Flurries of Preparation

Our send-off for our ride down the west coast is less than two months away—both Sarah and I are busy figuring out logistics, getting the sponsorship we need to make the trip happen, and getting the word out to as many people as possible.  It is an exciting time, but there is still a lot up in the air.  We are operating on a lot of faith—taking a leap and hoping that wings grow before we hit the ground. 

Our to do list, roughly:

-Get lots of menstrual cups to give away along the road.   

Switching to using a menstrual cup is a significant lifestyle change.  We don’t want to hand out cups to every Sally, Susie, and Shannon—it would be a shame for the cup to sit unused for years in someone’s bathroom cupboard.  However, when we meet the rare person who is ready to make the switch, but feels hesitant about making the purchase, we want to gift them a cup.  We believe in gifts!  When you buy something, you pay money, and the slate is clean—no further action is necessary.  With a gift, there is momentum.  Maybe the recipient will feel inspired to give a friend a cup a few years down the line, or become an advocate for sustainable menstruation by educating their friends about cups.

So far, The Keeper (www.keeper.com) has agreed to donate 30 cups to our cause.  This is incredibly generous—at $35 each, the market value of those cups is about $1,000! 

-Get our gear and funding in order. 

A rough look at our budget:

• Food $480: $4/person/day for two months.
• Plane tickets about $600: One-way ticket home from LA for Toni + round trip ticket for Sarah.
• Gear $480:  Bicycle for Sarah: $300.  Lights for Sarah’s bike: $30. 1 pair good quality panniers: $100.  Miscellaneous: $50. 
• Documentation:  Small laptop for blogging and posting photos: $200.
• Bike repairs: at some point, we are bound to need to take the bikes into the shop.  With any luck this shouldn’t total more than $200.
• “Insurance” (extra money we would like to have in case any of our computer or digital cameras get damaged.  Hopefully we won’t need it):  $200.

TOTAL (for two people to live for two months and do some great advocacy): $2,160

 We want to get as many people as possible invested in our project – both literally, by donating some money or cups, and in spirit, by becoming advocates for sustainable menstruation.  You can donate to our trip through paypal! 

Donate Now!

-Get the word out. 

We want as many people to know about menstrual cups as possible, therefore, we want as many people to know about this trip as possible.  We are contacting different women’s health, feminist, environmental, and bicycling organizations, hoping that they will put a link to our blog on their website, or tell their members about our project. 

Let us know if you have any ideas!

Interest in Project Defies Boundaries of Age

In April, I had the opportunity to do a week-long training at the Duke Center for Integrative Medicine on teaching yoga to seniors.  Of the approximately 30 participants, I was far and away the youngest.  Everyone in the course was a woman, and most were menopausal or post menopausal.   We were together for 8 hours a day for a week – lots of time to get to know each other.  From social work professors, to “post-corporate” women seeking a more fulfilling vocation, my diverse bunch of classmates shared my interest in embodied spirituality.  Sarah and I were still in the early phase of envisioning our project, so I picked the brains of my classmates.  Almost no one in the group had heard of menstrual cups, but they were forthcoming with stories of their experiences with different kinds of menstruation products: the messiness of their experiment with sponges in the ‘70s, their concerns about the health dangers of tampons, and of course, the limitations of pads for people who love to move their bodies.  They were excited about the environmental, health, and economic advantages of menstrual cups.  Many wanted to suggest a menstrual cup to a daughter, niece, or friend.  One woman was inspired to ask her local cooperative grocery store to begin stocking cups!  At that point in the evolution in my thoughts on the project, I thought, “this is not my demographic.” Clearly, I was wrong.  Whatever stage of life a woman is in, she has a personal connection to issues surrounding menstruation, and can be an advocate for more sustainable ways of dealing with our periods.

One conversation started with me telling a group of women about menstrual cups.  Soon we were talking about dangerous chemicals in commonly used toiletries, and women were trading tips on where to find ratings on which products are safe.  Thirty minutes later we ended up talking about social justice, the economy, and taxation.  I got really excited about the trip!  So often, conversations with strangers and new friends can be superficial.  Maybe by starting conversations with people (in whatever age/gender demographic) about this issue that we care about, we can inspire reflection and action on other issues of social and environmental justice. 

–Toni