In episode 151, Kestrel welcomes Gitte Dalberg-Larsen, the founder of Organicup, to the show. The award-winning menstrual cup, Organicup helps replace pads and tampons, and reduce waste connected to women’s health.
“We are on a mission to improve menstrual health on a personal and cultural and global level.”In this week’s show, Gitte shares more on what led her to build a menstrual cup company, and what she has learned along the way. Additionally, she provides more of an in-depth look at how much period waste each menstruating woman generates throughout her life.
Gitte + Kestrel also dive into how society historically has aligned women’s health, sexuality, and menstruation with taboo topics, and how we can continue to further challenge these systemic norms.
The below thoughts, ideas + organizations were brought up in this chat:
The first menstrual cup was actually introduced in the 1930s, but then it never caught on or took off.
“For an average woman, we use approximately 11,000 disposable pads and tampons in our lifetime of having our period. So, if you multiple that number by all the women on this planet, it’s really a substantial amount of waste.
”In the US alone, 12 billion pads and 7 million tampons pollute the landfills annually.”
“The time it takes for a tampon or a pad to degrade in a landfill is centuries longer than the lifespan of the woman who’s throwing it out.”
Period Poverty: a lot of young girls and women cannot afford period products — the menstrual cup is one option to help reduce these costs — Organicup partners with several nonprofits in Europe and around the world to help get menstrual cups to women who need them.
Nelson ZêPequéno of Black Men With Gardens and Cayetano Talavera of Hecho By Caye on why fashion needs to listen to nature’s lessons on slowing down, tuning in, practicing patience & cultivating c
Teju Adisa-Farrar of Black Fiber & Textile Network and Author Layla K. Feghali on geography and what our relationship to place can teach us about *sustainability*
Wafa Ghnaim of Tatreez and Tea & Dr. Tanveer Ahmed of Central Saint Martins on preserving culture, decolonial frameworks, and how intersectional reform can be a pathway toward sustainable fashion futu
Sustainable fashion podcasters unite — Emily Stochl of Pre-Loved Podcast & Stella Hertantyo of Conscious Style Podcast help us reflect on 11 years since Rana Plaza, celebrating collective movements
Upcycling artists Francisco Alcazar & Ella Wiznia of Series NY are redefining sustainable fashion while reimagining craft & challenging the gender binary
How gender plays into the devaluing of knowledge and its links to sustainable fashion & wellness with Megan Schnitker of Lakota Made and Niha Elety of Tega Collective
Celebrating the cultural tradition, past and present, of Palestinian Tatreez with artists / educators Lina Barkawi and Eman Toom & why sustainable fashion must include cultural sustainability
Intergenerational knowledge & sustainable fashion — how clothing is more than just aesthetics; it’s about the upholding of cultural practices and the amplifying of knowledge & traditions
Vintage stylist Beth Jones & Dounia Wone of Vestiaire Collective on whether fast fashion brands fit into the resale experience
Why self work is integral to advocating for transformation in fashion & why we must deeply question our personal values to truly get active in creating a more sustainable fashion future
Denali Jöel on fashion as an art praxis rooted in Afro-Indigenous philosophies, interrogating the emphasis placed on the *industry* & reminding us of the possibility of creating new ecosystems
Julius Tillery aka the "Puff Daddy Of Cotton" on the need to remix both the perception of the cotton industry and the business model
Cassandra Pintro of Consumption Project on welcoming her community to challenge their buying habits and question what is *enough*
Jeanell English on navigating the pressure to project a certain image in business & across climate spaces and balancing the worlds of activists & execs as a leader in impact
Muchaneta Ten Napel on utilizing tech as a tool to change how fashion does business, not a crutch that will *save us all* & preparing for the fashion policy changes that are on the horizon
*Breaking It Down* with Rachel Arthur, lead author of The Sustainable Fashion Communication Playbook, an actionable guide co-published by UNEP and UN Climate Change
Tameka Peoples of Seed2Shirt on rebuilding equitable + just cotton systems & fostering the reclamation of cotton acreage for Black farmers
Lisa Diegel, Global Sustainability Director, on Faherty's Native Initiatives, what mutually beneficial relationships can look like in practice, and the nuanced ways brands must take responsibility for
Eric Liedtke of UNLESS on pressing fashion to ditch the plastic ingredients and ideating on what it will take for corporations to truly change
A new era of storytelling at Conscious Chatter, meet our newest team member Natalie Shehata & what slow media means for us in practice
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