We’re excited to announce our new partnership with Empower Women in Africa! Together, we hope to bring educational and economic opportunities to girls and women in rural Africa. And you can help: by purchasing an Empower Kit to be given to a girl in need, you can help her complete her education and achieve her dreams!

Here’s Lori, founder of EWA, to share with you the successes of their first year:

“Empower Women in Africa was founded in February 2011 with the vision of providing a pathway to education for girls throughout rural Africa. To accomplish this, we provide scholarships to girls living in poverty and showing promise in the classroom, and by providing reusable cloth menstrual pads so there is not a struggle every month to find sanitary products with limited funds.

In our first year, we have been able to provide scholarships to five girls at Andara Combined School in Namibia. These scholarships cover every cost that comes along with their education from their school fees, school uniform and even a food stipend for their families when good grades are achieved to encourage the family to take an interest in their daughter’s education.

We have also been instrumental in getting over 2200 cloth menstrual pads to girls in Namibia and Uganda. The recipients have ranged from an orphanage with Show Mercy International, schools, conferences and after school clubs. Thanks to GladRags, Days for Girls and a growing population of volunteers for getting all of the pads sewn.

In 2012, we’re excited to be working with GladRags to be their exclusive pad donation partner. Because of their commitment to our cause, our pad program is expected to at least double in our second year! This also opens up more time to focus on our scholarship program and we already have five more girls selected for sponsorship!”

As of today, March 4 (the New Moon), I will hand over the GladRags keys to Tracy Puhl, the new owner.  Yay for me!  Yay for Tracy!  And yay for all of you smart and loyal customers who have supported us over the years because Tracy and her team will be doing great things with GladRags.

GladRags came into being when I first moved to Portland and needed a way to make money so I could be home with our 2-year-old daughter while my husband worked in Los Angeles.That WAHM business turned into a bigger enterprise than I imagined and now GladRags are found in nearly every natural product store in the U.S. It was a job that allowed me to stay available to Emma, who, by the way, is now in her third year of college – that’s how long I’ve been running GladRags.  And it allowed me the flexibility to go back to school for my BFA. Even my artwork owes a debt of gratitude to the ‘rags, because a lot of my work is created from scraps from the cutting room floor!

I feel very proud of my work at GladRags. Proud for all we’ve done for the environment and for what we’ve done for women. We have reached hundreds of thousands of women with messages of empowerment and respect for their bodies and their menstrual cycles. I hope we’ve made menstruation a little less of a taboo subject. With a name like GladRags, you know you are turning stereotypes on their head!

What an adventure it has been, meeting amazing people in the natural products industry – store buyers, brokers, fellow business people. Many thanks go to the spirited, committed staff who have worked with me at GladRags – I love these women! They helped me, they taught me, and they kept me hip – and most of them are still my friends. My loving husband, Bruce, deserves a shout–out, too, for all his support over the years. And especially to the wonderful, warm, progressive-thinking customers who have made it all possible, a great big thank you!

For the last few years, however, my focus has shifted more and more to my art career. It’s hard to do both jobs well at the same time. I need more time in the studio and GladRags deserves someone to give it full attention and fresh energy. Tracy has been working at GladRags for a few years and has proven to be creative, enterprising, and downright indispensable. I can already see that she will put herself into it with a commitment that perhaps it never got from me. I know she will promote the message of healthy bodies,  strong spirits, and a healthy environment in new and creative ways.

Watch out, world! GladRags has entered a new cycle!

- Brenda

PS: if you want to stay in touch with me personally, I’m over here:

www.brendamallory.com

(Sorry for the blurry photo — we’ve had a glass of champagne to celebrate!)

A note from Tracy:

Hello, GladRags Community!

I’m so excited to take this big new step in my life and to continue my journey with GladRags!  I can’t wait to make GladRags even stronger as both a company and a community, and I think we can (and will!) achieve some amazing things in the coming years.

You’ll continue to see the same quality of products and service you expect from GladRags, and I hope that together we can continue sharing the message of empowerment, sustainability, and health with even more women. Please don’t hesitate to contact me with your suggestions and ideas; I want to hear from YOU and learn about how GladRags can better serve its community — and the planet!

You can leave a comment here for Brenda to wish her well in her new endeavors.  She is an amazingly talented artist, and I expect we’ll see great things from her as she devotes more of her time to her art!

And of course, thank you for your continued support of GladRags.  We wouldn’t be here without you!

xoxo

Tracy

email me / Facebook me

Hannah is one of two interns who will be joining the GladRags Team for the summer.  We’re super excited to have her on board! 

Name: Hannah Forman
Age: 20
Hometown: Toronto, Canada
Current location: Portland, Oregon
Occupation: GladRags Intern! almost college graduate, life-long student

Interests: Nutrition, Yoga, German, French, Feminism, French feminism, Performance Arts, Traveling, Photo Taking, Bicycling and the Sun.

How long have you used reusable menstrual products?: Haven’t started yet but I am looking forward to it!
Reason for making the switch to reusables: Well, GladRags makes a pretty clever case for it – I’m concerned about the well-being of the earth, especially in this near-apocalyptic age (2012). I’m also concerned about the well-being of my body and would like to remain toxin free as much as possible.

Funny anecdotes, deep thoughts, or anything else you’d like to share: I used to  try to hide the fact that I was on my period at all costs. (similar to June friend) Now, I think that’s a misuse of time that could be spent not only feeling great instead of feeling ashamed, but also talking openly about what alternatives are out there to support us.

Do you live in the Portland area and love GladRags?  We’re looking for an intern to join us at our North Portland HQ for the summer — COULD IT BE YOU?!?!?!

Under the guidance of three (pretty awesome, if we do say so ourselves) staff members, you’ll get ongoing training on projects that will exercise your research and networking skills. You’ll be encouraged to take part in our staff meetings and will have opportunities to learn the ins and outs of the green business and women’s health fields. During the course of your internship, you’ll gain valuable skills that can be put to use in the non-profit sector, advertising, green business, and more.

We are all super excited to have an additional team member this summer and hope to find someone who is as enthusiastic about working at GladRags as we are!  If you’re interested in joining us, please read the “fine print” below and apply by emailing us at orders@gladrags.com with a letter of interest, resume, and writing sample.  Deadline is May 14th — we can’t wait to hear from you!

The Fine Print:

Please have an interest in environmentalism, the ability to talk about menstruation openly, and a desire to learn more about the green business market. It’s important to us that you embrace the GladRags mission and believe in our products.  Bicycling to work is not necessary, but strongly encouraged!  Biking companions may be provided depending on route (if you ride with us, you may be required to stop for donuts occasionally).

Wage/salary/stipend: Unpaid

Schedule:  180 hours for the summer.  Flexible scheduling.  A firm time commitment is required.

Last month we posted about participating in Bike Transportation Alliance’s Bike Commute Challenge.  Now we’re excited to share the amazing results of this month-long competition!

Number of participating workplaces:
1240

Number of riders:
11,118

Number of riders new to bike commuting:
2,693

Total number of miles biked:
1,244,718

That’s a lot of bike commuters and a lot of miles!  We had so much fun challenging ourselves to bike to work every single day (as a team, we logged 490 miles in September!) and checking our ranking on the BTA website — we even received a plaque for our 100% workplace participation rate!

You can read more about the Bike Commute Challenge — including the guy who biked over 1,800 miles in just 21 days! — at Bike Portland’s blog.  Thanks again to the Bike Transportation Alliance for organizing such an enjoyable competition and to all the other teams who participated!

Team GladRags from left to right: Alex, Brenda, and Tracy

Here at GladRags, it’s important to us to be as sustainable as possible.  From the way we package our products to the way we get to the office, we try to make the best choice possible for the environment.  All three of us bike to work fairly routinely, but when we heard about the Bicycle Transportation Alliance’s Bike Commute Challenge, we were excited to really put ourselves to the test! The challenge is “a friendly competition — workplace against workplace — to see who can bike to work more during the month of September. The workplaces with the highest percentage of commutes by bicycle during the month win!”  There are also weekly drawings for prizes and discounts for bike parts/accessories at local bicycle shops. The Bike Commute Challenge website is really fun and interactive.  Each day you work, you log your mileage on the calendar and your total miles, calories burned, pounds of CO2 saved, and participation rate are automatically calculated.  Check it out: as a team we’ve already cycled over 232 miles!

As of this posting, we’re #1 in our category (Business or Non-Profit with 2-4 employees) with a participation rate of 100%!  While there are no official prizes offered to winning teams by the Bicycle Transportation Alliance — other than glory, of course! — there are plenty of benefits from just participating (better health, a reduced carbon footprint, and the simple joy of just riding a bicycle, to name a few!).

One day last week we all needed to attend a meeting about three miles away, so we hopped on our bikes and headed downtown.  It was a beautiful day and so much fun to ride as a group, plus the midday exercise perked us up.  As soon as we made it back, we all logged on to add the trip to our mileage!

If you’re in Oregon and SW Washington, it’s not too late to join the competition!  You can still sign up and enter your commutes retroactively. The website is also available for bike commuters from outside the area to use, although you won’t be part of the official challenge.

We’ll be sure to keep you updated on our progress and hope to see some of you at the Bicycle Transportation Alliance’s after party on October 8th!

Here at GladRags we love all things sustainable!  This includes bike commuting to work for all of us.  There are more benefits to biking than just sustainable living.  You feel good, spend less money, and get to enjoy the scenery of your town.  And now this!  There was a delightful little add-on to the stimulus bill:  The Bicycle Commuter Tax Provision – a $20 a month tax credit to employees for riding their bike to work!   We GladRags employees love it! See more information here.  The provision was heralded by Portland's very own bike commuting representative Earl Blumenauer.

If you ride to work a substantial amount of days, ask your employer to offer it!

Do you ride your bike to work or around town?  If not, what are your major barriers?  If you do, what do you think is the best part?

Hi!  My name is Tracy and I'm new here at GladRags — although you may recognize me from my brief moment of fame as one of last year's monthly friends.  I've been using reusable menstrual products for about two years and I'm so excited to join the GladRags team!

I grew up here in Portland and last year earned my BA in Social Science at Portland State University.  In the past I have worked in childcare and provided employment support for adults with developmental disabilities.  Outside of work, I enjoy knitting, spinning, eating delicious meals, reading, riding my bicycle, and spending time with family and friends.  I'm a Leo (Scorpio rising) and I share my home with two lovely housemates, two cats, one Australian Shepherd and a French Angora rabbit.

I'm looking forward to spreading the word about GladRags and making a positive impact on our feelings surrounding menstruation.  Thanks for reading and look for more blog posts from me soon!

GladRags now has a Facebook business page!  Click here to join our group and be our very special friend.  If you're a regular user of this amazing social networking site, you'll be able to easily catch up on our blog postings there, plus get alerts on your homepage when we have fresh news to share with you!

Hello–I'd like to interrupt this blog to introduce myself.  I'm Hilary, otherwise known as the Bunny with a Toolbelt, and I'll be sitting in on the GladRags Blog for the next few months.  Brenda wanted me to tell you a little bit about myself, so I'll start with a piece I made over a decade ago that fits right into the conversations here. I made this piece in 1987 when I found a call for entries for a show in New Orleans called "Feminine Products," which immediately triggered the idea for this piece, which I lovingly called the "Giant Tampon Punching Bag."  It came out of a monthly frustration at the high price of disposable menstrual pads and tampons.  The bag was the full size of a regulation punching bag, and hung from a large rope.  The boxing gloves were covered with images of dollar bills.  It was a simple, humorous idea, like much of my student work. The giant tampon is long gone, but my artwork carries on.  Most recently, I have been focusing on a line of wood animals and wedding cake toppers I sell on Etsy, a fabulous online marketplace for handmade goods.  You can see my shop by clicking here.  Here's an image of one of my favorite pieces, a red bird sitting on an elephant's back.  My sculptures are made entirely from reclaimed wood, gleaned from woodworkers' scrap bins or a local business in Portland called the ReBuilding Center, who is able to salvage up to 90% of a building before demolition and sell it back to the public at a great price, not to mention the benefits of saving it from the landfill. I love to write, and I feel strongly about the great products that GladRags makes, so I'll be checking in from time to time to let you in on what I'm thinking about.  Thanks for listening and I'll be back soon!