TANYA NARANG

'I'm Tanya Narang, a 16-year-old student from India. I'm passionate about climate action, period poverty and enjoy western singing. I’m the founder of Full Stop, a youth social impact to drive awareness about menstrual health and drive product distribution camps. I also host and produce a show & podcast called ‘The Entrepreneurial ChangeMakers’ that shares news about individuals, brands and interviews leaders who make a positive change in the world in the areas of Sustainable Development Goals, climate change, renewables and gender equity. I have been singing since the age of 5 and I’m a trained western vocal singer, having received level 7 certification by The Rock School, UK. Today, I’m sharing about climate action and making a case for switching to green menstrual products. I’m reachable at :  https://linktr.ee/tanyanarang

Switch to Green Menstrual Products to End Period Poverty

A World Bank report shows that about 500 million menstruators lack access to menstrual products and adequate facilities for menstrual hygiene management (MHM). Lack of awareness about menstrual hygiene management, not having availability, access or money to buy menstrual products or water, toilets and privacy is termed as ‘period poverty’. This often leads to girls & young women missing their schools and workplaces and falling behind.

My exposure to menstrual health management(MHM) happened when I heard that our housekeeper would stop coming to work every month, as she would be at her home to tend to her daughter who wasn’t able to go to the local school. When I spoke to her, she told me that her daughter was menstruating and she couldn’t send her to school, as the sanitary pads were expensive and the home alternatives, they used weren’t good enough for the full duration of the school. That’s when I realized that not every menstruator has access to and is able to afford period products. While, we supported her with funding, so her daughter wouldn’t miss school due to periods, I wanted to find out more and how I could contribute. This was also my firsthand exposure to period poverty and that’s why I decided to kickstart Full Stop, my initiative to spread awareness and organize MHM donation camps for the under-privileged menstruators.

My research showed that most big companies sell single-use menstrual hygiene products like sanitary pads, tampons which requires menstruators to buy these products every month. However, not everyone can afford them, as The World Bank study says. In India, menstruation products access is still at a low 30–40%. In India, as per a recent study, around 12.3 billion sanitary napkins get used annually, leading to 113,000 tons of waste reaching landfills and accounting for nearly 3% of India’s annual plastic waste. With up to 90% content of these sanitary napkins being plastic, it can take anywhere from 500 to 800 years to decompose due to its non-biodegradable content. And this problem will only get magnified in the coming years!!

Switching to green menstruation options is now possible, thanks to new age companies & many “menstrupreneurs” who have come up with innovative, reusable & affordable products like menstrual cups, washable under wears & reusable cotton cloth pads. These green menstrual products allow millions of girls & women who cannot access or afford disposable pads to get eco-friendly, accessible, affordable, reusable and sustainable menstrual products, and come out of period poverty.

Lets commit to switch to Green Menstrual Products and start our journey towards ending period poverty. Please support my Change.org petition to get Period Products For All Menstruators. https://Chng.it/h9xx4ndG

Here’s an inspiring story about women workers from a village near Gurgaon, India who couldn’t afford sanitary pads and would end up missing work, but with the help of Pure Hearts Club, an NGO, we helped them to switch to reusable and  greener menstrual cups, which helped them overcome period poverty and improve their regular source of income. https://bit.ly/3RqChrC