Hi Super Supporters!

Today I’m updating to share a response with you from Tampax. This is in reply to the open letter I sent them, which was part of the action we took on them to remove plastic applicators from their products. Their full response is below, and you can read my thoughts underneath.

Dear Ella,

Thank you for your recent open letter. We completely agree that plastic pollution is an issue and we know that we all – industry, consumers and governments - have an important role to play in addressing this.

As a brand, we want to give every person that uses our products the choice to manage their periods in a way that’s right for them. For some, this means choosing cardboard applicators, while for others, it means choosing plastic applicators as they offer more comfortable insertion. For this reason, plastic currently plays a necessary role in ensuring product performance for many of our users.

Ensuring that we provide period protection products with our standard of excellence in performance and the lowest possible environmental impact is of the utmost importance to us and we have been taking several steps towards reducing our environmental footprint. This includes:

1. Designing products in line with the UK’s waste infrastructure - our products are designed to be compatible with the waste infrastructure of the countries in which they are sold. In most European countries, including the UK, household waste is disposed of in landfills or converted into energy from waste, despite whether it is made from biodegradable materials. You may find WRAP's Compostable Plastic Report and UNEP'S Biodegradable Plastics and Marine Litter Report useful as they discuss the challenges with biodegradable/compostable plastics, including the fact that, when landfilling compostable plastics, the best case is it stays inert, but if it biodegrades then it will release greenhouse gases, which contribute to global warming.

2. Reminding those that use our products of the importance of binning used tampons, applicators and wrappers instead of flushing to avoid them ending up in unintended environments. This information is included on the packaging of our products and we also promote correct disposal on our website and social media.

3. Offering alternative options – we recently introduced a reusable option, the Tampax cup, which is currently available via Amazon. We also continue to offer tampons with cardboard applicators and organic cotton core tampons via our Tampax Cotton Protection, which features a 90% plant-based applicator.

4. Working towards reducing our material usage and incorporating 50% sustainable materials in our products.

While we have made progress, solutions are not straightforward, take time and we need to balance the needs of those who use our products while striving to find alternatives. We remain fully committed to finding solutions where no one has to compromise quality, while also having the least impact on the earth.

Sincerely,
Tampax

My thoughts: To say I’m disappointed is an understatement, however, I’m not surprised. As the UK’s period industry giant, Tampax should be showing leadership by taking responsibility and bringing about change, not responding with excuses. 

This isn’t over. Persistence and passion pay off every time and we aren’t going away any time soon. You might feel disappointed, but don’t give up! Our collective power has already resulted in three retailers, Aldi, Sainsbury’s, and Superdrug removing plastic applicators from their ranges in the last year, and much more!

Over the next few weeks I’ll be thinking about what we can do next, such as encouraging people to boycott and spend instead with eco-friendly brands. Have you got any ideas as to how you would like to take action on Tampax? Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section below!

The Giant Tampax Applicator and action was featured in Huffington Post, and Euronews, please take a read if you’d like to find out more.

As always, thank you for your support! The wave of action on Tampax in September was fantastic and by coming together we raised much-needed awareness.

Ella :)

Twitter: @ella_daish Instagram: @elladaish Facebook: @elladaish1

#EndPeriodPlastic