sooyindotcom

I was surfing around and stumbled on this link on the Project Petaling Street page: Mooncups in Asia.

Hmmm…I was intrigued. In I went.

I swear my jaw dropped.

I never knew such things existed! So I clicked on one of the links to one of the company’s website to find out more, and it led me to their Q&A section. All the questions had reassuring answers…except the following (not a word by word excerpt, yah…):

Q: “Will it get stuck?”
A: “Yadda yadda yadda, don’t panic, can be taken out, etc. BUT if it does ride up too high to reach, please call our toll free customer service line as our experienced staff can help.”

I was rolling on the floor with laughter. Yes, I can just imagine the following conversation:

Customer: “Hi, I’m facing a small problem, was wondering if you could help?”
Staff: “May I know what’s the problem?”
Customer: “Well, my cup is…stuck.”
Staff: “Oh, not a problem. Have you tried Method 1/2/3/etc…?”
Customer: “Yes yes…I’ve tried everything and it’s still stuck!!”
Staff: “In that case, please be patient. We will dispatch one of our staff to assist in the removal as soon as possible.”

Right. I can just imagine that happening. How in the world are they going to assist you in getting it out? I for one ain’t…err…baring it all even though desperate times may call for desperate measures! *grin*

Anyways, here’s an description written by the author about the product and her experience (yes, this is a word by word excerpt):

I’m a Malaysian chinese girl in my mid-20s. I’m not a pagan, a feminist, an Greenpeace groupie or a quack selling gag-joke products (in fact, this is the first time I have ever sold anything commercially). I care about both the environment and my body because I have to live with both for the next 50 years. I’m a normal woman - just like you or your girlfriend, wife or sister.

I recently discovered menstrual cups while surfing on the net - reference the very good Museum of Menstruation website.

The first web forum that I discovered was based in the U.S. and discussed the merits of the Keeper / Divacup - cups made out of natural gum latex and medical grade silicone respectively.

I was apprehensive at first - after all, I cannot even stand tiny tampons, let alone this seemingly huge rubber thing! However, as I have always tried to be environmentally conscious, I ordered one from the States. I’ve never looked back since.

Using it was a cinch from the get go - probably because I had read so many other women’s experiences so I knew exactly what to avoid and what would make the whole process easier.

I subsequently found out about the mooncup, which is the same as the Keeper, only made of medical grade silicone. Personally, I preferred the shape of the Keeper to the Divacup - the Diva looked larger and longer for one thing! So I ordered a mooncup.

I feel liberated by my Mooncup! I no longer need to worry about carrying around disposable products or how to “get rid of the evidence” if I am moving around a lot (my office is predominantly male and there’s no sanitary disposal bin). I no longer have to feel umcomfortable stickiness or worry that I need to change my pad in case it leaks or starts to smell (disposable pads, on their own have an inherent unpleasant smell, which is exacerbated by moisture). I no longer have to worry about how much I am spending on disposable products.

Wanting to spread the word around (After all, if I did not know about it, no-one else will), I’ve arranged a distributorship with www.mooncup.co.uk in the UK, and will be receiving the first shipment to Malaysia soon. I don’t expect to make a profit from selling these cups, my primary aim is to spread their use, and concurrently decrease the use of disposables.

It’s in everyone’s best interests to spread the word on menstrual cups - in terms of Women’s health generally and also in terms of slowing the impact of non-biodegradeable disposable products on our landfills.

No-one wants to go swimming on the beach with their grandchildren 30 years from now only to be confronted by floating discarded disposable products used when they were younger.

Well, while the concept of it sounds pretty darn good and there are some pretty good testimonials from the original distributor’s website, I still don’t know if it’s something I personally would try. Periods are icky. Period (no pun intended). Inserting tampons are icky. I wouldn’t even try tampons without the applicator. And this sounds pretty similar to tampons without applicators. Just that the menstrual blood is still there and not all soaked up. Still, that’s just my personal opinion, so if you are interested and want to know more, do check out Mooncups in Asia.

You really do learn something new everyday.