GladRags Gab

What about that 'ick' factor of reusables, huh?  We all know that they are far from icky and closer to FANTASTIC but do you remember a time when you didn't think so fondly of your GladRags?  Here's what Elise remembers.  ~Diana

Hard to say what changed my mind about the "ick".  It wasn't one thing and somewhat coincided with starting a compost pile, recycling, eating more whole natural foods, organic gardening, and being a Mom…all things that have to do with preserving the environment for the future, and being less self-conscious but more conscious of the world around me.  I still have my original Keeper (and so does one of my sisters who I got started on GladRags too).  I can't go back, of course.  The Keeper is so great for everything from hiking and camping to business trips.  I don't need a box of supplies, but just some negligible space in a purse or carry-on.  Thanks for great products that last and last.  Certainly money well spent.  Hopefully, I can continue the trend–my young daughter recently asked what that isle in the supermarket was for, and I told her many women use disposables they buy each month instead of the things I have…she wrinkled her nose…"oh, they just throw them away?" (maybe that will be the new ick factor some day)

- Elise 

Remember last Monday when I let y'all know about The Virtuous Consumer by Leslie Garrett?  Well, Garrett featured GladRags and the menstrual cups in her book, as well as a quote from me (Diana) in that book.  And Garrett, in her multi-media-ness, also hosts a radio show on CHRW in London, Ontario.  Boldly bringing menstruation and menstrual alternatives into the media, Garrett invited me (Diana, again) onto her show to orient listeners to the world of reusables.

It's about time the dialog got ON AIR!  Take a listen here. And be patient - there's some music before the menstruation talk and commercials. 

Then it's all about that great period talk!

~ Diana

I have always thought of myself a pretty eco-conscious person, but when I started working at GladRags, I realized that I hardly do anything GREEN aside from taking 5 minutes showers, turning the heat off at night, opening windows and doors in the summer instead of using an air conditioner, letting the rain fall wash my car, eating local and when I can afford it, organic. I got to thinking, and researching other ways I could live a more green, eco-friendly life… and this is what I came up with:

Change out your BULBS!

By switching your standard bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs, you will be using less wattage, therefore saving money as well! These bulbs last about 2-8 years, are fairly cheap at most local building centers, and just switching out 5 of your household bulbs is like taking 1,000 cars of the road!  

Don't Eat Fast Food!

I know it's so easy, but most fast food chains use way too much packaging, do not use local meats, fish, fowl, or veggies, therefore not helping local farmers. Eat Local, Buy Local!

Drive Less!

I have made the commitment of walking or biking to work now that I live closer. Gas prices are out of control, and the emissions of our little fun toys are the single biggest cause of pollution. Get out of your car and bike, ride public transport, skateboard, roller-skate, run, or walk!

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Take a few minutes to read E.McKibbon's beautiful words.  She tells us of the various transformations she has undergone in how she thinks about her body, menstruation and nature.  There are some great insights here - grab a cup of coffee. ~Diana 

I'm writing to say that I love your products. But I also appreciate that you give people the opportunity to talk about the wrongly- tabooed subject of menstruation, for long ago, it was something to be respected and honored.

I use your Sea Pearls tampons and your GladRags. I have never been a woman who thought periods were disgusting or a hindrance to my life-quite the opposite actually. When I was in my early teens, I looked forward to starting my period, and when it came at 14, my mother took me to our local gourmet market. She bought me a special sandwich, a piece of chocolate cake, a bouquet of flowers, and my first box of pads. I felt so special and womanly.

A few years later, I went on the pill. My period lightened significantly and only became a symbol of not being pregnant. I didn't think too much more of it than that. However, as I got into my early twenties, I became much more aware of nature. I surfed, I hiked, I lay on the beach and listened to Mama Ocean's waves, and I began to have an intuition that being on the pill was not for me.

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You know when you watch an enlightening documentary on some social ill - global warming, the state of US health care, violence in the US, political corruption - and you are all worked up about the injustice and just can't wait to do something? But wait, there was nothing IN that documentary about doing something; there was just a whole ton of stuff to bring ya down.

Well, I like Leslie Garrett's approach in The Virtuous Consumer better. In this book, Garrett gives readers the practical tools to take those much needed steps towards environmentally-friendly living. We know that global warming is a problem and now we're going to do something about it. But we didn't learn our bad habits in a day and they certainly won't be changed in a day. Garrett is patient with us and encouraging with her easy tips.

From 'Eco-Chic' to 'Celebrations that Save the Earth', Garrett schools us in sustainability. She even interviewed me about GladRags and other menstrual reusables (my name's in the index and everything). I'm one of her Virtuous Consumers Next Door and I, a bit to my embarassment, tell of wearing sea sponge tampons when I wore a dress to a wedding that didn't quite allow for - ahem - GladRags supporting underpants(!).

Read more about Leslie Garret on her site www.virtuousconsumer.com and pick up your own copy of The Virtuous Consumer - make me famous!

Blushing,

Diana

I have a way to fold my GladRags that I thought was unique. I remove my used pad and fold the long ends into the middle, essentially folding the soiled part onto itself. Then I use the wings to wrap up the sides and snap the snaps (upside down for them) on the top of this nice little package and it all seems very Japanese zen-like. One day I mentioned it to other GladRags employees and get a very blasé response, “Oh yeah, that way, nah I don’t usually do that.” So much for my brilliant discovery.

It worked, however, quite well when I backpacked in Nepal. I kept all the neat little square packages in a Ziploc until we camped in a place long enough for me to wash and dry them in a stream, or in one case until we got back to a hotel. In this instance, we happened to take a short flight and upon arrival in a small Nepali airport, my bag was searched. I think the man who searched the small canvas tote that I kept my GladRags in, including my Ziploc full of used but neatly buttoned up GladRags, was slightly more impressed with this innovation.

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i just read Jenny Rose Ryan's post about her grandmother's rag bag. My own two grannies grew up poor in Oklahoma and they were scrimpers, what we would now call masters of frugal living. Granny Mallory, with an ever present thimble on her finger, sat sewing a quilt nearly every night and I still use potholders she made from my uncle's old jeans. My Granny B could bake like an angel but if there was a morsel left it was thrown over the fence to feed the chickens - no edible ever went into her trash. And because she grew up having to draw water from a well, she was an absolute water miser. Dishwater was thrown on the flowers by the door and rainwater collected to wash her hair (long after running water was a fixture in her house). I sort of dreaded when she stayed over to take care of my sister and me because our nighttime bath was only an inch deep. No room for rubber ducky entertainment in that tub!

My niece, who works at the EPA doing research on sustainable stormwater systems thinks Granny B's graywater usage and rainwater conservation passion might have influenced her career choice. And I know the saving ways of my grandmothers have influenced my artmaking career and my work at GladRags. Thanks, Grannies, for passing on your green livin' ways.

-Brenda 

Avid GladRags enthusiast Jenny Rose shares with us the story of the rag bag and her personal account of struggling with endometriosis (and a cyst named Janice) and the relief that she has found in GladRags.  Read on for some great takes on the 'Rag ~ Diana

My grandma Lucy, knitter and canner extraordinaire, sometimes mentioned the "rag bag” that she and her sisters shared.  In a household of women, it was a known secret – kept under the bed and well-stocked in a family of many teenagers close in age.  I don’t know if she and her sisters designed and sewed their own snapping pads or if the bag really was filled with rags as its name indicates (she died when I was 12), but I do know that she liked the quiet community it created in her childhood home.  While no one fought over cleaning the rags, she and her sisters did work together to find the best and most absorbent fabrics and argued over who got to use those rags when her period came around.

In my life, GladRags have been a savior.  I have endometriosis (and an ovarian cyst that I’ve carried for a year and a half and named Janice).  For me, this disease means really hard-to-control periods, near-constant bloating and pain.  Sometimes this pain translates to early-morning cowering on the bathroom floor – where my uterus seems to want to jump ship.  Disposables make me uncomfortable and self-conscious (and also wasteful), and other reusable devices are too invasive and sometimes painful.  When I discovered GladRags, well, I immediately saw a difference in my body.  Not only did I feel less self-conscious and “crinkly,” I also saw a marked reduction in pain.  Perhaps grandma was really onto something when she, too, sought out soft and cozy fabrics for her own monthly visitor!

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If you have ever wondered what a real person thinks about the Moon Cup (and not just one of us GladRaggers) you can check out Tracy's Moon Cup Diary here

Tracy offers a day-by-day account of what it is like to use a menstrual cup for the first time.  There are some ups and downs (and some hilarities) that I think will be helpful to any woman contemplating the leap to a reusable menstrual cup.

Just a disclaimer - yes, Tracy is a 'real' person and a 'true' supporter of menstrual alternatives, but she does stop into the GladRags office once a week to supervise the developmentally disabled work crew that comes in to help us out.  GladRags, upon Tracy's proposition, supplied her with a Moon Cup to help her with her diary, though none of us knew how it was going to work out (Tracy is a sponge and GladRag fan).  Read her diary to see what the final verdict is: http://mooncupdiary.blogspot.com/

Happy in autumn,

Diana 

As the founder and owner of GladRags, I want to thank you for being part of the GladRags community, a community dedicated to empowering women and fostering healthy and sustainable lifestyles.  You might have been using GladRags products for years, or you might have started using them last week. Whatever your level of involvement with GladRags products, I'd like to learn about your recent experience.     

I hope you will  invest 10 minutes to share some information with me. I'm interested in learning about the type of people who purchase GladRags and how GladRags products are used.  Your feedback is critical to the company's success and will help me and my team better anticipate and respond to your needs.

Everyone who completes our online survey will receive a coupon toward their next GladRags purchase.

To take our survey, please go to: www.surveymonkey.com/gladrags

I really appreciate your participation in this project. Thank you so much.

Brenda Mallory

Founder and Owner, GladRags