First Flushable Sanitary Pad Turns The Red Flow Into A Green Affair

The time of the month might be a natural process in a person’s life, but a period product’s effect on Earth can have unnatural consequences that could leave the planet suffering for years. Fluus, a UK-based brand, turning periods into a greener affair with the first flushable pads.
 
Conventional pads comprise 90% plastic, and one pack is estimated to be worth four plastic bags. It’s easy to see how badly this affects the environment considering how often such products are used worldwide. HuffPost noted that three billion menstrual products are used in the UK alone, generating 200,000 tons of waste.

Though, could the problem be easily solved with something like flushable pads? Fluus thinks so. These unique products are made up of three primary materials. The first is a top and bottom sheet of cellulose plant fibers; its core contains a patent-pending material made from biodegradable polymers and cellulose plant fibers. And lastly, it uses tree sap as an alternative to the typical adhesive on regular ones.
 
When an eco pad is flushed away, it tears apart as it travels through the sewers. In fact, by the time it reaches a water treatment center, it will have broken down to half the size of an eyelash. It can then be treated with toilet paper and sewage before it’s transformed into clean water and fertilizer.

This rethinks how people often dispose of menstrual products when out and without access to trash cans. Moreover, according to the same report, many people have stated that they also feel uncomfortable disposing of used products when over at somebody else’s home. This has led to many flushing their pads away without thinking about how it could clog water systems. And, on the other hand, they can take up to 500 years to disintegrate when thrown away into landfills—an exorbitantly long time for a product that can only be used for just a few hours.
 
 
 
[via Design Week and HuffPost, images via Fluus]