Talkin’ About Tampons

0 CommentsSaturday • November 26, 2011 • by amber

image courtesy of socialchangeroom.com

As you can probably imagine – here in the T.O.M office we talk about tampons – a lot. Sometimes for hours on end, we talk about tampons and pads and periods like we talk about what we ate for dinner last night. In fact – it feels like such a normal topic of conversation that I can’t believe I ever felt awkward about it at all (and I did – those teenage years of a burning red face every time I had to ask a school friend if I could ‘borrow’ a tampon – as if you would ever give one back).

It’s funny – the awkwardness attached to tampons and pads (and menstruation in general) – given that every woman in her life has, or will, for many many years come in to contact with these products. We aren’t afraid of buying toilet paper, or deodorant or body wax. So why do so many – otherwise rational women – find buying tampons such an embarrassing experience?

We share makeup tips and our favourite beauty products – we rave about a new clothing store we found or even sexy lingerie we splurged on, but how often do we discuss the brand of tampons we use with our friends? Clearly I’m now the embarrassing friend that meets other women and doesn’t stop raving about my favourite tampons (T.O.M of course!) – but why shouldn’t we – there is no reason women should be awkward talking about this (and they are – trust me – I get all sorts of looks like I’ve just broken the most sacred code on earth) and it’s not like I’m going in to gory detail – when I discover something I think is amazing – I want other people to know about it – and if that amazing thing happens to be a tampon – then so be it!

We don’t talk enough about these things.

When I started working at T.O.M I brought home boxes and boxes of tampons and was getting really excited telling my boyfriend all about the benefits of organic cotton tampons (sales pitch unnecessary, but hey!). He stared at me blankly for a while – unsure what to say, hesitant to even pick up the boxes – then he says to me ‘Why are they [the boxes] different colours?’ to which I respond ‘They’re mini, regular and light.’ to which he says ‘Which one are you?’ My turn for blank staring, what? Which one am I what? Click. Oh, you think they’re based on the size of my…and then I burst out laughing. Obviously, before we have children he still has a few things to learn.   We use up to 12,000 tampons in one lifetime – that’s 12,000 reasons we should be talking about tampons, because we should be vigilant about what we put inside our bodies – in all aspects of our lives. T.O.M Organic tampons were created to keep the chemicals out: of the air, water, soil and our bodies – which means you (and all the women you know) can have peace of mind every ‘Time Of Month’.   So, until next time – please – share your T.O.M story with your friends, you mother, your daughter, your sister, your boyfriend’s sister (and your boyfriend), your boss, your teacher – all the women in your life.

Lots of Love, Amber and all the tampon talking girls in the T.O.M office.

Amber is T.O.M Organics newest staff member. Other than talking about tampons and T.O.M, she also loves eating mangoes in the sun, riding her bike to work and taking self-proclaimed ‘awesome’ photos with a LOMO camera (a real one, not an iPhone one).

Would You Eat Plastic or Drink Bleach?

0 CommentsThursday • October 13, 2011 • by aimee

The ladies over at KORA asked us to go into a little more detail about what the list of ingredients on the back of conventional tampon packs actually means?

The choice to stock our refrigerators with organic food and lather our bodies and faces with organic skincare may have become second nature – but how often do we take the time to read the list of ‘ingredients’ on our box of tampons?

Why should you care?

Almost every tampon sold in Australia (and the world for that matter) can be commonly made from: rayon/viscose, polypropylene, polyester and conventional cotton – and to that list you can add perfume and bleach and if the string of your tampon is coloured then you can also add dye. This list translates to: wood pulp, bleach, plastic, chemicals and toxic pesticides.

Rayon is used to make clothes, curtains and that wadding inside of zippo lighters

Polypropelyne is used to make packaging, carpet and Australian banknotes.

Polyester is used to make clothing, tents, sleeping bags and sails for boats.

25% of the world’s pesticides are sprayed onto conventional cotton; it is commonly known as the ‘world’s dirtiest crop’.

To find out more about the ingredients of your tampon head to over our blog at KORA

We’d love to hear why you choose non-toxic organic products!