Keeling Curve

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Project Summary / Description:

To campaign for safe, sustainable period products for women, girls and people who menstruate. Promoting reusable and organic options while highlighting the hidden plastic and toxic chemicals in conventional products. The drive to maintain the taboos and secrecy around menstruation has led to the development of products which can harm human health and the environment. We aim to break down the taboos and ensure menstruation is safe and healthy for all. Promoting our work through our Environmenstrual Coalition, our Environmenstrual week of Action and our Environmenstrual Ambassador programme.

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Wen is the only organisation in the UK making the links between women, health, equality and the environment. We work to empower women and girls to become agents of change and to participate equally in an environmentally sustainable future. 
Wen campaigns on issues that predominantly affect women promoting safer, sustainable and economically viable options on products such as real nappies and personal care products. Wen‚ campaigns have been replicated in other countries worldwide such as the initial campaign on the chlorine bleaching of wood pulp for menstrual products and nappies along with our campaign on Toxic Shock Syndrome linked to tampon usage. Organisations in Europe have replicated Wen‚ toxic tours of bathroom cabinets and our work on waste minimisation and nappies. And the project on mapping environmental breast cancer cases received global recognition. 
We have a proven track record of working with Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) women especially on food growing projects which uses food growing to address physical and mental wellbeing, and social exclusion among vulnerable BAME women. Winning a Big Lottery Grant of ¬£2.1 million in 2020 with partners to develop Just FACT - Just Food and Climate Transition - a sustainable food system for Tower Hamlets putting women and communities at the centre focused on reducing the environmental impacts of our food system. 
Wen draws attention to the need to include diverse representations of people with periods and create a safe space for people of colour or with a disability to share their period experience. Amplify the voices of women and the diverse range of those who menstruate. The fact that the cheapest period products are often those with the most potential to damage our health and planet means that people with the least power have the greatest exposure to dangerous products. Using organic period products means supporting the development of organic cotton production, where cotton farmers, the majority of whom are women in cotton producing countries, can safely grow food crops between the cotton and reduce their families‚ exposure to pesticides. 
Our Environmenstrual campaign recently launched a new digital series called Plastic-Free Periods Reframed highlighting the phenomenal Women and People of Colour leading the plastic-free periods movement. Black and peoples of colour are owning the narrative on sustainable periods with the majority of companies producing reusable period products and some providing free products to those experiencing period poverty. 
During our Environmenstrual Week of Action each October we aim to raise awareness that conventional single-use period products contain plastic and other harmful chemicals. Encouraging women, girls and people who menstruate to take action, by trying reusable menstrual products, such as menstrual cups and washable pads or to use organic plastic-free disposable options. We break down taboos which can often inhibit people from questioning the menstrual products they use and break down the barriers and secrecy around the issue which facilitates the flush and forget syndrome.

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