A conservancy worker descends a manhole to clean out a blocked drain
Eco Femme, a manufacturer of
reusable sanitary pads in Auroville, recently met with conservancy
workers in Chennai and learnt about the devastating social impact of
disposable pads. Bindu reports.
“When you throw something away, where
is away?” asks the celebrated environmental activist, Julia
Butterfly Hill. Indeed, where is away? “Away” conjures that
mythical place, far from one’s home, where one is absolved from
dealing with the ignominious impact of one’s action.
Years ago, as a teenager, when I
flushed my disposable sanitary napkin down the toilet, I was not
thinking of where was “away”. I was celebrating my liberation as
a modern, urban woman who was free from the discriminatory
superstitions and taboos regarding menstruation that were inflicted
on my rural cousins. (In India, as in most cultures worldwide, there
are a number of prevalent beliefs and taboos about menstruation that
seek to limit a wo...
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