angrier and exhausted during summers, and even causing deaths. An abundance of trees and plants can lower temperatures making the city cooler. A primary school in Singapore created a vertical green wall in the school to educate its students about global warming. This green wall reduced the temperature in the school by 2 to 3 degrees.

How one can grow a vertical garden at home is explained well by Selina Sen in her article here. Most of us know about the added benefits of having plants at home, but we rarely consider the benefits of having them in our city. Individually taking up the initiative of growing living walls at home is wonderful but to reap the benefits of this concept, we need more than just in-house gardening. The true effects of this novel initiative will only be seen when there is implementation at a local and nationwide level.

Other countries have already begun making these ‘green walls’ a part of their major cities. Sydney is working on a Green Roofs and Walls Policy Implementation Plan. In Singapore, the Urban Redevelopment Authority provides incentives to builders for creating green spaces. Airports are installing green walls to ensure better journeys. Architects around the world have embraced green walls and built urban structures and buildings which have vertical gardens. It is critical that in a tropical country like India which has really begun to feel the effects of global warming, such an initiative needs to be strongly encouraged.

That being said, it is heartening to know that in India, multiple cities have taken the initiative to build living walls, Bengaluru being the first. Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and Mumbai have incorporated the concept by building vertical gardens and living walls on pillars under flyovers. Environmentalists, botanists, architects and lawmakers can and must come together and learn from other models in the world and thus work together to reclaim our disregarded spaces.

Feature Image Credit: Stefano Boeri Architetti

Shivangi Adani is a Volunteer Researcher at One Future Collective.

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