While menstruation is no longer a taboo subject thanks to various measures that have created awareness, there is still one aspect that has not been addressed, say Atyantika Mookherjee, Manasvi Dholakia and Ishita Desai. The three 16-year-old students of Navy Children School, Kochi, are the co-founders of The Red Lotus, a project that aims to open people’s eyes to the problem of disposal of sanitary napkins.
On May 28, World Menstrual Day, the trio conducted a webinar on the topic in collaboration with Shed Red, a Canadian organisation that addresses menstrual inequality.
The impetus to found The Red Lotus in January 2021 came from a visit to a sanitation plant where they saw workers segregating used sanitary pads from house waste. The girls conducted a survey of 200 women in the 15-54 age group and found that unhygienic disposal of sanitary pads was indeed a rampant issue.
“Our main points of focus are how people dispose menstrual waste and whether they know what happens to it after that,” says Manasvi adding that the plight of sanitation workers has been completely overlooked. “It has always been about waste disposal and not about those who are handling waste. We got a chance to see the reality behind the unhygienic disposal of sanitary pads.” Atyantika agrees that the visit showed them “how essential it is for sustainable menstrual practices to be adopted.”
Manasvi recalls a worker at a waste management plant in Ernakulam saying ruefully: “the least people can do is to segregate menstrual waste from other house waste.” “This is our aim, that sanitation workers are not at risk by working in unhygienic conditions,” she says.The friends began by making newspaper envelopes that carried a sticker with their logo. These disposal bags were distributed to 15 women. They also held webinars on the topic for the local ‘mahila mandal’ and for Ramnarain Ruia College in Mumbai.
Currently, the trio is making envelopes by hand with the help of two volunteers from New Delhi and Surat.The team is also looking to tie up with paper bag makers to upscale their efforts and induct more volunteers to spread awareness on proper disposal of sanitary pads. Their project can be found on Instagram @theredlotusproject and on their website.
