"Change Starts With Your Underwear!"

Isn't that exciting?? Who would have thought?

In our house we eat probably 95% organically, use organic products for our body and use all natural house cleaners. Living organically is a big commitment. It feels good knowing that I spend my money where I believe I am not only making a difference to the health of my family, but to the health of our planet.

Since I don't really foresee myself buying and wearing ALL organic clothing, a very expensive feat, why not wear organic clothes where it counts. Where does it count you ask?? It counts where my clothes are closest to my skin and where they rest near my sacred reproductive organs. Yes, that's right! I am promoting the use of organic underwear!

A few weeks ago, I was in Nordstrom (cringe) trying to find something to purchase using a gift certificate I got last December. I went and asked a sales clerk about organic underwear. Her eyes looked to one corner, her mouth scrunched to one side, "hmmm, I don't think we have a huge selection." I followed her and she led me to a rack of hideous looking granny underpants. Since I'm not 70 yet, I decided to forgo the granny underwear and continue my shopping. I continued to peruse the racks where I did find another style of organic underwear, only these were of the type that give you the "forever wedgie", yes, the thong--again, not really my thing. I wanted normal, comfortable, cute looking organic underwear.

I got home and started to look on the internet. After a little while I came across a San Francisco based company called PACT. Needless to say, I was very excited. Here is a picture of my purchase!



Aside from having cute organic underwear, 10% of the money from your purchase goes to one of the various causes that they support. They support a broad range of organizations, to name a few;

ForestEthics-helping to protect and preserve our precious forests and wildlife

Global Green USA-promoting and encouraging the global shift to sustainability for our future and the future of our kids
826 National-an organization that encourages and mentors young writers

This was it! Excitedly, I made my order. When the underwear arrived, a few days later, it was packaged in a compostable shipping bag (as seen below) and each pair of undie had it's own little cloth bag which can be re-used to hold other precious goodies.


I inspected my new garments carefully and noticed another cool factor, printed on the inside lining of the underwear was the organization that you had supported, in my case, "Oceana"--an organization committed to protecting our beautiful oceans. It couldn't have been more fitting (no pun intended) considering the gushing wound that continues to spew forth oil in the gulf.

So people, it is possible to find cute organic underwear! PACT also does undies for men! My next mission now is to get my hubby into a pair! To visit PACT, go to www.wearpact.com/

As a final note, I am reminded of a quote from Eva Longoria, . . .

"It's shapely and has served me well [on her butt]"

For Her Eyes Only, . . .

Sorry guys, but do you really want to hear about periods and menstrual pads? If so, kudos to you, but don't say I didn't warn you!





Aren't these beautiful (I've posted a link below)?? I've talked about cloth diapering and how important I think it is to use re-usable materials on my darling daughter, so why would it be any different when it comes to me and my yoni? Well guess what, . . . it's not! During my moon cycle, I wear only organic cloth pads. Although wearing cloth pads is a little more "work" compared to wearing, say, a tampon, I can think of quite a few reasons why cloth pads are better.

1. Cloth pads are obviously better for the planet! They are made out of natural materials so when they eventually do get tossed, they won't be sitting in our landfills for hundreds of years. Can you imagine 12 billion pads and 7 million tampons being thrown into the landfills each year (a rough estimate according to Menstruation.com)? Yuck! Cloth pads also only have to travel from the manufacturer to your house once, instead of once a month for 30 years.

2. Cloth pads are better for your yoni! Why put synthetic, bleached fibers near your yoni when you can use organic natural fibers? Even though you can find chlorine free, unbleached pads, they still have some petroleum based product in them. They need to in order to be water resistant. Wool is a natural water repellent which lined on some of my cloth pads. Not only are they soft, but doubled up with the right kind of liner, I rarely have leaks!

3. They are cheaper! You don't need to buy cloth pads very often. I bought my first set of cloth pads about 4 years ago and they are still in good condition, mind you, I take very good care of them and have my cleaning system down pat.

4. They are WAY more comfortable. No more sticky tape pulling on those yoni hairs! Isn't that the worst? Cloth pads snap around your underwear with a button. They are soooooo much more comfortable. Wouldn't you rather have soft cotton or wool next to your sensitive skin rather than a crinkly, bulky disposable pad?

5. They are pretty and more fun! Why stick with boring old white when you can have bright colors and pretty prints (i.e. the cloth pads above)? When my daughter grows up we will celebrate her moon cycle by letting her choose her own set of pretty moon cycle pads.

6. They are easy to clean. Despite the myth, cloth pads are simple to care for. There are a couple of ways you can do it. Personally, I believe the easiest way is to do a wet soak. When you are finished with you pad, soak it in water. When you are ready to do a load of laundry, drain the water and throw them in with whatever you are washing. I soak mine in a watering can so that I can drain the water onto my house-plants which LOVE moon water (not for everybody, I know). You can also rinse them out with soap and water immediately after use and hang to dry.

7. I feel more connected to my body. I can actually track my blood flow now. When I used to just put a tampon in, I couldn't even really tell whether I had a light, medium or heavy flow. It was almost like I used a tampon so I wouldn't be inconvenienced by a completely natural and beautiful cycle my body goes through. So cloth pads may inhibit me from going to the local swimming pool or do some heavy duty exercise, but to be honest, I like to use this time for a little R & R considering it is a time when my body is losing blood and expelling toxins.

8. I feel more connected to the earth. Our menstrual cycles are supposed to be aligned with the lunar calendar, hence the term "moon cycle". Our world today is functioning at a very high frequency and a lot of our conscious connection with the earth gets misplaced by our love for TV, computers, cars, work, . . . the buzz of our lives. Being more connected with my body and flow has in turn allowed me to have more of a connection with mother nature, after all, our cycles ebb and flow just as the tides do.

9. My overall yoni health is so much better! I used to have chronic yeast infections. I even had grade III cervical dysplasia. I do the best to care for myself and keep my health strong. Wearing organic cloth pads is one way I can help. Knock on wood, so far so good. I haven't had a yeast infection in years and my cervical dysplasia has not been a problem since.

10. They are fun to collect! I don't know why, bug I enjoy trying a few different types out and seeing which ones work best for me. It's like trying on a bra, or new underwear. If you're going to do it, why not experiment and have a little fun with it?

So there you have it! 10 good reasons to try out cloth pads. I love mine and will never go back to the "old ways". I'm a better person because of my cloth pads! If you want, click on the link below to see some fun pads to start out your collection.

For the gorgeous pads pictured above (who knew pads could be gorgeous?), try out this etsy shop, they are also very well made and shipping is fast:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/epicerma

These ones are also a favorite of mine, very soft hemp/cotton fleece with an outer layer of wool:
http://organicgrace.com/node/151

Have fun celebrating your moon cycle!