This New Invention Will Make Periods Better Around the World
Killer cramps and wild mood swings make periods annoying enough. Now, imagine you’re a woman in the developing world where a visit from Auntie Flo can mean missing days of school or facing social stigma because you don’t have access to sanitary products.
Flo is an invention designed by Mariko Higaki Iwai to help women in faraway countries have a happier period. The kit includes reusable pads, a cool spinning contraption to wash and dry them discretely and a carrying case to take clean pads to school and dirty ones home.
Prior to the invention of this device, some women were using rags that often carried infections and were not able to comfortably wash and dry their pads in public. The makers of Flo hope that this invention will help girls have healthier menstrual cycles and make that time of the month more socially acceptable.
Flo teamed up with the people at Nike and an organization called The Girl Effect, which operates under the philosophy that empowering girls can kickstart entire communities to be healthier and happier.
If you want to help out your fellow menstruators, donate to The Girl Effect or Huru International. Or if you want to think more locally, bring a box of sanitary supplies to your local women’s shelter. Think of it as passing a tampon under the stall on a global level.
What’s your favorite way to deal with Aunt Flo? Tell us in the comments! Also, can you send a large pizza and some heating pads to the Brit+Co office? We’re dying over here!
(Photos via Flo)
