Unused tampons bit box is open

[Cherrysoup]

I have about 100 tampons (different days, different size needed, then I went pure cotton having heard it decreased pain). Unfortunately, all the boxes are open, tampons obviously still wrapped. I’m now on a pill that eliminates periods, hallelujah! Can I bag the tampons and put them in the hygiene donation trolley at the supermarket or will they just be binned? I hate the idea that they’ll go in landfill. 😭

I don’t know about the donation but could you offer them free on your local selling page on Facebook?

It seems to vary from place to place. I'd leave them in their boxes so people know which they are and I'd contact the local senior school or college to see if they'd like them. Or woman's refuge.

I'm not sure but as they are still in the plastic wrappers hopefully they will be okay to be donated.

At school, the girls tend to want pads, otherwise I’d pop them into the nurse in a flash!

I like the idea of leaving them in the boxes, there’s a wide variety of sizes.

Put them on olio, bundles of random tampons go really quick. And yeh either keep them in their boxes or write on the wrapper with pen what size they are

Red Box Project explains why they couldn't accept open boxes: redboxproject.org/donate/

Open Boxes….

The lifespan of a tampon is said to be 5 years. Whilst tampons are a sanitary product they are not sealed as a sterile product. This means that they are highly susceptible to mould and infection. The difficulty is that a freshly, wrapped tampon after their expiry dates has passed, will still look the same as one’s bought more recently.

With this in mind, we cannot accept loose, freshly wrapped tampons under any circumstance. The danger is that the tampon can hide mould inside the applicator which can cause irritation and infection and in more serious cases, onset of Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS). Loose tampons (unwrapped) and are obviously a definite no-no.

In short, The Red Box Project asks that donations of tampons are in sealed boxes. Some brands such as Carefree do not use expiry dates whilst Tampax show two dates on their boxes: one is the production date and the other is the expiry date. Currently, organic tampon brands do not have to state their expiry date. It is a bit of bloody minefield so I think you’ll agree that it is 100% better to air on the side of caution.

The girls in school tend to use pads? Really? IME the opposite is true.

I never knew tampons could expire, but I use non applicator OBs. I tend to regard Best by dates on dry and canned goods as suggestions, not orders if the food looks and tastes edible.

@Serin, definitively, yes. Our oldest girls are 14. In fact, during a chat with the younger girls at the yard (up to 24, you can tell I’m old!) they all said tampons are disgusting and they all use pads, which strikes me as a real pain for riding.