There are around 18 million women of menstruating age in the UK. Disposal of single use menstrual products ie: tampons, pads and applicators generates 200,000 tonnes of waste per year. Women use more than 11,000 disposable menstrual products in their lifetime (based on average of 38 years of menstruation using 22 items of sanitary products per cycle, 13 cycles per year), and half of UK women admit to flushing tampons down the toilet. Menstrual products help to make up 80% of drain blockages that cost over £88 million a year to unblock. We sat down with WUKA to discuss all about making periods sustainable…
WUKA is a female-led start-up that makes sustainable period underwear. We are the UK’s first-ever reusable and leak-proof period wear. WUKA stands for Wake Up Kick Ass because we believe that nothing should hold you back on your period. Our main promises are eco-friendly products and business practices, less waste and maximum comfort. We believe that sustainable periods should not affect the Earth. Equality, social and environmental responsibility are at the heart of everything we do.
200,000 tonnes of disposable pads and tampons are sent to landfill every single year in the UK, each containing vast amounts of polluting, single-use plastic. And according to WEN, menstrual pads contain up to 90% plastic and 2 billion menstrual items are flushed down Britain’s toilets every single year!
One pair of WUKA Period Pants can save 200 single-use plastic-riddled disposables from polluting our ocean or going to landfill. Making the simple switch to period pants makes a huge difference to our planet, but also to our period experiences! Feeling the utmost comfort during your bleed is something we pride ourselves in and we use the highest quality of materials in all of our underwear. From GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) organic cotton, to Tencel made from sustainable beech trees, to Econyl made from plastic waste from our oceans.
Like Little Soap, we at WUKA want to eliminate single-use plastics and make the swap to sustainable alternatives. By making the switch to period underwear, you are able to reduce plastic-riddled disposable pads and tampons and have a comfortable and sustainable period. We have collaborated with Little Soap and are running a 15% discount with the code LITTLESOAP which will be valid until the end of August.
