Dear Tampax and Procter & Gamble, 

As the leading tampon brand around the globe we are reaching out to you to stop a very serious environmental hazard: plastic tampon applicators.

An alarming number of tampon applicators are washing up on shores all over the world, some beaches even have to be closed after large numbers of them flood the beach after a storm. In the past two months of cleaning up beaches JUST along Lake Ontario in Canada, my team and I have picked up 415 plastic applicators. We are aware that these applicators are not meant to be flushed, but it's evident that many users are not following this advice and we would like to stop this problem at the source. 

This issue affects all walks of life. It's obviously not a nice sight for beachgoers, but more tragically a lot of wildlife are affected as well. Fish and birds can mistake the applicators for food, consuming them and making them feel full without receiving any nutrients, eventually starving to death. Thousands of animals are being found dead with a stomach full of plastic, and plastic applicators only add to this issue. 

Even when plastic applicators are disposed of properly and end up in a landfill, they do not break down, and seeing how an estimated 20 billion applicators end up in North American landfills every year using a biodegradable material would make a HUGE impact. 

Please consider eliminating production of plastic applicators and only selling applicator-free and cardboard or biodegradable applicator tampons.

As a large corporation you have the power to stop this negative impact on the environment. Please do!