Back to basics?

[auh]

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The article in yahoo highlights a very pressing issue that needs to be addressed - disposal of menstrual waste. Here is the link https://in.news.yahoo.com/why-are-w...ual-waste-we-need-to-deal-with-111659074.html

An extract

The burning question
The Indian government promotes incineration of menstrual waste. To this effect, modifications in Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA) guidelines were issued in December 2013. The office memorandum issued by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation reads: “etting up incinerators in schools, in women’s community sanitary complexes, in primary health centres, or in any other suitable place in village, etc can be taken up.”
Incinerators in schools are also being promoted under the Indian government’s Swachh Bharat Swachh Vidyalaya mission. The design principles of this national mission include “at least one incinerator in girl’s toilet block and niche to keep sanitary napkins.”
A government-sponsored project in Tamil Nadu has already led to the construc­tion of simple, low-cost incinerators in girls’ toilets at several schools and women’s sanitary complexes. An entrepreneur has even come up with her own design for a terracotta incinerators. However, there is no system at all to monitor emissions from these mini-incinerators.
“Incinerating menstrual waste is a dangerous practice as it is linked to toxic emissions. Pune Municipal Corporation has set up four mini-incinerators, where the cost of incinerating one sanitary napkin comes to Rs 2 [including waste collection, electricity charge, etc]. This is both ecologically and financially unsustainable,” says Lakshmi Narayan, general secretary of Solid Waste Collection and Handling (SwaCH), a Pune-based organisation of over 2,000 waste pickers.
Dharmesh Shah feels that in the absence of an effective option, using landfills is a better option. Chaturvedi, too, prefers deep burial of sanitary pads over incineration. But the long-term solution lies in moving to healthier and eco-friendly alternatives, she adds.
Across the world, what to do with biomedical waste remains a quandary. Toronto is trying to compostdiapers, while Mexico is experimenting with using the mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus to decompose diapers. The Japanese automation firm Super Faith's SFD Recycle System shreds, dries and sterilizes diapers, and turns them into bacteria-free material for making fuel pellets.

Interestingly, the alternative to plastics is now to use cloth - a practice that was (and is, still, in some parts) in vogue in India.

Alternatives to disposable pads
Hamsa Iyer is a young associate fellow at Mumbai-based think-tank, Observer Research Foundation. Among other things, she works on sanitation and has been trying to reduce her waste footprint by composting wet waste at home. “I rarely send out waste from my house, but realized every month I was generating menstrual waste. That set me thinking and I searched for eco-friendly options, and chanced upon cloth pads manufactured by Eco Femme. I ordered them online and since then I have switched over from non-biodegradable Whisper to comfortable cloth pads,” says Iyer.
On days she is menstruating, Iyer comfortably moves around in cloth pads and after returning home in the evening, she soaks them in water for an hour while she prepares her dinner and finishes other chores. Post dinner, she washes her cloth pads and hangs them out so that they dry and disinfect in the sun the next morning. “Our grandmothers used cloth pieces during their monthly periods. But, there was so much shame attached to it that they dried the cloth in some unhygienic corner of the house. It is time we break the shame part of it and dry our cloth pads out in the bright sun,” she adds.

 

[prasad1]

"menstrual waste"
Yes this only sensationalizes the problem. The disposable waste like diapers, medical devices, medical waste, plastic bags, plastic containers all are problem.
There are known underwater wasteland full of human discards, will have to be dealt with.

 

[sarang]

It is better to escalate the problem to find a solution. There were some posts about a low cost pads developed by a tamilian. Many manufacturers visit schools, give demo lectures and give free samples, serving both education and business promotion.

 

[auh]

"menstrual waste"
Yes this only sensationalizes the problem. The disposable waste like diapers, medical devices, medical waste, plastic bags, plastic containers all are problem.
There are known underwater wasteland full of human discards, will have to be dealt with.

I agree, but in this instant case, it is also a matter of taboo, at least as far as most Indians are concerned.

 

[JR]

With so much scientific innovation, why cannot the manufacturers design napkins that can be easily disintegrated and flushed down the toilet?

 

[renuka]

With so much scientific innovation, why cannot the manufacturers design napkins that can be easily disintegrated and flushed down the toilet?

Dear JR,

Let me share a fact with you.

Muslims are not allowed to discard a sanitary pad without first cleaning it with water till no trace of hemoglobin is seen.

So here we have pads designed to be washed and thrown away.

But even then the plastic mesh is still there.

The concern is the plastic mesh that is also seen in disposable baby diapers and adult diapers and a host of hospital dressing material.

So I wonder why the sanitary pad alone is being targeted here.

 

[vgane]

Cloth based napkins can be brought back provided they are disposable..Washing them..No way...It creates a foul smell...I can't tolerate it....

 

[JR]

Dear JR,

Let me share a fact with you.

Muslims are not allowed to discard a sanitary pad without first cleaning it with water till no trace of hemoglobin is seen.

So here we have pads designed to be washed and thrown away.

But even then the plastic mesh is still there.

The concern is the plastic mesh that is also seen in disposable baby diapers and adult diapers and a host of hospital dressing material.

So I wonder why the sanitary pad alone is being targeted here.

Whoa! So that's the factor (the plastic lining) which causes concern! Thanks for explaining it.

 

[renuka]

This thread is becoming active I see..somehow female based topics gain traffic. Whenever I start some male based topics the thread does not take off as well.