I know it's very retro, but I still get a morning newspaper subscription. Unless I shred them for my worm bin, or use for a painting drop cloth, they go straight into the recycle bin. But here's a great way to recycle them in a more useful manner. I'm not much of a gardener these days, because my CSA delivers almost more veggies than I can use, but if you have a green thumb,  check out this great way to make seedling pots -  here are the instructions, courtesy Little House in the Suburbs. 

I just ran across this article on www.examiner.com, about irritiations caused by disposable menstrual products. The writer, San Francisco gynecologist, Dr. Jennifer Gunter, lays out some facts, and mentions GladRags as a soft, safe alternative.

Here at GladRags, we hear these stories of irritation and relief from our customers quite frequently, but it is great to hear it confirmed by a medical professional.Thanks, Dr. Gunter.

 - Brenda

We've all heard of fitness clubs but today I worked out with a fitness stick. A long bamboo stick to be exact.

For the last few months I've been going to an outdoor boot camp type exercise program at the park near my house. I hate the gym, I hate the florescent lights,  I hate watching people watch TVs while they work out on machines. There is something that seems so wrong about using electricity to work out.

I'd much rather watch the wind blow leaves around and the sun come up through the trees. Abdominals aren't nearly so awful when you can watch a cloud move overhead. Besides the aforementioned bamboo stick, our imaginative trainer, James, keeps it fresh every day by using the equipment available at the park and whatever weights or equipment he can pack in his bike bag – because he commutes to work by pedal power.  It's all very low-tech but very effective and I feel good about doing something for myself that isn't using energy. It's a "green, low carbon footprint" workout!  (It's kind of like using GladRags – you can almost be a little self-righteous about it.)

If you are in Portland, check it out at Portland Outdoor Fitness, or email James at portlandoutdoorfitness@gmail.com.

–Brenda

It's a virtual lovefest right now between we makers of menstrual alternatives!  My counterpart over at Lunapads , Madeleine Shaw, just posted about me and GladRags and I have to say right up front I did not pay her to write it!!! But I would have in a heartbeat because it is glowing and my head swelled to an enormous size as I was reading it. Read it here. I'm lucky to  have her as a friend.

And while it's kind of weird to recommend a competitor's blog to our customers and readers, I have to say Madeleine is worth reading anytime, on any subject.  As I have told her before, sometimes I feel like she has gone inside my head and taken my swirling thoughts and put them down into cohesive, inspired, and sometimes downright poetical blog posts. That's because she has the pulse of what is going on in the world and especially the world of women and the environment.  I usually have two reactions to her posts: 1) wow, that's right on; and 2) Damn! Why didn't I write that!  

So thank you, Madeleine, for your kind and generous words about me and for talking about our rather strange but happy competitor/compatriot relationship. And more than that, for your always thoughtful and thought-provoking words on important topics in our world.

-Brenda

The following excerpt is from a New York Times op-ed page.

Blocking Care for Women by HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON and CECILE RICHARDS

LAST month, the Bush administration launched the latest salvo in its eight-year campaign to undermine women’s rights and women’s health by placing ideology ahead of science: a proposed rule from the Department of Health and Human Services that would govern family planning. It would require that any health care entity that receives federal financing — whether it’s a physician in private practice, a hospital or a state government — certify in writing that none of its employees are required to assist in any way with medical services they find objectionable.  Read the complete article here and make a comment on the proposed ruling by September 25. 

I just wanted to say that I love GladRags. I rotate between the pads, the sponge and the diva cup, all of which I think are great. I’ve been saving my blood for fertilizer for my plants, and I’ve never had a more beautiful garden! It’s really nice to take from my body, give back to the earth, and nourish her, so that she can nourish me and my family. Three cheers to GladRags for making such great products available!

- Brittiney

Deanna Duke, who writes the blog, Crunchy Chicken, is being honored by her friends this month. This amazing woman started Goods 4 Girls and gave all of us who were floundering around, not knowing how to help, a great direction.  Goods 4 Girls collects cloth pads and sends them to school girls in Africa.  It's an amazing and wildly successful organization that GladRags is proud to be working with through our G4G Kit.  Her blog, Crunchy Chicken, is full of great info and inspiration and makes an entertaining read. She is committed to a better world and has the guts to speak her mind.

Deanna is a woman who can really turn thought into action. A Crunchy Tribute tells you how you can take some action too.  Our action for Deanna this month is a donation of four G4G Kits and we are putting the G4G Kit on 10% discount so you can help too!

Thanks Deanna for all your good work!

-Brenda 

Dan is our monthly friend for June. He’s been my best friend since my days at UCLA. And yeah, he’s a guy, but guys can be monthly GladRags friends too (see Oct 07 newsletter).  Dan is a hiker, camper, wilderness loving, city dwelling, college professor, and is an all around brilliant and funny man. While I know he would be passively pro-GladRags even if he didn’t know me, because he does know and love me, he is a very vocal GladRags advocate.  He guerrilla markets for GladRags  by asking for them in every natural foods market in New England. And if you have dinner at his house (he’s a great cook), you can be sure that sometime during dinner, he’ll get out his GladRags brochures and demo pads and educate you about the virtures of reusables. (This has disconcerted more than a few unsuspecting guests).  After a few martinis, he’s been known to throw on some tighty-whiteys over his jeans so he can show exactly how they work!  He’s our East Coast Rep extraordinaire!

We’ve got some new faces at GladRags these days. One of the great benefits of owning the GladRags business is meeting great customers and getting to work with amazing women.  Elizabeth and Tanya continue the tradition of GladRags employees being forward thinking, trail blazing, interesting women.

Elizabeth grew up in California’s Bay Area. She moved to Portland, Oregon to attend Reed College in 2002. Since graduating with a BA in Anthropology, in addition to working for GladRags, Elizabeth has led groups for teenage survivors of domestic violence and organized books at the public library. Her interests include: learning, music, art where animals wearing clothing is featured prominently, gender studies, road trips, and Anthropological theory. This summer Elizabeth is joining other activists as part of a bicycle caravan for reproductive justice called Wanderlust where she’ll ride from New Orleans to New York. Elizabeth loves working for GladRags because she gets to help create more positivity around our cycles.

Tanya moved to Portland late summer 2007 from Boulder, Colorado where she had worked for Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy (a great place to purchase GladRags products!) for the past two and some odd years.  A graduate of The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington in 2005, she has wanted to move back to the Pacific Northwest since leaving the area.  Her interests include but are not limited to making and appreciating all art, especially visual art, biking around Portland, friends, bars, concerts, gardens, fish tanks, traveling and languages. She has always been a passionate bleeder and has been dealing with her menstruation alternatively as well as sharing her knowledge with her peers since late high school.  She can’t really remember what inspired her to do so, but she thinks it might have had something to do with common sense and the book Cunt by Inga Muscio. She is really excited for the opportunity to work for a small, local, proud-to-be-bleeding company such as GladRags and it ready to give it her all.