Nature Podcast

Sanitary products made from plants could help tackle period poverty

Nov 30, 2023

Researchers develop a method to extract absorbent materials for menstrual pads from the plant Agave sisalana, aiming to tackle period poverty. The process is environmentally friendly and locally feasible. The team plans to scale up the production and conduct trials in Kenya to make sanitary products more accessible.

09:02

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Quick takeaways

Using local plants like agave sisalana can provide sustainable and environmentally friendly materials for menstrual pads.

Empowering girls and women to make their own reusable pads using locally available resources can help tackle period poverty and reduce reliance on external assistance.

Deep dives

Developing locally sourced sanitary pads from plants

The podcast discusses new research published in the journal Communications Engineering about using local plants to create sanitary pads. Menstruation products are inaccessible to many people worldwide, with over 500 million lacking the necessary materials. The current reliance on donations is not sustainable. Therefore, there is a need for a solution that can be developed locally, such as equipping girls and women with skills to make their own reusable pads. Manu Prakash and his team at Stanford University are exploring the use of the agave sicilla plant as an alternative absorbent material for menstrual pads, as it is abundant and has high cellulose content. The team has successfully constructed all three layers of the pad using materials from this plant, demonstrating the potential for sustainable, local production.

Introduction

4min

Exploring a Local Resource for Menstrual Pad Absorption Material

2min

Creating Sanitary Pads from Plants: A Locally Feasible and Environmentally Friendly Process

2min

Building a Larger Scale Demonstration and Impact in Kenya

3min

Around 500 million people are estimated to be in period poverty, lacking adequate access to sanitary products. Many of these people rely on donations, but this is far from a long-term solution. To tackle this researchers have developed a method to extract absorbent materials for menstrual pads from a common plant, Agave sisalana. The researchers say that their method can be performed using local techniques and has a lower environmental impact than the manufacture of other period products. They're aiming to scale-up this approach to help those in period poverty.

Research Article: Molina et al.

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Nature Podcast

Sanitary products made from plants could help tackle period poverty

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

Developing locally sourced sanitary pads from plants

Addressing period poverty and promoting self-sufficiency

Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts