"Red Tent" Post #1 Sustainability

Gentlemen, you may want to excuse yourselves from this post (please refer to this post for explanation) but don't feel that you must. Just a warning that we're gonna get all womanhood up in here!

This is what I call the buffer zone, in case anyone wants to leave before they can't un-see what comes next.

Ok, now that that is out of the way, my first exploration into sustainability comes in the form of...duhn duhn duhn... the Diva Cup.

For those of you who may not have heard of this little devise, basically it is a replacement for tampons and pads. It's a cup that goes all-up-in-ya and can stay put for up to 12 hours with no fear of toxic shock syndrome. And it's made of silicone so its reusable instead of disposable with a general recommendation to replace once a year. So I'm sure you see where I'm going on the topic of sustainability. This is what their website has to say:

Excellence in environment care :Our commitment to being “green divas” is evident in our products, lifestyles and educational resources. Every year, billions of disposable tampons and pads are thrown into our landfills and waterways. Our award winning DivaCup and DivaWash helps to reduce the eco-footprint of feminine hygiene by providing reusable solutions to disposable tampons and pads.

Excellence in sustainability: Our mission to offer women a new way to care for themselves extends far beyond period care. We invest our knowledge, time and resources in community and International organizations that offer health care, empowerment and education to women and children around the world.  - http://divacup.com/

I've known people who've used the cup but I never gave it much thought until I started reading travel blogs about girls who highly recommended it to keep costs down, backpack space available, and to create ease when encountering times in your trip where throwing away pads or tampons might not be the most convenient.

Also, they seem to be healthier for our bodies as well:

The DivaCup is exclusively available in a natural un-pigmented silicone. We considered manufacturing The DivaCup in colored silicone but decided against it because the skin, including the sensitive skin of the vaginal walls, should not be exposed to dyes, chemicals, etc. Although colors are fun, adding other components such as pigment particles, along with chemical additives required to bind the particles to the silicone, create additional risk to the base chemistry of the silicone. Diva International feels that this is an unnecessary risk to take as there is still a possibility that the particles or other chemicals may not bind properly and could leach into the body.  - http://divacup.com/

 Unfortunately, tampons may contain traces of dioxin from bleach, pesticide residues from conventional, non-organic cotton, and mystery “fragrance” ingredients. - http://safecosmetics.org/downloads/FemCare_fs_022411.pdf

So, there you have it. Now, I haven't been able to try it out yet as I keep getting sent the Model 2 which is for post childbirth instead of Model 1 for pre-childbirth.
I hear there is an adjustment period (ahem-- no pun intended) while you get used to the new process, but I figured best to start now if I'm going to use this during my travels.