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 live Sainsburys cardboard applicator tampons. They are the only place I have found that do a light absorbency with a cardboard applicator and only 95p for about 20. I've not been nipped by the applicator either. Happy days.

I agree this is a gimmick and a diversionary tactic.

Having said that, I think there is a new context of us only just having realised that decomposed plastics are such an issue.

And before anyone points out that China and Indonesia have the highest rates of plastic pollution in the world- that is because almost all plastic consumed in the west are manufactured in those countries.

Single use plastic is a scourge on the world.

Never used an applicator until I moved to the UK - and that was because I sent my husband to get tampons for me and that’s all there was. Could not BELIEVE how hard it was to find normal tampons and can’t understand why sooo many women need to use them. Are you that physiologically different to other women in the world?! Do you tense up? Is it a hygiene thing? What is it? I would genuinely love to know.

What's wrong with using sanitary towels?
Really? You can’t see why women want the convenience of tampons?

I see the point you are making about those with disabilities. But....

Oh FFS, here we’d go again. “Sorry, PWD, the non disabled world has fucked up, is fucking up, so we need to make your life even harder while we pretend to fix it.” Why is that an OK way to treat people with disabilities?

There are non-plastic alternative which might not be quite as convenient but we can all survive on.
None of the non plastic alternatives work for our DD. It’s not about convenience, it is about allowing her to drink independently without spilling drink down her clothes. But, carry on minimising struggles you know nothing about.

THERE IS NO PLANET B

Then we should actually do something about it and not just fuck about with silly plastic shit that will do virtually nothing to solve the problem.

so its now internalised misogyny to be against tampax pearl having a plastic applicator??

Cotton buds, wipes, applicators. Notice anything? Nobody has ever raised the issue of the number of those stupid plastic disposable blades for men’s razors and how we need to change them. Wonder why that is that?

Are you that physiologically different to other women in the world?! Do you tense up? Is it a hygiene thing? What is it? I would genuinely love to know.

Maybe read the thread, where many women have explained what it is.

Some people here could really do with listening to others, and realising they’re fortunate not to suffer the same problems. I wouldn’t wish the issues I’ve had with my periods / reproductive system on any one of you - the least you can do is listen.

When women have experienced severe pain, injury and damage from sanitary protection that doesn’t meet their needs, do you honestly expect them to be happy about returning to that situation?

I always used non-applicator tampons pre-babies. But my vagina changed after my first child (prolapses and an awful
episiotomy scar). I have tried every method but the only tampons that work and are comfortable are Lil-lets with an applicator. Thankfully my periods are quite short so I don't use very many each month. I think people need to remember that we're all different and just because something works or is easy for you doesn't mean it is the same for everyone. I was gutted when I couldn't get non-applicator ones to insert properly anymore.

I also can’t use the cardboard applicators, they don’t seem to work for me, I have to push the tampon half out first then they don’t feel right when in. The plastic applicators are great for me. I do feel guilty using plastic, but I’d be miserable every month without them...

Never used an applicator until I moved to the UK - and that was because I sent my husband to get tampons for me and that’s all there was. Could not BELIEVE how hard it was to find normal tampons and can’t understand why sooo many women need to use them. Are you that physiologically different to other women in the world?! Do you tense up? Is it a hygiene thing? What is it? I would genuinely love to know.

Similar experience here, I'm in Germany and don't know anyone here who uses applicator tampons. I do however suspect that Germany also has far fewer women with untreated gynae issues compared to the UK. Twice yearly check-ups with a gynaecologist are standard, gynae issues are actually taken seriously and women aren't left to wait years for treatment. For women's health the NHS is absolutely dire and it wouldn't surprise me if there were more women dealing with problematic periods as a consequence of this.

YANBU
Yes we do need to stop using single use plastics, however why go after a female sanitary product? Why not look in their fruit and veg aisles? Stop using plastic wrap and move to paper bags for loose products, introduce the strong paper bags instead of 10p plastic ones etc.

I can well believe women get on with different tampons, as I can't get on with any. Nor the cup I paid out £30 for. I don't know what's wrong with my vagina, but my flow always leaks past insertable sanpro before it's even full.

I'm planning to gradually replace disposable pads with washables someone makes locally, but I'm lucky my flow isn't too bad, as I know some women who have to double up.

No way will I use washable nappies. I have a baby and a four year old with SEN, I already have washing stacked up to the ceiling and I like leaving the house on occasion.

But it’s not just sanitary products that are being targeted - there are loads of campaigns focusing on other single-use plastics!! Saying ‘oh this is unfairly targeting women’ is ridiculous.
There was Hugh-Fearnley Whittingstall’s recent tv programme and campaign on supermarket plastic packaging, for example, encouraging everyone to return plastic food packaging to supermarkets.

There are loads of campaign groups looking at other sorts of plastic waste, it really isn’t all about the tampons....!!

As for Men’s razor blades - it is acknowledged that this is a big problem too - however you can return used razor blades for recycling via Terracycle (who also recycle a variety of other single use plastics).

Having said all that, I do like the quote ‘we don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly, we need millions of people doing it imperfectly’.
If the plastic applicators are the thing you really can’t do without then focus on other things you can change. I find the idea of going zero waste very daunting however I figure it is lots of small steps. I keep trying to think of alternatives to the plastic products we use, and we need to keep harassing the big companies to look at other options to plastic.

The cardboard ones are much better in my opinion and the single use plastic just has to stop so sorry, you are being unreasonable.

Also really why do we need plastic cotton buds?! Paper ones are perfectly adequate. I actually think the plastic ones are dangerous, I used one at my mum’s house and the box had obviously been there quite a while as the plastic had degraded in the light, and it snapped off in my ear! Fortunately I was able to fish it out but it gave me a scare. The whole box was the same, all snapping into tiny pieces. I am never letting a plastic cotton bud near my ear ever again.....

Saying ‘oh this is unfairly targeting women’ is ridiculous.
No it isnt. Austerity measures unfairly target women, especially poor women.
That might not be the intention but it is the outcome. Stop ignoring that and stop pretending this will affect everyone equally.

Pay women enough so they can afford water and a washing machine, and then lecture them on not using plastic.

I’m just going to go ahead and re-post two of my posts from yesterday, because we still have new posters wandering on to the thread, not reading a damn word of the very significant posts which explain succinctly exactly why women’s choices in menstrual products shouldn’t be limited, even for green reasons, and just thoughtlessly writing, “Sorry, (they’re not) YABU, it’s an inconvenience (it’s not), you’ll have to get used to it (we can’t), what did women do before plastic applicators, eh? (they were physically injured/suffering, that’s what they did)”

My posts from yesterday:

Well, if this thread proves anything, it is that the pain of women will be continued to be dismissed, including by other women themselves.

Until you have a true gynaecological issue, it is clear that there is no understanding of how under-diagnosed and under-funded female medical issues are.

“They can prescribe plastic applicator tampons for those who truly need them.” Yeah, sure they will. Yo, my fellow endometriosis or vaginismus sufferers, how many years did it take you guys to have a medical professional take you seriously enough to diagnose you? It was 11 years for me.

I’m thinking about my local supermarket. There are a couple of shelves on one aisle dedicated to plastic applicator tampons, which, it has been proven time and again on this thread, that some women DO ACTUALLY NEED.

In contrast:

There are three full aisles of fruit and veg and bags of salad, the majority of which are wrapped in plastic. NOBODY NEEDS to have plastic-wrapped fruit and veg.

There is currently an aisle of garden ornaments, a lot of which are made from plastic. NOBODY NEEDS plastic lawn ornaments.

There is a full aisle of magazines, most of which are wrapped in plastic, containing smaller items also made of plastic. NOBODY NEEDS plastic magazine tat, or for multiple magazines to come wrapped in plastic together.

There are two aisles full of toys for children, the very vast majority made from plastic. NO CHILD NEEDS to have toys made of plastic. They NEED toys, but these could be made from other materials, such as fabric or wood.

There are three full aisles of soft drink and squash varieties, ALL of which are in plastic bottles with plastic caps! NOBODY NEEDS to have over a hundred choices of non-essential drinks that come in plastic bottles.

All of these areas of the supermarket are much, much greater in size than the shelves of women’s sanitary protection. All of which are designed to be marketed towards both sexes, also. By logic, if supermarkets truly wish to reduce their single-use plastics, they really should select at least one of these areas, alongside many others I could name, first.

But, no, instead they have selected to “tackle” the issues of plastic applicator tampons first, because women are always the easy target. It is a feminist issue. And it is unfair, because, as has been explained many times on this thread, there is a medical need to have plastic applicator tampons remain on the shelf for many women. At least until research is properly invested into women’s health!

Why are we debating between each other as to whether that other woman on the thread NEEDS to have a plastic applicator, IS she using it correctly, WHY can’t she just use a moon cup or her fingers?

Why aren’t we asking each other why plastic packaging on food can’t come first? Or frivolous purchases, such as lawn ornaments? Or the enormous and plastic-heavy toy industry? These would actually have a real and immediate impact, and wouldn’t be harmful towards their consumers.

Having a preference for tampax pearl plastic applocators isnt a fucking disability. Having heavy periods isnt a disability.
It is an inconvenience, its painful sure, but its pretty clear that every single plastic that is tried to reduce, people are up in arms about why focussing on that. It is individual companies focussing on their own perceived worst offenders

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 @Branleuse

Finally, some sense.

As others have mentioned up thread. There should be more provision to take care of gynaecological health.

The reason why this and wet wipes are being targeted is because they are high use items and as such create more waste. Men’s plastic razors are multi use and a man might use one a month. They should still be gotten rid of but they aren’t single use product.

Well I for one will be ordering several boxes per week of these to ensure that I have enough to last me for the next 20+ years 🥳 or until I find an alternative that actually works.

*a month, not a week, I couldn't afford that 🙄

YABU

All these disposable products are on their way out hopefully. It won't be long before disposable sanitary products and nappies don't exist any more. Yes fruit and veg and general food packaging should also be looked at but you have to start somewhere.

Fruit and veg packaging IS being reduced. Its not as if nobody out there is mentioning food packaging. There are several brands trying to change to different packaging, but ultimately still not enough

Having heavy periods isnt a disability.
Heavy periods can be a symptom of various conditions which are considered disabilities if your ability to perform daily tasks is severely impacted. According to the Equality Act, even without the other conditions I have, I am disabled. “Heavy periods” are one of the debilitating symptoms of that disability.

It is an inconvenience, its painful sure,
Quite the understatement there. I’ve been on morphine or some other opioid / opiate every single day for 15 years. Flooding through heavy duty Sanpro and your clothes is more than inconvenient. Your internal organs being glued together is more than inconvenient and painful. The skin infection I was hospitalised for was potentially life threatening. The open sores caused by ineffective pads were seriously debilitating, and a huge expense to the NHS. And although my heavy periods are still there, the use of a specific type of pad has eradicated the other issues almost entirely.

How dare you be so bloody dismissive? You clearly have absolutely no idea what this is like. Lots of women here are telling you - what makes you think you know better than these women?

If you don’t need plastic applicators or straws or razors or whatever, don’t use them. Why are those with medical issues / disabilities yet again suffering because other people want convenience? And if plastic applicators are no better and so unnecessary as so many keep insisting, why are they being purchased?

Wow this thread has given me the rage. A bit of understanding wouldn't go amiss from some posters.

Can't believe what I'm reading 'just shove it up there', 'just deal with it', 'if you can fit a penis you can fit a tampon', all this disbelief about the pain some women feel.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for reducing plastic (I use cloth pads myself) but I, like others am not able to use mooncups due to vaginal pain issues (and no it's not a 'moment of pinching' it's scraping sore pain to the point where smears and sex are agony). The only kind of tampons I can use are applicator and I occasionally use these for when I want to swim during my period (very very few a year).

But thanks for reminding me why I don't talk about my pain IRL though as ppl are so disbelieving and unsympathetic (which is the same reaction I have gotten from HCPs who no doubt think I'm imagining it, silly woman that I am).

Honestly this is not the way to bring people around to your cause, sometimes there are genuine reasons why someone cannot do the most environmentally 'correct' thing. As an aside, a lot of the ppl I have found spouting off about mooncups IRL are the the most prolific fliers I know so I find it a bit hypocritical really. Again, I'm not against reducing plastic but it would be good if people could maybe think about these things before they judge.

Oh, and stop talking like women with serious issues with menstruation are a tiny percentage. 10% of women have endometriosis. Even more have fibroids. Then there’s PCOS, not to mention the ridiculous numbers who have no diagnosis and believe their experience to be normal.

If you don’t have to deal with all this, consider yourself lucky and stop trivialising what can be horrific just because that’s not your experience. Just because we have to buy sanitary protection doesn’t mean they’re not crucial medical materials for many women. In order to function and prevent damage, I rely on the right pads, just as much as I rely on my prescription medication and single use medical devices like catheters during periods I require them.