May 28 is Menstrual Hygiene Day
Environment Facts
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16,000 menstrual products are disposed per person in a lifetime
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100 Billion menstrual products disposed off annually Worldwide
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20 Billion menstrual products disposed off annually in North America alone
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90% of pads content is made of plastic
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4 plastic bag equivalents is amount of plastic content in a single sanitary pad
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It takes 500-800 years for plastic to fully biodegrade
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0.04 kg (0.088 lbs.) equivalent CO2 emissions/person using a reusable cup
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5.3 kg (11.68 lbs.) equivalent CO2 emissions/person using pads/tampons
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61.31 Million women in the U.S. used sanitary pads in 2018
Population Facts
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3.61 Billion is the world’s female population, that’s 49.5 % of the world population
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2 Billion females are between ages 15 & 55, that’s 57.3% of world's female population
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800 Million females menstruate/day worldwide
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13% of US jail population consists of women
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20% of women suffer from dysmenorrhea (severe menstrual pain)
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113 Million adolescent girls’ globally at risk of dropping out of school due to periods
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11.5 Million women in Ghana lack hygiene/sanitation management facilities
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42-50 Million women in US live at or close to poverty
Monetary Facts
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$25-40 is cost of a single cup; $0.33 is the cost/period cycle
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$10-12 is cost/pack of pads or tampons/period cycle
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$6 Billion Industry for Disposable Menstrual products exists currently
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$2 Billion spent by Americans alone per year on Menstrual products
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$0.71-1.08 is average sales tax paid per 36 pack disposable pads (based on state tax rate)
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36 is number of US states as of 2018, that impose sales tax on menstrual products
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$264.58 Billion as of 2015, is amount collectively raised by Women’s Philanthropy Institutes in the United States
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$39.68 Billion as of 2015, is the raised money that went towards charities focused solely on women and girls