So your menstrual cup has reached the end of its purpose serving you, and it’s time to let it go. Medical grade silicone is awesome because it’s durable, so it doesn’t break down into microplastics and further pollute the environment. But being inert also means it takes hundreds of years to decompose, so throwing it away in a bin just adds up to the landfill. So – it’s important we let it go equally friendly as she’s been serving us.
There are various ways of discarding our old menstrual cup without leaving a trace. Here are some ideas:
A menstrual cup offers small amounts of water for your plants, which makes it easier to apply the exact amount for the smaller, or perhaps more delicate plants. Many flowers and house plants don’t need much water, neither do cacti or herbs…
Another fun fact – many women apply their menstrual blood to their plants! Since plants benefit from nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium – which they usually get with fertilizers we buy – these exact components are also carried by our menstrual blood. If you decide to give it a go, just make sure you water your blood down to dilute it, because it will be too salty by itself for your plants: 1 part blood to 9 parts water is the recommended ratio. Some only add menstrual blood to the inedible plants, while others fertilize their veggy gardens, too. If you want to read more about this topic, here might be a good place to do it.
You can use your old cup to refill your small pets’ water bowls. Hamsters, mice, guinea pigs, tortoises and event cats use small amounts of liquid (water, milk), for which a cup is just big (or small) enough to be served with.
The good thing is that you can easily throw your cup in a dishwasher with the rest of your dishes if want! Of course only do that when you are no longer using your cup for your menstruation. 😉
While rings and other small jewelry can easily get lost in bigger boxes, a menstrual cup holds a nice amount of small jewelry, and when you want to take one out, you don’t have to dig too deep to find it.
You can color and hang your old cup on your Christmas tree when the time is right, and during the rest of the year you can simply decorate your room with it. Not being ashamed of our menstrual products even after they’ve served their purpose is powerful, and functions as a statement of an independent woman, who isn’t ashamed of her body. Wouldn’t you agree?
Since Pure cup is made of 100% medical grade silicone and has no additional colouring, burning it once you’ve decided to let it go is completely environmentally friendly. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s actually completely harmless to do that. Hear me out.
Highly resistant to temperature and remaining it’s physical properties until up to 200°C, medical grade silicone will take a while to become brittle and melt. That’s why burning it indoors isn’t a good idea, and a bonfire is. The temperature of a bonfire gradually heats up to around 600°C, but can reach 1000-1100°C, and the marvelous thing is that the cup doesn’t release any toxic fumes, because it is a non-toxic combustion product. If incinerated, silicone only gives off silicon, carbon dioxide and water vapour, in comparison with the toxic gases generated by burning plastics. In the end, your cup will turn into ashes which you can then even compost – how awesome is that?
If you know any other creative ways of making use of an old menstrual cup, do tell, we’ll be happy to include it here on the blog and share it on social media! Tell us a particularly ingenious way and win yourself a free cup! 😉
