Tons of you took our survey last month (thank you!!) and we learned that the vast majority of you regretted not hearing about GladRags sooner. It’s our mission to make sure no more women have to spend years hating their periods and the disposable products they use, but we need your help!

To sweeten the deal and show how much we appreciate your efforts, we’re giving away $200 worth of GladRags gift certificates. You could be the winner of either $100, $50, or one of two $25 gift certificates — not too shabby!

Entering is easy: just follow the instructions in the entry form below to win. You can choose to do just one entry, or do them all! The more you share the giveaway — and spread the word about reusables — the more chances you’ll have to win.

GladRags wouldn’t be here without YOU, and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for everything you do to support healthy, sustainable menstrual supplies!
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Rebecca H., a Community Advisor at the University of Stevens Point, recently led a program for her female residents on eco-friendly menstrual products. We think she was super brave to organize and lead this program, and we hope she’ll inspire you to do the same! Here’s her story:

I had my program on green feminine products last night at seven, and it went over really well. I spent the first half talking about the benefits of reusable cloth pads and talking about a few different brands that differ slightly in their construction and absorption.

I know a lot of my residents use tampons and are also extremely active in the outdoors, so I spent the next half of the program telling the girls about menstrual cups and how convenient they can be because you don’t have to worry if you packed enough tampons for your trip and there is no waste to pack out when camping.

I was a bit nervous going into the program because I didn’t know how my residents would react, but they asked tons of questions and were very responsive. I had given my friend John who is a nursing major a booklet to be funny and he ended up reading it all. Before the program HE was telling ME all the benefits and money you can save from using cloth pads. A lot of people know John and love him, so he actually sat in during the program and when I was done talking, he filled in areas I forgot about! The girls thought it was great to see a guy their age actually taking an interest in their health.

I bought some organic tampons and a few cloth pads at our local Co-Op and had a raffle drawing at the end for all who attended. The girls who won were really excited to try cloth pads. Two of the girls even asked me if I would please do the program again next year! It was great and I am so glad it went over well.

Want a free color pantyliner? Just shop for any GladRags product at your local natural grocery or co-op before May 31st! You’ll be supporting GladRags, showing your favorite store that you support their commitment to sustainable options for women, and getting a sweet deal!

To get your free pantyliner, just complete and mail in this form along with your receipt showing the purchase of at least one GladRags product.  Purchases must be dated between April 20th and May 31st and be from brick-and-mortar stores; no receipts from online retailers will be accepted.

Happy shopping!

Yesterday we received a letter from a customer who wore her GladRags Pantyliner through a security scanner and was so traumatized by her resulting TSA genital search that she wanted to warn other women. (Read her letter below). Her past history of sexual assault made this experience a nightmare for her. At first we thought yes, we will warn people not to put themselves through this risk.

But on second thought, we want to ask every willing woman, menstruating or not, to put a GladRags in her pants and go through the scanner.  Let the TSA learn to recognize that a menstruating woman is probably not a terrorist! (And, yes, we know myriad jokes can be made be about that statement).

The fact of the matter is, everyone is subject to an invasive search. For some women and men it causes great stress and perceived violation. If you can handle the experience fairly stress free, help clear the way for our menstruating sisters for whom a genital search by a group of strangers is a truly traumatizing experience.

So get your GladRags on and get to grandma's house! Over the river and thru the scannners!  

"This email isn't going to be as polished as I would normally send, but I'm upset and I don't want what happened to me to happen to anyone else (if I can stop it). I recently traveled via air, and was subjected to that new scanning device. "No problem," I thought. I was wearing jeans and a linen tanktop, bra, panties, and one camoflauge pantyliner. I'm a rule follower, so I never have any problems at the airport. Not this time. I was stopped, and then held for 15 mintues while they tried to find a female supervisor. I couldn't get to my bag, my shawl or my shoes; just standing there while the TSA agents kept me in one place. Now, I don't want this to be about bad TSA agents; they were doing their job, they were as delicate as they could be, etc., etc. But what ultimately happened is that I was subjected to search so invasive that I was left crying and dealing with memories that I thought had been dealt with years ago of prior sexual assualts. Why? Because of my flannel panty-liner. These new scans are so horrible that if you are wearing something unusual (like a piece of cloth on your panties) then you will be subjected to a search where a woman repeatedly has to check your "groin" while another woman watches on (two in my case – they were training in a new girl – awesome). So please, please, tell the ladies not to wear their liners at the airport (I didn't even have an insert in). I'm a strong, confident woman; I'm an Army vet (which is why those camo liners crack me up), I work full-time and go to graduate school full-time, I have a wonderful husband, and I don't take any nonsense from anyone. I don't dramatize, and I don't exaggerate. I'm trying to give you a sense of who I am so you won't think that this is a plea for attention, or a jumping on the bandwagon about the recent TSA proposed boycott. I just don't want another woman to have to go through the "patting down" because she didn't know that her glad-rag would be a matter of national security."

This blog post originally appeared on My Red Tent.  We thought it was just to cute and funny to not share with the GladRags community!  Thanks to GladRags Guerrilla, Lafan, for allowing us to re-post it.

Who would have thought that a Gladrags cloth pad could double as a teddy bear cast.  Thank you to my kids for creativity and good laughs!

• Green Upgrader sings some praises in Reusable Menstrual Products Help Reduce Waste, Save Money.

• A study finds that the presence of older brothers delays menstruation in girls.  Learn more about why they think that is and how it relates to sexual activity here.

• I’ve always wondered What Causes Digestive Issues During Menstrual Periods.  And now I know!
• Ashley at Domestic Chaos reviews cloth pads and the Instead and rates them according to effectiveness and comfort.
• A new study finds a link between stress and worse PMS symptoms.
• Life on Health brings us many reasons to start using menstrual cups in Wondering How To Forget About Menstrual Pains & Discomfort Of Constant Tampon Or Pad Changing? Menstrual Cups!
• Check out this laughable recent ad for douching How to Ask for a Raise: First, Wash Your Vagina.  If only we could all feel comfortable with our own bodies silly shaming ads like this would not be a problem!
• Reasons to use a menstrual cup, let blogger Delta S count the ways.

About GladRags:

• Thanks to everyone who donated to our campaign for an orphanage in Nepal!  Learn more about the orphanage and our donation campaign here.
• You can see the TigerMama crew sporting their new GladRags pins in the picture to the right! Want one of your own? Sign up to be a GladRags Guerrilla!

Hello and welcome to the newest installment of Menstrual Mondays, wherein we review this week in menstrual news, blog entries, art, activism, and more!

•  The Chic Ecologist brings us an installment of the Environmental Impact of Everyday Things focused on the impact of menstrual products.  She goes into some interesting detail about what happens to the menstrual products that are thrown away and the history of green-washing such products. (image to the left is take from her article)
• Check out this week’s Do Good of the Week from GladRags Guerilla, Marta, who runs Be Good Do Good Yoga.  This week’s segment is all about natural birth control methods and why you should check them out.
• Girl w/ Pen has an impassioned editorial about the state of menstrual product advertising in Pop Goes Feminism: Does Your Period Make You Blue?
• Awesome blogger The Sexist has a hilarious article about the 5 Most Feminine Feminine Hygiene Products (note: they are not all menstrual products).
• Blog a la Cart shares a funny little story about her husband’s reaction to her excitement over first using the menstrual cup.

GladRags Guerrilla Natalie G. recently sent us this awesome email about what she’s doing to spread the word about reusable products:

I have already submitted a rave review talking about how GladRags changed my entire perspective on my period when I bought a starter kit a year ago. I would now like to tell people how stepping outside your comfort zone can really pay off. I bought my friend a set of 3 mismatched pads and a carry bag when they were on sale a while back (keep up the awesome sales that come so frequently!). I was nervous because we’d only talked a couple times about reusable menstrual products, but the apprehension was totally unfounded. She loved them so much she’s told any woman that will listen and has become a member of the GladRags Guerrillas like myself. She already has another friend converted to GladRags and is planning on posting signs/information in the bathroom at her work (I’m doing the same at school). Long story short, step outside your comfort zone and tell a friend because the impact can become exponential in such a short time!

-Natalie G.

Thanks, Natalie!  Keep up the great work!  Would you like to learn more about how to help other women make the best choice for the environment and their bodies?  Join the GladRags Guerillas Team and get a free info set with the tools you need to help spread the word!

Ready to take a page from Natalie’s book and convert your friends?  Now is the perfect time to give the gift of GladRags!  With a variety of GladRags pad and cup kits on sale and new reusable Gift Bags at a special introductory price, what are you waiting for?