Menstrual Cups
Working with a number of organisations, such as the Gender Action Project, the Rhodes University Community Engagement Office, and the Rhods SlutWalk Team, RU Green is working on a project to promote menstrual cups across South Africa in order to provide dignified, hygienic, cost-effective and more environmentally ways to deal with menstruation.
A menstrual cup is a type of cup or barrier worn inside the vagina during menstruation to collect menstrual fluid. Unlike tampons and pads, the cup collects menstrual fluid rather than absorbing it. Despite the seemingly off-putting nature of such a method, the menstrual cup offers a number of benefits:
Menstrual cups are more cost-efficient and environmentally friendly than tampons, as they are reusable. Furthermore, rather than having to constantly carry tampons around the menstrual cup can be emptied out at the end of each day. For those who cannot afford to constantly buy tampons and are forced to resort to other often less hygienic or comfortable methods the menstrual cup last for up to 10 years and results in significant savings in the long run. Relatedly, because you only have to buy one every 10 years or so the amount of potentially unhygienice and hazardous waste produced is significantly reduced. Finally, some cups have greater capacity than tampons which is beneficial to women with heavy flows
