Do I just have to bin my old Mooncup?

[bidibidi]

Yeah yeah, please don't shout at me for weird query.
I am thru menopause so item no longer required.

i reckon I could soak mine in Milton to get it plenty sterile enough.

Seems a shame to bin it... I travel a little bit each year (for work) in poor countries where period poverty is a very real issue, girls not getting to school, etc. But I can't find any info about a programme to donate 'pre used' menstrual cups.

Just thought I'd post here in case there is a donation option I haven't found on my own.

Thanks.

Ewww ! You'll be washing out condoms next . Throw it away and if you still feel the need , donate money to a charity that helps women for things like that .

they're pretty niche here in the UK, I imagine in countries where girls miss school because they are menstruating, there would be significant cultural barriers

No. No woman wants your used mooncup. Speaking as someone who has worked in development… a really important thing for many people in need is to maintain their dignity and sense of self. Offering out a second hand mooncup really isn’t going to help that.

I'm not sure that I would donate unused mooncups either. There is a good chance that either they cannot sterilise them or wouldn't be comfortable putting random objects inside themselves for religious reasons.

Yes. You really do need to bin it.

That’s a really kind thought OP but I suspect the costs of collecting, sterilising and redistributing the items could be more than the cost to buy new.

In developing countries might access to fresh running water to deal with the mooncup but more of an issue than just binning a used sanitary product?

I had the same thoughts but ended up binning it. I bought mine from Ruby Cup where you can pay for another one for a girl or woman in a developing country.

Perhaps you could do that?

Here’s a link to Ruby Cup

https://rubycup.com/pages/social-impact

home made washable sanpro is the sustainable solution in low income countries

Surely a washable mooncup would be easier to deal with?

Ok ok, I'll bin my own. & maybe donate money to one of the zillion charities distributing new ones in poor places.

actually menstrual cups are a big hit in some poorer countries.
https://www.bayer.com/en/news-stories/menstrual-cups-are-helping-schoolgirls-in-africa

sorry but I'm sceptical about this
it might work in urban centres with adequate plumbing, but picture yourself what you need to use a mooncup
somewhere to wash your hands
a private clean space to remove it that ALSO contains a sink with running clean water
soap to wash your hands afterwards
I've been in school toilets in rural East Africa, they are not places I'd want to change a mooncup

There are plenty of scientific articles and blogs etc. about people in rural Africa or Asia using menstrual cups. Girls and women find a way. It's not like managing periods in rural African settings is easy in any other way. They never have low-microbe-density running water to wash their hands, so that's irrelevant to their ways of managing.

bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjopen/7/4/e015429.full.pdf