Green Commons Award Recipient: Georgetown Women’s Center

By The Georgetown Women’s Center

SUSTAINABILITY

Plastic menstrual products produce more than 200,000 tons of waste per year. As most menstrual products are composed of non-biodegradable materials, they take approximately 500 to 800 years to decompose. Beyond environmental effects, people who menstruate spend an average of $12,000 on menstrual products during their lifetime. Considering this, the Women’s Center wanted to provide a sustainable alternative: an environmentally friendly, AllMatters menstrual cup.

ACCESSIBILITY

During the spring 2023 semester, the Women’s Center received an Eco Impact Academic grant for $3500. With the project title “Menstruation Should be Sustainable. Period,” the Women’s Center endeavored to promote accessible menstruation on campus by offering hundreds of free menstrual cups to the Georgetown community.

CHALLENGES

One of our greatest challenges was outreach. We had some difficulty coordinating places of distribution for the menstrual cups but we ended up distributing them as seen in the table below:

Additionally, we did face some barriers to implementation due to the stigma surrounding menstrual cups. Specifically, some people were nervous about using the cup because of its novelty. In the future, we want to circumvent this issue by linking instructional videos and making some of our own.

OUTCOMES & LONG-TERM IMPACT

A total of 195 menstrual cups were distributed across campus. Through our Google form, we had 122 Georgetown students and community members pick up menstrual cups at the center. Additional cups have been given away to drop-ins at the center. Ultimately, our menstrual cup giveaway not only improved environmental sustainability on campus but also access to period resources. We are excited to continue offering sustainable products to the Georgetown community and inspire long-term sustainable choices.

The Green Commons Awards are intended for proposals that support community discourse and action on environmental and sustainability issues. These proposals celebrate the Earth and encourage diverse perspectives and community engagement with environmental issues while preparing our broader community and future generations to “care for our Common Home”. This is to support Georgetown University as an institutional signatory of the Laudato Si’ action plan.