GladRags Gab

It's a virtual lovefest right now between we makers of menstrual alternatives!  My counterpart over at Lunapads , Madeleine Shaw, just posted about me and GladRags and I have to say right up front I did not pay her to write it!!! But I would have in a heartbeat because it is glowing and my head swelled to an enormous size as I was reading it. Read it here. I'm lucky to  have her as a friend.

And while it's kind of weird to recommend a competitor's blog to our customers and readers, I have to say Madeleine is worth reading anytime, on any subject.  As I have told her before, sometimes I feel like she has gone inside my head and taken my swirling thoughts and put them down into cohesive, inspired, and sometimes downright poetical blog posts. That's because she has the pulse of what is going on in the world and especially the world of women and the environment.  I usually have two reactions to her posts: 1) wow, that's right on; and 2) Damn! Why didn't I write that!  

So thank you, Madeleine, for your kind and generous words about me and for talking about our rather strange but happy competitor/compatriot relationship. And more than that, for your always thoughtful and thought-provoking words on important topics in our world.

-Brenda

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December Monthly Friend: Michele A.

Age: 26

Current Location: Brooklyn, New York

What she does: She is a performative story teller and a kinesthetic monologist. “They don’t have words for what I am.” she says. And, oh yeah, she’s also a waiter.

Dreams: “I wanna have a dream!” She guesses that right now her dream is that her friend, who is due to give birth sometime next week, has a healthy baby. Another dream of hers is, “That someday I will chill out and realize that I am not in control of the whole universe, and to let things just happen to me.”

How long she has used menstrual alternatives: Probably for about 9 years, starting around the age of 17 or so. Michele said that she stopped using tampons and pads at this young age because she realized that conventional products were inconvenient, expensive and uncomfortable. Around that time she was validated in her ideas while reading the book Cunt by Inga Muscio and realized “Wow! Other people don’t like those either? Awesome!”

Reason for switching:  “Back then I wasn’t about to use a pad (they’re like diapers!), and just forget about tampons! So I just started to bleed all over myself.” Eventually she started innovating -  she would stick a sock in her underwear, or just whatever soft fabric was around. After a while it seemed right to do something more intentional, making her cycle more hers.  She started collecting rags for this purpose and after a while she had her “bag o’ rags”. In a culture such as ours where bleeding is hidden and forgotten, this enlightened young woman was celebrating hers.

Michele once had an assignment in her ritual dance class, in which she had to find something she did with intention, and create a dance about it. Her dance was about the ritual she had cultivated of “reading” the period blood on her rags. When she had to change or refold her rags she would ask ask the universe a question and then apply what she saw in her blood in whatever way seemed right.

As an ending note and as a great plug for us, Michele would also like to say how much she loves her GladRags, and how dainty and lady-like it makes her feel to use her beautiful, soft, lovely Rags.

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I had no idea that having kids would equate to a house full of so much stuff. Even with good intentions and honest efforts, it comes through our doors like a pink plastic wave. I sort through the playroom almost once a month and take at least one trash bag of toys, stuffed animals, and figurines to Salvation Army. The kids never even realize the stuff is gone. This is still no match for the Grandparents, and let’s be honest, even my own penchant for the newer and the brighter. As the holidays approach, I’m taking a serious look at myself and the choices I make.

But if there is anything I have learned so far, it is that you can’t tell kids much. You must must must show them. Whether it is hosting clothing swaps, visiting second hand stores, or actively committing to less plastic (it finally hit home that none of this stuff was going to disintegrate in a landfill), children will only understand important decisions about using resources by example. When we take cloth grocery bags to the store and my GladRags soak in their pot in the bathroom where my kids see them, I am proud to model joyful, responsible choices. I’m not perfect but I feel solid about the message my GladRags give and grateful for all the things my cloth pads represent, without saying a word, to my kids.

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We’re heading into cold season, why not spare your nose and the local landfill the pain of scratchy tissue? GladRags carries super soft reusable hankies made out of organic undyed cotton, and right now they are on special for 15% off their regular price. Yet another simple way to reduce your impact on the planet. This 3-pack is also a great stocking stuffer for anyone with a nose!

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We like to hear of women doing awesome stuff in the world. It is just icing on the cake when they happen to enjoy the comfort of GladRags alternative menstrual products at the same time! Here’s a testimonial from one group of adventursome GladRags devotees:

We’re Rachel, Carla, and Jess, three botany field interns at Death Valley National Park. We plot vegetation throughout the park and spend most of our time in the wilderness. The menstrual cup makes our lives easier.
After spending a week or more in the field, the idea of carrying around our bloody disposable products in order to pack them out of pristine wilderness areas seems unpleasant. There’s the smell, which is not only foul for us, but also attracts animals like mountain lions and coyotes. We already have compost stinking up our gear. With cups, we don’t have to carry around a period’s supply of disposables in our already limited space and we don’t have to triple bag the used items with more disposable things to take home and add to our local landfill. As far as comfort goes, in the harsh desert climate the cup makes the most sense. The desert’s dry already, we’re glad we don’t have to shove dry tampons up our ‘ginas. Gladrags, thanks for offering us a great deal on menstrual alternatives. You’ve certainly improved our lives for the better!

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The kits available at GladRags are the way to go if you are trying to get the best value for your dollar. We’re reintroducing our Deluxe Kits to include 4 Pantyliners. Now with the purchase of one item you can get a whole cycle’s worth of the different pads we offer. We also retooled our Pad Sampler Kit to include the Carry Bag. The Carry Bag is super convenient and can be an essential part of the transition into fully incorporating the use of reusables into ones life. Both of these kits are available in Conventionaly grown Color cotton as well and Organic Undyed cotton. Come check out GladRags.com today!

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The first truly rainy day of the season has arrived here in Portland and with that in mind, we’ve decided that we could all use something extra warm and comforting to snuggle-up to.

The Comfort Back Pac by Herbal Concepts is filled with premium flax seeds and all-natural aromatherapeutic herbs such as chamomile, lavender, spearmint, rosemary and valerian among others. These flannel pacs can be heated in the microwave as the perfect answer to those cold fall days and nights!

Purchase your Comfort Back Pac in the month of October and receive 20% off the regular price!

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October Monthly Friend: Rose

Hometown: Boulder, Colorado
Current Location: Los Angeles, California
Age: 21
What she does: New to the LA area, she is about to attend the second round of an intensive program of acting classes.

Interests: Her many interests include reading and crocheting. She loves to go out dancing and sometimes bowling with her friends. And of course, true to the California girl she is quickly becoming, she loves going to the beach and shopping.
Dreams: Rose dreams of being a successful actress, accepting roles in which she can express the deep passion she feels for life. She wants to be financially secure and looks forward to traveling as well as getting married and having kids. She also dreams of paying her parents back for all their help. Roses also has a personal goal of writing a book someday.

How long she has used menstrual alternatives: About six months.

Reason for switching: Upon hearing about the various options available for her, they sounded better for the earth and also more convenient. Rose religiously uses the Moon Cup, as she was a loyal tampon user. She found the Moon Cup really comfortable as well way more convenient than tampons. She also uses the GladRags Pantyliners on occasion, but finds that she hardly needs to use them except for at the end of her cycle because her Moon Cup doesn’t leak or give her any reason to need a back-up.

Rose was so smitten with her menstrual cup at first use that she has recommended them to many of her friends. She says that not one of her friends had heard about menstrual alternatives, in fact many of them thought it was super weird. In the past few months she has convinced three people to try menstrual cups and they have all love them and would never go back to conventional menstrual solutions.

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The following excerpt is from a New York Times op-ed page.

Blocking Care for Women by HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON and CECILE RICHARDS

LAST month, the Bush administration launched the latest salvo in its eight-year campaign to undermine women’s rights and women’s health by placing ideology ahead of science: a proposed rule from the Department of Health and Human Services that would govern family planning. It would require that any health care entity that receives federal financing — whether it’s a physician in private practice, a hospital or a state government — certify in writing that none of its employees are required to assist in any way with medical services they find objectionable.  Read the complete article here and make a comment on the proposed ruling by September 25. 

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Former GladRags employee Diana, here. To give you all a glimpse into some of the expeditions upon which I have embarked since my departure, here’s bit about my most nautical journey to date – working as educator/deckhand aboard the schooner Adventuress.

The breathtaking vessel Adventuress is a 1913 schooner, currently underway in the Puget
Sound, educating all who climb aboard about environmental stewardship, nautical skills, communal living, and marine life. Participants in Adventuress sails are taught by crew about the benefits of plankton (they provide 2/3 the world’s oxygen!), shown how to tie a buntline knot, get to check out the living quarters below decks and, of course, must haul away on lines to raise the four sails of the ship: main, fore, stay and jib.

Cape Cod mamas ain’t got no pies
Heave away! Haul away!
They feed their children codfish eyes
And we’re bound away for Australia!

At first the sea shanties we sung as we tugged and pulled on the lines seemed a little silly, but they were invigorating during some challenging physical work. This good dose of manual labor, mixed with discussions of environmental education theory and the characteristics of chitons (super cool monopods found in the intertidal zone), gave great balance to life on Adventuress. My duties included helping to sail the ship and teach the curriculum of the environmental educational program, but I was the real student during my time on the ship. I came out of a month on the boat knowing more about sailing a tall ship, but I also was reminded of personal capability and empowerment.

Adventuress prides itself of the empowerment of its students. Many are nervous to be entrusted with tasks aboard a ship, especially if they have never sailed before. But the attitude aboard this schooner is: no new skill, unknown concept or uncharted land is out of anyone’s reach. I was at the bottom of the totem pole, skill-wise, on the boat and I was humbled, but I was then given the opportunity to learn boatloads (literally) and remember that my capabilities know no limits!

One of my most rewarding accomplishments coming out of the month on the Adventuress was the conversion of the majority of the female crew to reusable menstrual products. The sailor ladies received a big package from GladRags full of pads, sea sponges and cups – they really live the light footprint that they teach.

Sailing the seas in GladRags style,
Diana

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