to think plastic applicators for Tampax are disgraceful and unjustifiable?

[appropriatelytrained]

I sent DH to buy me a pack of tampons recently from the local shop. He came back with Tampax Compak (the only choice).

I'm no green activist, but I was shocked to see non-biodegradable, non-recyclable plastic applicators used for this product.

It seems to me that applicators are generally pretty unnecessary but to make them out of plastic just for convenience and comfort (Tampax's response to my query) makes them an unjustifiable vanity product.

Churning out plastic applicators for no genuine purpose when the company know (despite what they may say) that these products will end up flushed down the toilet, is disgraceful.

Right, I'll get off my soap box. I don't post here usually but I just felt really angered by this when so many companies are trying very hard to change the necessary packaging of their products, this company is producing unnecessary packaging without thought of consequence.

[4madboys]

well i think yabu! i always used the cardboard aplicator ones but started finding them uncomfortable and painful, i got some the tampax pearl ones free with a regular packet and OMG they are so much nicer to use, so now i always buy them, i chuck the applicator in the rubbish, never flush it down the toilet! i do wonder if they can go in the recycling with plastic stuff tho? does it say on the packet.

anyway women suffer enough with periods and childbirth etc so if i can buy and use a product that makes it more comfortable i will!

[squeakyfreakytoy]

If people disposed of them correctly, they would not end up in the sea.

[A1980]

A few of you don't seem to udnerstnad that you aren't meant to flush towels, tampons and applicators down the loo. Wrap it and put it in a bin and they won't end up on beaches or in the sea. It's common sense.

[Ephiny]

I find them unnecessary - when I started using tampons I always got the non-applicator ones (because they looked smaller!) and was a bit baffled by the applicators when I first saw them. It had honestly never occurred to me that there was anything wrong with putting my fingers there, not any more than putting my finger in my mouth, and this elaborate system to avoid any self-touching seemed a bit prudish and Victorian to me!

I think 'disgraceful' etc is going a bit far though. Clearly they are useful for some women, otherwise no one would be buying them, and honestly I feel anything that makes our lives easier in this respect is a good thing.

Non-applicator tampons do usually have a plastic wrapper anyway (whereas the applicator ones are often paper).

[slightlymad72]

I use cardboard applicators because when the tampon comes out I have to be very very quick getting the next one in, non applicator tampons are too fussy and difficult to postion IME. I don't like the plastic ones as they seem to wobble too much where the 2 tubes meet.

[suzikettles]

Why can't they make reusable applicators?

[Ephiny]

Oh and of course no one should be flushing tampons/pads. Aside from environmental reasons, you risk blocking up the plumbing. Put them in the bin!

[A1980]

I think 'disgraceful' etc is going a bit far though.

As do I. The same people don't tend to find disposeable nappies disgraceful. Quite the contrary!

[Ormirian]

Yes it's really appalling. They shouldn't be available. Full stop. FFS there is always something you can use if you can't use non-applicator tampons - towels? Mooncup?

[saffronwblue]

I have never really understood applicators. Have always been put off them by the advertisement from many years ago with the line - "Your fingers need never touch the tampon!"

Thanks goodness for that- if my fingers had to touch a tampon, let alone a bleeding vagina - why they might just shrivel up and fall off in horror!

[A1980]

Yes it's really appalling. They shouldn't be available. Full stop.

Fine. Lets ban disposeable nappies then. There are so many alternatives FFS that there is no justification for them either.

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

Towels are full of plastic too. Mooncups leak for me because of my episiotomy scar.

[schroeder]

I do think disposable nappies are disgraceful.

[loveglove]

Yes it's really appalling. They shouldn't be available. Full stop. FFS there is always something you can use if you can't use non-applicator tampons - towels? Mooncup?

Why should I have to walk around feeling like I'm wearing a nappy and giving myself thrush? YOU are being U.

[4madboys]

well iam not squeemish at all, infact i positively enjoyed putting my hand down and feeling my babies crown at birth so have no problems from that pov with non applicator tampons i jsut find the plastic applicator ones easier and more comfortable so use them for that reason.

and i thought it was obvious that you put tampons/applicator/pads etc int eh BIN and not flush them down the toilet!

[CheeseandGherkins]

Well personally (when I'm not pregnant obviously) I have really heavy periods (have pcos which I suppose is why) and I can't just use a towel on it's on, I have to use a super plus tampon and a towel. I don't like the idea of a mooncup as I doubt I'd be able to get it in and out properly, I have hyperhydrosis which makes my hands sweaty and so I can't grip things. Plus most public toilets don't have a sink in with the toilet so messy hands and then going to the sink wouldn't be ideal. Sorry for the tmi but even using a tampon I literally drip through it and do avoid going out on the heaviest days so it's difficult as it is.

[Ormirian]

"All of you that say plastic applicators ought to be banned, lets start with disposeable nappies."

No, why not start with plastic tampon applicators that didn't even exist 5 yrs ago! How can they suddenly became invaluable and 'ooh I can't cope without them' in 5 yrs?

I take the point about disposable nappies but they have been around for many many years and it's going to take a lot more effort to make people change their ways re nappies.

And let's face it, the inconvenience of having to use your finger or a cardboard applicator instead of a plastic one is a great deal less than the effort of washing and drying nappies (which migght not be entirely squeaky-green in the first place)

[4madboys]

i cant use towels/pads as i have eczema and if i use them i get eczma where my pubic hair grows etc and it is horribly itchy and uncomfortable and i dont like them plus i swim a lot (when i get the chance) and cant wear them for swimming!

[BeyondLimitsOfTheLivingDead]

What about the people who have pain rather than being "inconvenienced"?

[A1980]

And let's face it, the inconvenience of having to use your finger or a cardboard applicator instead of a plastic one is a great deal less than the effort of washing and drying nappies (which migght not be entirely squeaky-green in the first place)

There's no point banning the applicator as the tampon is still harmful to the environment. Towels are full of plastic too so are no better.

Mooncups are best environmentally but many people (as we can see here) can't use them. I do use a cup though.

[4madboys]

its not the inconvenience its the fact that the cardboard ones are uncomfortable and actually painful! i was using them and hadnt thought about the plastic ones, thought they were expensive and so didnt buy them but i got some for free and was amazed how much more comfortable they were so now i buy them and consider it to be worth the expense.

could i 'cope' without them? yes there are plenty of things people 'cope' with buy why would i bother when there is an alternative that means i dont have to be uncomfortable or in pain?!!

[squeakyfreakytoy]

I am sure the mooncup fans would not be happy until there are no alternative products on the market. Well sorry, but I do not wish to use one.

Those of you who are aghast at anyone who prefers not to get their hands covered in blood, I assume you dont use toilet roll either, because after all, its only a bit of poo.. it will wash off....

Sometimes, especially if you have a heavy flow, there is a need to change your tampon in a place where there may not be access to a basin to wash your hands. Nobody wants to walk out of a public toilet watched by a queue of people with blood on their hands either, if there was no loo roll to wipe on first.

Sometimes, the way your body is shaped, means that it is difficult to insert a tampon without an applicator.

There are many reasons why women choose to use the applicators, and good reasons why the plastic ones are easier to use too.

Yes, they should be reycleable, and yes people should not flush them down the loo, but people should certainly have the choice to use them.

[Papyrus]

But Ormirian you could use that argument for all kinds of things. Its only in the last five to ten years that broadband has become the norm and I bet we'd struggle to cope without it now. Or the internet full stop for that matter.

I personally use the compak tampons as I find them much more comfy to use than the cardboard ones, which hurt. I don't think you can judge someone on such a personal thing as their choice of sanitary protection.

[Blu]

YANBU, but please people. if you must use these things do not flush them down the toilet

Surley even if you can't insert a tampon without a plastic applicator, you can see the advantage on not having the damn things as your main find when beach combing with children?

[lesley33]

Yes disposable nappies are bad environmentally, but people don't tend to flush them down the loo.

I take part in a national beach clean up and survey every year. Although sewage is an issue where pipes discharge near beaches, many beaches don't have this and so detectable sewage is not really an issue. What is an issue is lots of plastic bits for cotton buds and plastic applicators.

YANBU and cardboard only ones should be fine.