Plastic waste in the feminine care and hygiene product industry is huge. About 12 billion pads and 7 billion tampons get discarded each year within the US. They end up in landfills and contribute to the huge number of plastic waste that ends up in our oceans.
Efforts to reduce the plastic waste from this industry are already underway. However, alternatives aren’t perfect yet. While you can find absorbent underwear, cups, and washable pads, some are made with synthetic materials that aren’t better for the environment.
Enter hemp. It has the potential to disrupt the feminine care industry and help the environment all at the same time.
Hemp as a plastic alternative in feminine products
The plastic components in feminine products can take hundreds of years to decompose. We’re not only talking about the applicators used with most tampons. There’s also plastic in many feminine pads and pantyliners.
Exploring ways to change the industry standard, making feminine products better for the environment, has led to hemp.
Substituting the plastics used in tampon applicators and pads with hemp fiber makes it possible to create zero plastic products. This can help eliminate a huge contributor to plastic waste when it comes to single-use feminine care products.
Combining hemp with organic cotton and cardboard applicators truly creates the perfect set of biodegradable ingredients for the products within this industry.
Good for the environment even as it grows
Using hemp fiber in feminine care products does more than leaves users with an environmentally-friendly end-product. It uses at least one raw material that’s doing its part too. Hemp is good for the environment even as it grows for many reasons:
- It’s a sustainable crop.
- It’s good for the soil. Hemp’s deep taproot helps aerate the soil as the plant grows.
- Hemp needs a lot less water (and no pesticides) to thrive.
- Hemp sequesters harmful carbon dioxide from the air for good.
With hemp’s short cultivation period, it’s also much easier to harvest hemp fiber than it is to synthesize plastic components in a factory. All this, in addition to its biodegradable nature, and there’s no argument you’ve got a better component for feminine products.
One more way to use hemp fiber
Working with hemp fiber when it comes to feminine care products is just another way this particular hemp product could influence the products we use every day. Even before hemp extracts made it big, hemp fiber made rope, clothing, and more.
Although you hear more about hemp extracts like CBD and CBG right now, don’t discount hemp fiber’s place in the market.
Explore all your options with hemp
The future of hemp will continue to change as industries begin looking at the plant as an option for their own products. To stay on top of the ever-changing possibilities of hemp, check out the vast collection of resources at Arbor Vita8. Our knowledgeable team continues to investigate uses for hemp in all its forms. We then share what we learn with you. As a leading hemp processor and wholesaler, we strive to stay on the cutting-edge of everything hemp. Contact us today to learn more.
