Students of a city college have manufactured an all-natural, biodegradable sanitary napkins using fibres from indigenous plants and plan to sell it at a low cost for the benefit of women.
Students of the Department of Botany, St. Joseph's College, have developed sanitary pads out of a succulent plant which grows widely in the hilly areas around Tiruchi. T. Francis Xavier, Assistant Professor, said that the idea came when the students visited Koli Hills for a college project. “We spent time with the villagers there and found that they were using these raw fibres wrapped with a cloth during menstruation. Drawing inspiration from their usage and struggle, four students from the third year batch attempted making pads using the material for their final-year project,” he said.
The four students, Bharanitharan. L., Vairavan. S., Samroy Terrance and V. Bhuvaneshwari sourced the plants, manually removed the fibres and processed them with antibacterial light-chemicals. After processing, they lined the fibres on both sides with organic cotton and covered the cotton layer with soft paper. The students also assembled a pad compressor to standardise the size and thickness of the sanitary napkin. “We set up an in vitro sterilisation chamber and also ensured that each pad is individually sterilized using UV light,” said Mr. Terrance. The students learned that this fibre naturally absorbs liquid and stores it in a gel form. This was why women were using it in the villages, they said. “The gel in factory-made sanitary napkins are made out of petroleum-by products and may cause rashes. They also take several years to decompose,” Mr. Xavier said. The entire manufacturing process, including the machinery cost ₹15,000. The students plan to sell the pads at ₹2 each.
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Rev. M. Arockiasamy Xavier, Principal, said that the students were eager to breathe life into their idea and had approached him. “They have now applied for a patent. Several companies have also approached us to buy it. We are considering the offers as we want the product to benefit the poor too,” he said.