A giant tampon applicator to say stop to single-use plastics, the latest provocation by environmental activist Ella Daish.
A giant applicator for tampons to say stop to single-use plastic. It is the latest provocation of Ella Daish, British environmental activist has been campaigning for years to persuade companies and governments to remove plastic from women's menstrual hygiene products.
And this time it does it by creating a huge applicator for nearly 2-meter swabs with plastic waste found on beaches and waterways in the UK. But it wasn't just any plastic: there were 1.200 intimate tampon applicators from 15 different locations across the country.
And of the plastic applicators Daish collected, 87,5 percent came from just one brand, Tampax. And so that giant 1,8m applicator is uniquely crafted to create something the company “couldn't ignore”.
In addition to this unmissable “piece of art” of protest, Daish also wrote an open letter to Tampax asking them to completely eliminate plastic applicators from their products.
NEWS? I've written a letter to @Tampax which I'm thrilled to announce has been signed by a coalition of over 40 groups and individuals, including @CarolineLucas @JuliaBradbury @MeganMcCubbin! Read the letter & see who signed here: https://t.co/tPOl6FPnt0 #EndPeriodPlastic pic.twitter.com/M940kbASBP
- Ella Daish (@ella_daish) September 30, 2020
The letter was endorsed and signed by over 40 groups, politicians and activists, including members of the Green Party, Surfers Against Sewage and the Marine Conservation Society. Along with a petition signed by over 230 people and the giant applicator, the letter was sent to the Tampax office.
Daish's #EndPeriodPlastic campaign has previously successfully encouraged three UK retailers to give up plastic applicators: Aldi, Sainsbury's and Superdrug have effectively responded to the movement by removing single-use plastic from their branded tampons.
@Tampax when are you going to ditch plastic applicators? Other companies have started using more sustainable products, when do you plan on taking this step?#EndPeriodPlastic @ella_daish pic.twitter.com/uqnu8gxMEG
— Lottie Glover (@lottieglover23) September 27, 2020
As for Tampax, the company has so far responded to customer inquiries via a series of tweeters. Currently, the brand claims that one of its "main goals" would be to reduce its impact on the planet and that all products are made in a zero-waste facility, using sustainable wind energy. But the company itself acknowledges that “there is still a lot to do”.
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“I met Tampax in May 2019 and despite being the UK's cycle industry giant, they haven't made any changes. This is not enough - says the environmentalist. Just because they use wind power to create millions of single-use plastic applicators without considering the negative environmental impacts, it doesn't make them sustainable. "
These applicators are nothing more than pieces of plastic that are often only used for a couple of seconds before being thrown away. In addition, most plastic applicators cannot be recycled.
The Institution of Environmental Science estimates that around 2,5 million tampons are disposed of in the bathroom every day in the UK. If wastewater is released into the environment, this means that plastic applicators can find their way into aquatic ecosystems.
“I've lost count of the images people have sent me of applicators polluting their local area, from the islands of Scotland to the Cornish coast and waterways in cities like London and Southampton,” concludes Ella Daish.
So it's true, there is still a lot to do. Come on Ella, meanwhile there are ecological alternatives:
Menstrual cups: they are effective and safe. Confirmation in a laboratory test
Menstrual cups are safe and reliable, that's why say goodbye to sanitary pads
Menstrual cup: everything you need to know
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Read also:
- Menstrual cup: everything you need to know
- Menstruation: 5 alternatives to disposable pads
- Absorbents and tampons with glyphosate and phthalates, also in organic brands. The French test
