Ella Daish started the campaign to ‘Make all Menstrual Products Plastic Free’ in February this year. Her petition has received an overwhelming response, with over 106,000 signatures to date.

Ella, a postal worker, became aware of just how many problems there are surrounding menstruation through the fantastic campaigning of inspiring individuals and groups working in this field. 

These issues range from the taboo that keeps people from talking about periods, to the environmental impacts of the plastic in our period care, to period poverty.

Period poverty

Period poverty has a huge impact. According to Plan UK, one in ten girls between the ages of 14 and 21 cannot afford menstrual products and a shocking 137,000 have missed school because of this. Period poverty also affects those who are homeless, refugees and simply those that cannot afford sanitary products.

It saddened Ella that in 2018 there are so many individuals out there who do not have access to these essentials – she wanted to address this by taking action.

After seeing reverse advent calendars last year in aid of food banks, Ella felt compelled to set up a similar project in aid of period poverty. That is why this year, rather than giving gifts to family and friends for Christmas, Ella is putting an eco-friendly item into her Eco Period Box each day throughout December. The box will then be donated to a period poverty charity at the start of the New Year.

Ella is an individual doing this and would love it if as many people as possible would support Eco Period Action for Good this December by joining in and taking positive action. 

You can join in by donating an item, sharing the Eco Period Box video, setting up a box at work or at home, encouraging others to get involved and by sharing what you are doing on social media using the hashtag #ecoperiodbox!

Get involved

Eco Period Box started on 1 December and ends on December 31st. 

You can get eco-period products from local health food shops and supermarkets. If your time is limited then there are multiple online stores that you can buy from and get your order sent directly to your chosen charity by using their address in the delivery details. 

You can donate to period poverty charities like the Red Box Project, Bloody Good Period, Freedom 4 Girls and local food banks such as the Trussell Trust.

Anything you do or donate is truly appreciated, remember to post your donation pictures on social media using the #ecoperiodbox to help spread the word and encourage others to get involved!

For more information check out Ella’s blog post here, and follow her on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for regular updates.

This Author 

Marianne Brooker is a commissioning editor for The Ecologist.