I do not know about anyone else, but period commercials for tampons are an utter lie. There is no way anyone is ever that happy on their period. Recently, I started thinking logistically about me going abroad and how I did not want to overstuff my suitcase with a bunch of period products. One of my sisters mentioned that she uses the Diva Cup and I thought that I would look into it more. The overall gist of a menstrual cup is that it is a silicone cup that does the exact same thing tampons do, just - in my opinion - better. There are a plethora of brands -- such as MeLuna, Diva Cup, Lena, and a few others -- to choose from aside. So I decided to test out a Diva Cup and let me just say that sucker is life changing! I legitimately will never go back to a tampon. There are quite a few reasons why more people should switch to menstrual cups and here is why.
1. Price
Being a college student, I have learned a few things but the one that takes the cake is the amount of money I spend and how to budget. With a menstrual cup, you are only paying for one cup. Which basically means that you could be saving a TON of money from not having to buy month after month worth of tampons that you throw away.
2. Environmentally friendly
Tampons or pads can get into our ecosystem via landfills. According to Organic Cup, an individual goes through approximately 11,000 disposable tampons and pads in their lifetime. Whereas with a menstrual cup, since you get to use it for a while, you are not throwing it away every month and adding to the piles of trash. Some tampons also contain chemicals like dioxin, chlorine, and rayon, which gets soaked up by landfills.
3. Time
Aside, from the constant fear of having a tampon in for too long. The menstrual cup allows you to keep it in for up to 12 hours a day and you can even sleep in it. I know a ton of people who already sleep in tampons, but that can actually be super harmful to your body if you leave it in for too long. As well as, there are very little leaks from the cup since -- if you get a silicone one -- molds to the inside shape of your vagina. You can keep it in for a long time and you actually forget more about it, but you do not have to worry about it leaking. Another interesting thing to note is that we do not bleed as much as we think that we do, so with it, you can measure how much blood you are losing with your time of the month.
4. They are overall better for your body
Aside from the length of time is a major scare tactic in tampons, menstrual cups are less time-consuming. There is also no embarrassing odor. It is also easier to use than tampons!
Although, there are more messes to be cleaned up when removing the menstrual cup, the pros outway the cons in my opinion. Overall, just do some research to find what fits you and your vagina better. #periodsstillsuck
