Switch to a menstrual cup or period underwear
Swapping disposable pads and tampons for a reusable cup or absorbent underwear spares years of single-use plastic — and pays for itself within months.
Period products are one of the most relentless sources of single-use plastic in a bathroom, precisely because the need comes back every month for decades. A conventional pad is mostly plastic, tampons usually arrive wrapped and with plastic applicators, and none of it can be recycled — it’s used once and binned. Over a menstruating lifetime that’s thousands of items, and a running cost that never lets up.
A menstrual cup or a set of period underwear changes the maths completely. A cup is a small, soft, medical-grade silicone cup that collects rather than absorbs, holds more than a tampon, and can stay in for up to eight to twelve hours; cared for, one lasts several years. Period pants look and feel like ordinary underwear but have a built-in absorbent layer, and you simply wash and reuse them. Either way, after one modest purchase the monthly spend and the monthly waste largely stop.
The honest part is the learning curve. A cup takes a cycle or two to get comfortable with — finding the right fold, the right size, and trusting the seal — and that fiddly start puts some people off before it clicks. Period pants are a gentler entry point with nothing to insert, and many people use both: pants for lighter days and backup, a cup for the rest. Give it a couple of cycles before you decide, and most find it genuinely more comfortable than what they left behind.
How to do it
- Pick your route: a medical-grade silicone cup (often €20–35), absorbent period underwear (€15–30 a pair), or both for different days and activities.
- For a cup, choose your size using the maker's guide (age and whether you've given birth are the usual factors) and sterilise it in boiling water before first use.
- Insert the folded cup low and let it spring open to form a seal; with practice it's leak-free for up to roughly 8–12 hours.
- For period pants, just wear them like normal underwear on lighter days, overnight, or as backup with a cup.
- Rinse the cup at each change and empty into the toilet; rinse pants in cold water, then machine-wash and air-dry.
- Sterilise the cup by boiling it between cycles — one cup typically lasts several years before it needs replacing.
Pro tips & pitfalls
- Give it a full cycle or two before judging — insertion and getting the seal right take practice, and almost everyone's first attempt feels fiddly.
- Out and about with a cup? A water bottle to rinse over the bowl, or just a wipe and reinsert, works fine in a single cubicle.
- Period pants are the gentlest way in if a cup feels daunting — no insertion, and they double as reliable backup while you learn the cup.
What it's good for
Good for the planet
- Cuts waste The average person uses thousands of pads and tampons in a lifetime; one cup or a few pairs of pants replaces years of that single-use stream.
- Beats plastic Most pads are up to 90% plastic and tampons come in plastic applicators and wrappers — a cup or pants cut nearly all of that recurring plastic out.
Good for you
- Saves money After the upfront €20–35, you stop buying disposables month after month — often saving €40–60 a year, and far more over a cup's multi-year life.
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