I am typing on my little iPhone in front of a little a diner in a little town called Austin*, Nevada. Today we biked 70 miles and climbed ’bout 3000 feet. The week has been great! Since last time, we biked over the sierras (except for a 40 mi hitch hike which we won’t talk about), made our way into Nevada, stayed with some wonderful people through a bike tour website called warmshowers.org (yes–even you can host cyclists like us in your cozy homes), and did some city park camping.

We are well on our way, have met some mighty friendly Americans, and are stoked to keep going.

After a rain just outside Carson City, NV.

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Grapes! It was a nice rest stop at the Middlegate Station–which breaks up the 106 miles between Fallon and Austin.

*Correction: I meant Eureka, Nevada. We biked from Austin that morning.

Today Owen and I climbed 2000 feet and rode about 60 miles from Sacramento to Placerville. Tomorrow and the next day we’ve got some major climbing as we go over The Sierras. Oh, menstrual cups, the things I do for you.

In other exciting news, Owen and I were in the Santa Monica Daily Press yesterday.

That makes us more famous than we were last week! Link to article: http://smdp.com/samohi-alumni-take-on-cross-country-bike-trip-for-a-cause/121916

I got tired of riding my bike. So I found this pony.

The state Capitol.

‘Til next time!

Day one was yesterday, and was pretty awesome. We took BART (public transit) from Oakland to Concord, and biked 63 miles to Davis. It was smooth riding the whole way–with bike paths and bike lanes, a flat landscape, sunny weather, and a nice ciesta in the afternoon at a park in Dixon. A nice 6 hours of riding, and we’re not too sore today. Owen and I are staying with my friend near downtown Davis–which is such a bike friendly place!! Bike paths everywhere, bike parking everywhere, bike tunnels, nice roads, and even a “press for green light” button at some intersections. Pretty awesome.

Owen and I are very stoked! And we are settling in to our new lifestyle very nicely.

Dipping our back tires into the Pacific Ocean at the Emeryville marina. That’s SF in the back.

The start line: 6:30am on Saturday, May 4. We’ve got a long way ahead of us…

Just look at that smoothness! Great roads the whole way.

A garden work party at my friend’s co op. (I’m sitting in their living room right now).

On the Sustainable Cycles front, I have gotten some great responses from people I’ve been talking to. Many of them already use cups and are really supportive of the project. Others use other methods, but still think what we’re doing is great.

Tomorrow we ride to Sacramento, then to Placerville, then Kirkwood, and onward!

Check out an article about us on the LA Streets Blog, oh yeah.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Some updates:

Owen had a slight and unexpected health issue pop up, so he has a Dr.’s appt. this week. That pushes our departure date from April 28 to May 4. Cross your fingers that we are healthy and able to start our ride!

The first couple of workshops were awesome. At the Berkeley Free Clinic, we had a great and informative discussion with clinic volunteers and community members. At the California Student Sustainability Coalition (CSSC) convergence at UC Berkeley, Owen and I had about 40 young dreamers attend our workshop–very exciting!

Also, I had the opportunity to check out the Women’s Community Clinic in SF, which is an awesome organization that provides health care for all sorts of women in the area.

I have given out a number of menstrual cups (thank you, DivaCup for the generous donations) to interested women, and have already gotten some response. One woman emailed just to “let you know how pleased I am with this life change!”

It’s exciting, it’s happening, it’s great.

Since Toni last wrote, MUCH has happened. I am riding SF to NYC with my good friend, Owen Gorman, an incredible young man who’s doing a bicycle advocacy project of his own–raising awareness about the Safe Routes to School Program. Check his project out, too.

We are geared up, our route is planned, and we’ve been doing some training here in Los Angeles, including two fully-loaded over-nighters.

The gear: This is Owen’s list. Mine includes ~30 menstrual cups generously donated by DivaCup (figure courtesy of Owen Gorman).

The route: forgive the quality of the image–we’re working on making it “zoomable”, but this is the gist! (courtesy Owen Gorman)

Owen and I on a training ride to Henninger Flats–including a 1400 ft climb over 3 miles. (Photo credit: Kent Strumpell).

As you may deduce from the fact that all the computer images are made by Owen, I am what some might call “technologically challenged” as in, I don’t fully understand what a hashtag is, and I’m still figuring out how the heck Twitter works. But! Alas, given that I am jazzed, stoked, and pumped about doing this project across the country, I am putting effort into entering the 21st century…check out the Twitter account I made! We will be ‘tweet tweeting’ along the way.

Sustainable Cycles has got a couple of events already planned!

• Friday, April 26. 6:30 to 8:30 pm at the Berkeley Free Clinic: Sustainable Cycles 101: shifting gears from single-use menstrual products. 
• Friday, April 26 at party o’clock in Emeryville: Owen and Rachel’s Bike Eleganza Extravaganza. i.e. Our goodbye party! As it’s at the residence of a friend, please email for details: sustainablecycles101@gmail.com.
• Saturday, April 27. 1:30 pm at UC Berkeley: Owen and I are presenting at the California Student Sustainability Coalition’s Convergence, though it requires pre-registration…

Fundraising wise, the cup is more than half full! (pun absolutely intended). With a goal of $2000, we’ve raised $1600! Thank you to all those who have contributed!

The timeline:

• Owen and Rachel drive to SF on Tuesday (4/23).
• Owen and Rachel DAY 1 to Davis: Sunday (4/28).

We are pumped, we are excited, we are enjoying our beds for the last few nights! Over and out.

Our 2013 trip will be led by Rachel Horn, a recent graduate of UC Berkeley (read more about Rachel in her bio on our “About” page). The trip begins April 28th in the Bay Area and will take about three months.  Passionate Spokeswomen are invited to come along for either the entire trip or a short leg.   Please email Rachel directly if you are interested in joining up!

rachihorn@gmail.com

Like our previous trip, menstrual cup companies are donating cups for us to give away.  Spokeswomen will write blog posts and articles, do interviews, give workshops, and make a ruckus to raise awareness about sustainable menstrual products.

Donate now to Rachel’s trip! Her total budget for the 3 month trip (including food, bike repair, sleeping arrangements, a train ticket back to California, everything) is $2,000.

We run on a tight (practically non-existent) budget and we are proud of it!  On our last bike trip we spent just $1,400, while giving away 200 menstrual cups.  Within a year of use the cups we gave away will save our giftees $9,600 (considering that most women spend $4/month on throw-away supplies).  Since the cups last 10 years, those cups will save our giftees $96,000 dollars!  

Think about it – with an investment of $1,400, Sustainable Cycles saved women $96,000 – that is $68 dollars of value for every $1 invested.  Of course it’s not just about money – those cups are also reducing waste, and benefiting women’s health.

It’s a great investment – donate to keep this incredible project going strong!

We will be working on creating educator’s packets, and organizing a cross country bike trip to come (more on that later). We’d also like to begin writing posts about some of the international public health work going on regarding access to affordable, sustainable menstrual products.  In Raleigh, Toni, Aniah, and Tyra are developing a line of reusable cloth menstrual pads to sell as a microventure to support FCF.  So far, SC has focused on menstrual cups – we are excited to branch out.  The awesome thing about pads is that we (or anyone!) can make them ourselves without any fancy equipment, and have a low-cost, sustainable product.

Until now, all Sustainable Cycles’ funds have come from grassroots fundraising and small donations, or out of Sarah and Toni’s pockets. We can’t wait to step up our game in 2013!

Here’s some more information about the project. Please let us know if you want to know more, get involved, or if you have any ideas for us:

Tyra Davis sewing cloth pads at FCF’s office in Raleigh, North Carolina

Project Description:

Campers from Full Circles Foundation (represented by Tyra Davis, Aniah Bland, and Toni Craige), will partner with Sustainable Cycles (represented by Sarah Konner and Toni Craige). The FCF girls will learn to make reusable cloth menstrual pads to sell as a fundraiser for FCF, and they will create “educators’ packets” on the what, why and how of sustainable menstrual products. Sustainable Cycles will distribute the packets to community educators all over the country. Sustainable Cycles is also planning and promoting an upcoming cross-country bicycle tour to raise awareness.

Why?:

Conventional products are expensive and wasteful: The average woman in the US will spend about $2000 over her lifetime on single-use, disposable menstrual products. Conventional disposable products are made of trees, bleach, cotton, and glue (none of which are great things to put inside your body). After one use they are thrown away. The average woman throws away a huge truckload of menstrual products over her lifetime.

Very few people know about the alternatives: A very small proportion of US women use sustainable alternatives (menstrual cups, sea sponges, reusable cloth pads). It is not lucrative business to sell these products (they are inexpensive, and you do not need to replace them often). Our culture of silence about women’s bodies and menstruation stops people from even talking about the issue.

There is limited access to sustainable products in communities that most need them: Menstrual products are a significant financial burden on low-income women. They often do not have access to information about alternatives, or the up-front cost of the alternatives is prohibitive.

How we are addressing the challenge:

Making an alternative: We are making a sustainable product by hand, on a small scale, which will replace tons of trash produced by multinational corporations.

Income source for FCF girls and programming: This project could eventually provide fair and empowering employment for FCF girls.  FCF has a long-term vision of having youth-owned cooperative businesses all over the Southeastern United States.

Sparking a grassroots movement, reaching out to new communities, empowering community educators: We hope that the hands-on experience of making the pads and educator’s packets will get FCF girls fired-up about these issues. FCF works primarily with low-income women of color – a community which does not tend to have a lot of access to sustainable products. The girls will have the tools and enthusiasm needed to spark a grassroots change in their communities. Sustainable Cycles will reach out to our large national network of supporters to put the educator’s packets in action all over the country.

Hi Everyone!

It has been almost a year since our ride down the West Coast!  We wanted to check in, share some news, and ask for your support in the next phase of Sustainable Cycles.

Where we are going next:  

• Make “educator’s packets” with literature, fact sheets, visuals, and samples so that people all over the country and world can do effective education work in their community.
• Going on another bike trip (funds permitting).
• Attend the Society for Menstrual Cycle Research conference in summer 2013.
• Continue to write about our work on our blog.

Give back, and invest in our next steps:  There are many ways to support Sustainable Cycles.  Please continue to tell friends about the project and spread the word.  We also need some funds to make educators packets, and some money in the piggy bank to travel to conferences and go on a bike trip.

Buy a cup: If you buy a Keeper or Mooncup through our website, Sustainable Cycles gets $12.50.

*This is so great!  It advances our mission of getting more people to use cups, and helps support our education work.

*Think about it – do you know any women who don’t use a cup?  Any birthdays coming up?  Can you buy some gifts in advance of the holidays?

*This promotion ends January 1st – please forward this announcement to anyone who might want to buy a cup for themselves or a friend.

CLICK THE BANNER AT THE TOP OF THIS PAGE,

OR

GO DIRECTLY TO THE KEEPER’S WEBSITE TO “ORDER A KEEPER OR MOON CUP” - Sustainable Cycles will get $12.50.  Let us know if you have any trouble ordering – call Toni at (919) 219-8100.

Invest in Sustainable Cycles: To decide how much to donate, take into account what you can afford, and these facts:

*$35 – The market value of a cup (which giftees got for free).

*$48 – The amount of money a cup will save you in a year.

*$480 – The amount of money a cup will save you in its 10 year lifespan.

You can donate through PayPal on our website.

How “productive” is Sustainable Cycles: We run on a tight (practically non-existent) budget, and we are proud of it!  Since our trip, all Sustainable Cycles costs (mostly making photocopies) have come out of our pockets, and we do all of our education work for free. We pulled off a 3 month bike trip (including plane tickets, and a new bicycle) with $1,400 and some in-kind donations – most notably the cups, which were generously donated by The Keeper, DivaCup, and Lunette.  Some math:

*We gave away 200 menstrual cups, retail value $7,000.  With a year of use, the cups we gave away will save our giftees $9,600 (considering that most women spend $4/month on throw-away supplies).  Since the cups last 10 years, those cups will save our giftees $96,000 dollars!  

*Think about it – with an investment of $1,400, Sustainable Cycles saved women $96,000 – that is $68 dollars of value for every $1 invested.  Of course it’s not just about money – those cups are reducing waste, and benefiting women’s health.

Help us keep pedaling along by buying a cup, or donating through PayPal.  If you can’t afford a monetary donation right now, that’s OK – we hope you are inspired to keep spreading the word – let us know if we can support you in any way.

All the best,

Toni Craige and Sarah Konner

Hey everyone, remember us?  Since our big bike trip, Sustainable Cycles has been more on the back burner, but there is still some great news to report.  We have been awarding prizes for the handsome young man contest, following up with giftees from our bike trip, presenting at conferences, and more.

*   *   *

All along, the Handsome Young Man Project, (“The Handsome Young Man Project: Sarah and Toni bicycle down the West Coast, live on $4 a day, and Talk to Handsome Young Men About Sustainable Approaches to Menstruation”), has been one of the more absurd and fun parts of Sustainable Cycles.  We found that many men were curious about menstrual cups, and wanted to help with our efforts.  We decided to create a contest:

The handsome young man who convinces the most women to switch to a menstrual cup wins.  Brilliant – any man wants to fall into the category of handsome and young, and men love contests.   The promised prize?  An enormous menstrual cup shaped beer goblet!

See the original post here for details.  (Warning: this project should not be taken seriously).

After getting home from the trip, I set about finding the right potter for the job – classy, manly pottery for a good price.  Luckily, we are family friends with Mark Hewitt - fabulous potter with a good sense of humor.  He agreed to have his apprentice, Seth Guzovsky make us two goblets for $50.

Big pots like this are Mark’s signature– due to budget restrictions, we commissioned something more modest, but no less impressive…

Mark’s wood-fired kiln.

One of the goblets by Mark’s apprentice, Seth.

It was impossible to pick just one winner!  Each of our two winners got one of these goblets:

The text says: “This certifies that [name] has been deemed an exceptional advocate of sustainable menstrual products, and therefore of women’s health, a fair economy, and a healthy earth by Sustainable Cycles. In recognition for his sensitivity, boldness, good looks, youth, and virility, he is awarded this giant menstrual cup shaped beer goblet.

THE WINNERS:

Ben hosted us at his house in Olympia.  In high school (!!!) at an age when most boys blush at the mere mention of periods, Benjamin bought menstrual cups for two female friends.  Ben with his cup:

Ben with his cup.

Cole is an irrepressible menstrual cup enthusiast.  He convinced many women in his large community to make the switch, and is a true pioneer in his openness to talk about these issues.  He also got an article about sustainable menstrual products published in Street Roots, a newspaper focused on empowering Portland’s homeless community.

Cole with his cup.

*   *   *

Now onto less ridiculous matters…

After getting back from our trip, we sent out a survey to all 200 giftees asking for feedback about the cups, and finding out about their “spokeswomen” activities.  Whenever I need a little pick-me-up, I can always go look at their responses:

Stats from our survey:

*90% told a friend

*46% are interested in going on a SC bike trip

* 5 people (6% of respondents) have already given a small, informal workshop on cups! 60% may do so in the future

 Fun testimonials:

“Through my work as a social worker I have given out 3 of the 4 cups you gave to me. I am also talking about the cup with friends, peers and clients promoting both the environmental and cost benefits. Thank you for your hard work on this! It is a great project and your dedication rocks!” 

“I’m basically enamored. So much easier, so much cleaner than using anything else – I want to personally hug whoever invented these things. My housemate is making all the girls in our house personalized menstrual cup bags. We’re obsessed. I do a lot of talking about it with people whom I think might be interested in switching over – told a few people where to get them and about the learning curve. I’m thinking of getting my sister one for Christmas, but she’d probably think it was weird. Anyway thanks so much for filling us in about this. I couldn’t be happier.”

“I was really NOT interested in using Cups when I first heard about them. I was fine with using tampons and the whole process sounded gross to me. Then, I went with some of my JV housemates to the talk at In Other Words and I felt a little bit persuaded. When Toni gave the non-Cup using girls in our house cups, I felt like I should at least give it three cycles, which is was recommended by a housemate, and I was fully prepared to hate it and be done by December…I LOVE IT!! I can’t get over how much easier it is. It is so much cleaner, I feel better about not having those disgusting cotton toxic tampons in my body, and not creating all that paper waste. I talk about them to everyone who will listen and I am committed to getting my sister and best friend to start using Cups by the end of this year!”

“The women who came to my co-op house were incredibly enthusiastic and helpful. My friends and I learned a lot from them, and continue to benefit from their communication and support. The Sustainable Cycles workshop generated a meaningful and lasting conversation in our community about the issues of womens’ bodies and health.”

*   *   *

I had the great opportunity to attend two day-long conferences put on by Law Students for Reproductive Justice.  The first was the southern regional meeting at UNC Chapel Hill, which I attended as a guest, and the second was the mid-Atlantic conference at American University in Washington DC, where I spoke on a panel about reproduction and sexuality education.

Reproductive justice is huge in the news right now (Susan G. Komen/ Planned Parenthood, Catholics and birth control, the Right to Know Act, etc).  I never would have even heard about the conference if the organizer, Nikola, had not posted a comment on our blog and asked to get in touch. Then– and it almost feels like a joke– she asked me to be on a panel!  It was wonderful to hear such accomplished professionals talk about their work in Reproductive Justice, and it was a great honor to be alongside two advocates for comprehensive sex ed in DC.

Watching Sarah Audelo of Advocates for Youth give her presentation.

* * *

I have been working with a girls empowerment organization, Full Circles Foundation, which works to build strong girls, a fair economy, and a healthy earth.  Sounds a lot like the mission of Sustainable Cycles…

FCF’s main program is a summer camp called “Strong Camp” for low-income girls ages 7-15.  I did a workshop for the girls 12 and up– the youngest group I have ever given a Sustainable Cycles presentation to.  More so than older women, younger girls tend to be “grossed out” by this topic, and less inclined to “poke around” and get to know themselves in the way they would need to to use a menstrual cup.  I was able to give away 5 cups to some wonderful girls.  Several felt that they were not “ready” now, but may be in the future, and a few others wanted to try out cloth pads.

What struck me most was how important frank, accurate conversations about the body are to teens.  So much is learned through whispers and euphamisms, oversexed by the media, or silenced by shame.  Everyone was paying very close attention!

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We have updated the other pages of the blog – check it out, and forward this along to friends who might be interested. Please be in touch with questions, and comments.

More news coming soon…