Advertising sanitary protection on TV in the UK was forbidden until 1988.

The "Toxic Shock Syndrome Information Service" (TSSIS) is funded and supported by Johnson & Johnson GmbH, Kimberly-Clark Ltd., Lil-lets, Ontex Retail Ltd., Playtex Products Inc., Procter & Gamble UK and Toiletry Sales Ltd.

Corn-based plastic substitutes - new solution or new problem?

Research into the rapidly-growing 'bio-plastics' market reveals these new materials bring problems of their own. At the time this article was published, Mooncup Ltd was considering making new Mooncup containers out of bio-plastic. This article changed our minds.

"Every year, in Britain alone, we would need to dig a hole 300 feet wide and 300 feet deep to bury the used sanitary pads and tampons that women throw away"

Courtesy of the Natural Collection www.thenaturalcollection.com

Tampons absorb 65% menstrual fluid and 35% natural moisture, creating imbalances in the moisture and pH levels of the vagina

There is six times more plastic than plankton in the Pacific Ocean

EVERY DAY in the UK, 2.5 million tampons, 1.4 sanitary towels and 700,000 panty liners are flushed into our sewage system

This mind-blowing statistic, and many others, can be seen in context in the excellent Channel 4 programme 'The Human Footprint'

The word "menstruation" is etymologically related to "moon"...

The words "menstruation" and "menses" come from the Latin for month -"mensis" - which in turn relates to the Greek word for moon - "mene", and to the roots of the English words month and moon.

Brilliant online TV programme describes one woman's experience of the menstrual cup learning curve

On 24 October, people in 181 countries came together through the '350 project' to unite and demonstrate on climate change

One in 10 British women are unaware that the menopause is a naturally occurring event

Some British women are in denial when it comes to the menopause, according to results of a new survey. They are also failing to recognise the discreet early symptoms leading to a possible delay in seeking essential advice and treatment.
The survey reveals that a staggering one in 10 women are unaware that the menopause is a naturally occurring event affecting all women as they enter midlife. Of those, a surprising 70% thought that the menopause was genetic and almost 10% thought it occurred as a result of general ill health.
Read the article from Nursing in Practice Magazine in full here

Over 12 BILLION pads and tampons are USED ONCE and disposed of annually.

Is your period a luxury? We still pay VAT on sanitary products!

Women are obliged to pay VAT every time they buy sanitary protection. Although this was reduced to 5% in January 2001, when men's razors, nappies and the rate of VAT for sanitary protection products was lowered to a “reduced rate” of 5%, in line with EU restrictions.

Vaginal plastic surgery is the fastest-growing cosmetic procedure in the UK

A 2008 UK TV documentary entitled 'The Perfect Vagina' explored this phenomen in-depth. You can read more about the programme and its findings here

The brilliant 'Story of Stuff' tops 7 million viewers

Find out about the origins and results of consumption, from extraction to disposal, and how to make things better - watch the Story of Stuff

Households in the UK throw away almost 30 million tonnes of rubbish every year

Most of this rubbish will end up in landfill.

Award-winning local artist Lou McCurdy first caught our eye at Mooncup with her exhibition “More Plastic than Plankton”.

Every piece of art that Lou exhibits is composed of plastic waste gathered along the Sussex coastline. Her work is beautiful and devastating in its permanence. Chloe Hanks, meanwhile, is a graphic designer and founder of Plastic Bag Free Brighton. In 2008, Mooncup worked together with Chloe and Lou to present a screening of the documentary Message In the Waves: a beautifully shot film about waste in the Hawaiian seas with a universal message.

So when we got the chance to work again with Lou and Chloe in 2009, we snapped it up. This time it would be to sponsor their “Dirty Beach” environmental art exhibition during the Brighton Fringe Festival.

Set in the busy Brighton North Laines, “Dirty Beach” would display Lou’s big colourful panels of plastic debris alongside photographs of Chloe’s eco-graffiti, which ranges from writing on the dirt of vans to making protest slogans in the snow. With our sponsorship, Dirty Beach was set up with the publicity materials, reusable Fairtrade organic cotton Dirty Beach bags, and tshirts it needed to make waves.

You can find out more about the Dirty Beach project, and catch up with Lou and Chloe's blogs here

Dioxin, produced during tampon manufacture, is the most toxic man-made substance known to science.

Rayon, one of the main ingredients in tampons, is highly absorbent and usually chlorine-bleached (one of the main dioxin-producing processes). Since 1918 it has been known that toxins can be absorbed into the body through the vagina.

The UK sanitary protection market is worth in excess of £267 million.

As a Mooncup user, you can spend your money on something else!