Eco-Menses Club!

After the several posts on the DivaCup, including the awesome tips and advice from the comment section of the "Overshare" post, I vowed I would not become obsessed. However (lol), recent conversations with friends have led me to believe that we perhaps have formed some sort of cult of the DivaCup. (photo source)

Weird, but the topic of menstruation and how to deal with it actually has come up fairly often in random conversations with friends and family. Who knew that I'd actually be ok with talking about my period?? My friend H. and I were chatting last night about how we're slowly amassing a gaggle of DivaCup converts... Like a strange eco-mense club. I'm pretty sure not one of these women made the switch because of the environmental impact, but because of the convenience and superior... umm... performance (hah!).

My friend M. however, completely surprised me when she called to say she didn't make it through her first day of DivaCup awesomeness. She was so utterly disgusted by her cycle that she actually googled it to make sure it was normal. I find it sad that as women we are so socialized at such a young age to be ashamed of our cycle and to think of it as "gross" that most of us have no idea what it actually looks like in a little cup. I gave her a pep talk about how we all adjust and I'm hoping for the best.

I even converted my Tante (Aunt). Such a strange moment; I called my mom a few weeks ago and the first thing she said was that I had to talk to Tante D., who was visiting, about the DivaCup. Supposedly she had stopped by my mom's cottage to see if she had any tampons. Since mom is wonderfully paused, she only kept some for me, and she announced that I no longer use them. Tante D. was completely amazed that such a thing even existed and the conversation was pretty darn awkward, filled with her cautious questions of "I came over to ask your mother about.... feminine products" and my blunt answers of "tampons? You mean for your period?"... lol. Trying to explain what it looked like and how it worked over the phone was interesting (I'm a hand talker, so I was gesturing to the phone quite a bit... which looked awkward as I was gesturing about vaginas lol). She was pumped and said that she was going to the health food store "tomorrow" to pick up a blue cup ("Why haven't I seen this on billboards or something???").

YES! This is a quiet little revolution, kinda like a grassroots deal. I feel like such a REBEL! This morning I wondered just how much money and tampons I have saved over the past year and a half. I can calculate this, no problem. Except.... I'm having a hard time remembering just what it was LIKE using tampons. Ok, think- I probably used around 5 a day (wow, SO MUCH), so say 30 in a cycle. I bought Tampax, so average price was around 12$ CAD a month.

Over 18 months that's 216$ saved and 540 tampons prevented from the landfill. Holy poop Batman! Seriously, as a total prude when it comes to personal space and matters, I cannot believe how fantastic and easy this whole DivaCup process has been. I would never in a million years go back.

A little tidbit of info I just learned: if you have a yeast infection DivaCup indicates that you should NOT use your cup. If you do use your cup, you should replace it as they cannot guarantee that the candida bacteria can be killed by boiling, or whether a regular gal could with certainty create the right conditions (i.e. saline solution boiling). Also, if you are using topical medications you should never use your cup as it can degrade the silicone. I had no idea!

Do you have any DivaCup "Join the Cult/Club" success stories or info? Or if you'd love to try it, but are too weirded out, unsure, nervous- check out my Overshare post and the fantastic comments that ensued!

Blessings!