To be annoyed that Sainsbury's will no longer sell plastic applicator tampons?

[caddywally]

It's not a massive issue at the moment because I can buy them elsewhere, but if other shops follow suit I'm going to be condemned to a life of using pads because I don't get on with non-applicator or cardboard applicator tampons. I can't use menstrual cups, either.

I understand the problem with plastic but don't see why women who rely on plastic applicator tampons should suffer when there is excess plastic everywhere. I already live a fairly eco-friendly life - no car, 1 holiday in the past 10 years, rarely eat meat, most of the stuff I own is second hand (mainly for financial reasons than anything else, admittedly) - and I don't see why I should have miserable periods when there are people whose lifestyles are much worse for the environment than mine. I also don't flush sanitary products down the toilet, which I assumed was common sense. I probably am being unreasonable and should just suck it up for the sake of environment!

I think we'd potty train earlier on a population level too if we used cloth

What? This makes the assumption that parents delay nappy training past their child being ready. I don’t know anyone who has done this - everyone I know is very eager to get their child out of nappies as soon as possible. We face years of our children being in nappies due to disability - If it were possible to potty train them I’d be doing backflips of joy!

Yanbu

There are so many things they could target.

Toys
Packaging
Razors
Tooth brushes
The boxes from amazon that are 50 times the size they need to be.

How does having to carry around more items than usual make something more environmentally friendly?

Instead of tampon

We now have lube tampon and a.shed load more.toilet paper or a baby wipe to clean up.hands enough so you can use the tampon cos the lube makes it too slippery.

I do what I can when I can but seriously I cant believe how people cant see that they are choosing to fuck over women first.

Didn’t even know tampons had plastic applicators. The last time I used tapons all applicators were cardboard or lillets with no applicators. Years ago they used old rags that they washed by hand so think yourself lucky. There’s always someone trying to think of a good reason to use plastic - there isn’t one!

Yes, let’s go back to the good old days of women using rags during their periods. That’ll teach all these uppity women, eh?

🙄

This makes the assumption that parents delay nappy training past their child being ready.

I controversially think that a lot of children could be trained earlier and due to societal factors aren't. Anecdotally most people I know over 60ish said they trained between 18months and 2 years. Now most of my dcs peer group trained at 3+. That's an extra year in nappies. There is a huge debate about why this is, Rose tinted spectacles etc. But having nappies you had to wash gave you a huge incentive to potty train.

Disclaimer the above applies to children without additional needs that would delay training.

Yabu but hope you find an eco product you like!

Just get used to it.

I can only compare the feeling of a cardboard applicator to that of fingernails scratching down a chalk board... I find them incredibally painful to insert, the friction is awful.

Knickers at £25 a pop (if that's correct)? Or a reusable applicator that's 'safe' not to clean or you pop out and forget to bring with you?!

But having nappies you had to wash gave you a huge incentive to potty train

Could it not be more that the kids just don't feel wet/uncomfortable as disposables are so good now?

@SinkGirl and we wonder why it's so hard to get gynae issues taken seriously when even some of our fellow women won't believe us when we say we don't have the same experience as them.

My super absorbent pads would fill up and I'd start leaking into clothes within 30 mins of my last change - this was with me using a super plus tampon at the same time! I was severely anaemic for years despite being on prescription iron supplements. I had a blood test done just one month after my hysterectomy and my anaemia has gone. One month! Obviously that tells you how much blood I was losing each month but no, I should have been able to use cloth pads or a mooncup

Are you on the waiting list for a hysterectomy or is your nhs trust refusing? I got lucky with mine, it only took me 3 years to get sorted.

@SarahTancredi

I'm sure that helped too. No child wants to feel wet.

People also cant afford the time.off work.

Women already have to struggle as it is as for some.reason the idea of a.man taking a day off cos a child is sick abhorrent

With women having to cover school holidays,.illness and those bloody stupid staggard starts I doubt theres holiday left to take 2 weeks.off to spend surrounded by piss...

Inevitably people are waiting for the kids to take themselves to the toilet and it done in an.instant whilst simultaneously running the risk of the habit of weeing into a nappy becoming further ingrained and harder to break.

I buy Lillets and use gods own applicator.

Agree that this is a good thing.

We have so many more options for sanpro than women in the past had. If you don't get on with one of them that's fine, there are lots of other options to try. Cups, pads, applicator, non-applicator. You have choices.

I have never used the applicator ones, even before the current awareness for plastic I could see that they were over-enngineering something and charging me more for a product I didn't need.

Let's hope other large retailers like Walmart follow suit. I tried to buy standard digital tampons in the US a few years ago and couldn't find any for love nor money. Finally found a European brand, three times the price of the applicator ones.

I use non applicator and when on holidays recently I had to buy tampax .. I was actually shocked at how much plastic goes straight in the bin ... I think it's a good move from Sainsbury's ..

Try a cup is really the san pro version of “cancel the cheque” isn’t it?

Are people so obtuse that they think women who have found one product that works for them haven’t considered and tried all other options. That by their contribution suddenly a load of physiology will change and countless women will suddenly have that lightbulb moment?!

For the people at the back NOT EVERYONE HAS THE SAME MENSTRUAL EXPERIENCE AS YOU.

I think it's a good move from Sainsbury's
Yeah not like there arent hundreds of magazines with plastic tat attached, kinder eggs and razors that could have gone first.

But wheres the fun in that

@MyCatHatesEverybody My consultant is willing to do a hysterectomy now, I’m just not in a place where I can do it (disabled toddler twins, being out of action for 6 weeks plus and unable to lift them isn’t feasible, plus I’m wary as I know some women whose endo has gotten worse after a hyst). Going to wait until they start school at least and hopefully by then recovery will be easier - hopefully!

Why do you even need razors? I only have three hairs on each leg so we can all just use tweezers...
🙄

I just tried cardboard applicators for the first time this month and I agree they were more uncomfortable and also messier (went soggy with the heavy flow) than plastic. However, I guess I've got to get used to it for the environment.

It is annoying though the amount of plastic on fruit and veg and even if you don't buy the pre packed stuff there are only plastic bags to put them in. It's also much more expensive to buy say single peppers at 60p each than it is to buy a plastic wrapped pack of 3 at £1.19!

I'm confused as to why people need lube for tampons. Surely you don't put them in a dry vagina? The whole point of them is you use them when you are bleeding.

I don't see why they shouldn't target plastic tampon applicators. Yes there are lots of other things which use disposable plastic, but the drive to reduce this seems pretty universal in my experience and isn't limited to products for women, and IMO we should be looking to drastically reduce across the board.

Waitrose no longer gives away disposable coffee cups (and lots of coffee chains offer discounts if you take in your own reusable one).

Lots of places are now stocking reusable water bottles, and I've noticed an uptick in water refill points too.

Some supermarkets (Waitrose, Tesco) have been taking steps to reduce the plastic packaging their food comes in.

M&S has come under significant fire recently for encouraging children to collect plastic tat (some sort of mini shop toys I think).

Obviously the plastic bag charge has been in force a number of years, and it occurred to me the other day that you can't get those single use bags anymore - it's always the bags for life or nothing now (at least in Tesco's and Waitrose).

I've noticed as well that in the bakery sections they no longer have those disposable plastic bags, and have purely paper bags (no plastic window either!).

Sorry if this has been said already, but for me it is the actual tampon that is different. Tampax pearl & lilets applicator tampons seem to expand in a much more comfortable way than the others. Like they go outwards rather than lengthways.

Regardless I've switched to period pants and haven't looked back. I thought they'd be awful but they're completely liberating. But pricey.

Yeah I totally get that @sinkgirl, I had mine 12 weeks ago and still can't lift shopping bags, looking on the hysterectomy forums it's not uncommon to take longer than 6 weeks to recover. I really feel for you, it's an eye opener that people are effectively calling us liars when we try to explain the impact of having heavy periods (as in intrusively heavy, not simply needing to change a super tampon after 2 hours as I once saw someone posting when they said they could cope with their heavy period ok).

Go to St Andrews, see how many plastic applicators you can find on the beach, then ask if they are being unreasonable?