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Fight for Your Right to Know

26 Apr 2017

3

Feminine Care Products, Fragrance Chemicals, Ingredient Disclosure, Voices Blog, Women's Health

Fight for Your Right to Know

Ashley OrgainDirector, Mission Advocacy & Outreach President, Seventh Generation Foundation

Are you ready to take a stand?
Join us in DC to rally for your right to know!

It’s estimated that a woman will use up to 16,000 tampons in her lifetime. While some personal care routines are nice to set and forget, what I’m putting in the most intimate part of my body 16,000 times during my life, gets my full attention.
Yet, tampon manufacturers don’t have to fully disclose what’s in their products. They are not required to tell me, or you, what ingredients make up the components in their products. This includes chemicals that may be found in the applicator, the tampon core, and even chemicals used in fiber finishes. For pads it’s the same case: manufacturers aren’t required to fully disclose chemical additives used to treat fibers in the absorbent material, dyes or chemicals that may be used in fragranced products.
It is not uncommon for consumers to look for products made without fragrances. When companies list “fragrance” on their label, they could be referring to many different types of fragrance ingredients; there are many different chemicals can make up a fragrance. Unfortunately, when it comes to feminine care “cosmetics” – such as wipes and sprays – companies often only disclose the generic term “fragrance” on their ingredient list and don’t provide much detail beyond that. It’s even worse for tampons and pads, where there is no law requiring companies to disclose any ingredients at all, including fragrances.
The failure to disclose ingredients to consumers is concerning. Women have a right to know what is in the tampons and pads they use. Period.
Seventh Generation is proud to be partnering with Women’s Voices for the Earth, leading a movement that is fighting for a woman’s right to know what is in the pads and tampons she uses. We are teaming up to empower women to make informed decisions when it comes to the products we are putting in our bodies. We believe strongly that we have a right to avoid ingredients like fragrance – no matter how those ingredients are regulated. That’s why Seventh Generation and Women’s Voices of the Earth are excited that Congresswoman Meng is about to reintroduce a bill which requires the labeling of ingredients in tampons, menstrual pads and cups, and other medical devices used during menstruation.
We know that change will not come from our efforts alone. Join us in fighting for your right to know by asking your representative to support mandatory ingredient disclosure of feminine care products.

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Ashley Orgain is Seventh Generation’s Director of Mission Advocacy & Outreach and mom to an active 5 year old. She’s also the President of the Seventh Generation Foundation and passionately believes that business can be a force for good in the world. When she’s not advocating for her community, she can be found playing hide and seek, bike riding around Burlington or enjoying local food.

Congresswoman Grace Meng, feminine care products, feminine care rally in DC, fragrance chemicals, fragrance ingredients, ingredients in tampons, pads, right to know, seventh generation, tampons

http://www.womensvoices.org/2017/04/26/fight-for-your-right-to-know/

Thank you for accepting this opportunity to test a product and provide your opinion. You will receive a packet in the mail with two Seventh Generation Free & Clear Laundry Detergent 2-pk samples.
1. Try the laundry detergent in your household for 2 loads.
2. Come back and share your product experience using the sharing tools in Generation Good.
3. Share your other laundry sample 2-pk with a friend or neighbor!
Thanks for being part of Generation Good! It's your participation in activities like this one that makes Generation Good so great!

This is a mission that is important for all women, including daughters who might not even be ready just yet. And while talking about periods can be squeamish for some, there is helpful info to be shared.
Unbelievably, no federal law exists which requires disclosure of ingredients in tampons and pads. This means women are left in the dark about what ingredients they are putting on some of the most sensitive and absorptive tissue on their body.
That’s why Women's Voices for the Earth and Seventh Generation are happy to report that Representative Grace Meng is planning to re-introduce a bill to require disclosure of the ingredients used in feminine products. And on May 23, women from across the country will gather on Capitol Hill to send Congress a message: It’s time to care about feminine care. Period.
We are asking all Generation Good members for their help in raising awareness of this issue by raising their voice!  Share the link below in your sharing tools to help inform and empower the women you know to stand up for their right to know what is in the products they use.  

Update

Since my last entry, my mom and I went to visit my Gram in the hospice care, and when she saw us, she exclaimed, "You Came!"  Her whole face lit up!  She looked beautiful.  We only stayed about 2 hours at a time, because holding conversations were very taxing on my Gram.  So, we visited with her for the next 2 days before we had to head back home.  I told her that I would call her every day to check up on her, because she gets bored just laying in bed all of the time.

So, over the next 2 weeks I called her in the afternoon at around 3:30pm.  One time, the phone just rand and rang, which was unusual.  So, after about 1 minute, I hung up and dialed the main desk to inquire if someone could go and check on her.  I was told to call back, and the nurse would pick up the phone in her room.  I tried that, and found out that my uncle was with her, and it was him that answered the phone.  I was so relieved, that I was crying, and I said that I was so happy that she was still there.

 He put Gram on the phone, and I could tell that she was heading downhill fast, she couldn't hear very well, and she was not really answering my questions.  I found out later, that she was in so much pain, because her cancer had spread all throughout her body that she was put on morphine drops.  That pretty much makes one incoherent, and puts one to sleep.

Three days later, she passed away at 3:00am April 12, 2017.  Here is the thing, I woke up that morning at 2:30am and couldn't sleep.  I thought of her, and started praying for God to let her rest and to be pain-free, and that if it was her time to go, that she should be at peace.

My family really thinks that my Gram intentionally had waited to see me and my Mom before letting herself go to be with God.  I was sad, but oh so happy that I know that now she is no longer in pain, and she is with the Lord, and her beloved Sig.