Our goal is to be a part of this positive change by making sure that girls and women EVERYWHERE have a healthy, sustainable and affordable option for period products. We work with locals, and our aim is to achieve positive, long-term impacts.
INCLUSIVITY X LUNETTE
We promote for inclusive speech around menstruation and actively inform communities about and advocate for the rights of all menstruators including people who are not women or girls.
Not all women have periods and not all people who have periods are women
The above is one of our mantras and one of the core philosophies within our communication strategy, and a fundamental part of all our communication. We have cooperated with influencers like @tjlucasbox, @jammi.dodger and @dakotarobinn to press this point, and celebrate feedback, positive & negative, because it all creates the needed Inclusivity in Language - When There’s More To It Than Just Words
We also want to address the issues many people with disabilities face, when dealing with periods. We want to commit to share more information and personal perspectives from people with disabilities and, for example, on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities in 2022, we highlighted @lucyethorburn ’s story on our Instagram page. See our post at: https://www.instagram.com/p/CltjMUKMMlt/
In a 2020 survey about periods and disability, City to Sea found that 2 in 5 people were dissatisfied with the period care products they were using. Working with City to Sea, we were able to continue sharing Katie-May’s experience with period management as someone with Muscular Dystrophy and being a wheelchair user. After trialling the Lunette Menstrual cup for 3 months Katie-May shared:
“Once it’s in, it’s brilliant! I’m amazed at how much it holds and I’ve had no leaks either.”
“There wasn’t really any cons to using the cup apart from it can be a little tricky to insert and I needed help to do it but I often have the same problem with a tampon and this is due to my reduced mobility.” Read more on: https://www.citytosea.org.uk/using-a-menstrual-cup-when-disabled/
At Lunette we also want to make sure to represent different bodies, and advocate strongly for body positivity through the choices of our influencers, models and social media materials. The relationship with one’s body is often stigmatized, and we want to intervene and to open up space for bodies of different shapes and sizes to be celebrated.
In addition to raising conversation within social media, we train our partners in inclusive language around menstruation. We have conducted trainings with The Guides and Scouts of Finland, Red Cross Finland, World Vision Finland, and several smaller NGOs.
continuing projects.
LUNETTE X MONKI X THE CUP FOUNDATION (2015 onwards)
We have continued our partnership with Monki and the Cup Foundation, with the pink Monki x Lunette cups, and new Monki x Lunette period panties with “Periods are cool. Period.” slogan on the waistband. This collaboration has allowed us to now continue developing the educational materials for a menstrual project approach and general education with the Cup Foundation, and to donate cups to many countries, such as Tanzania and Uganda through various different organisations. The pink MONKI X LUNETTE cup works with buy one, donate one principle!
CITY TO SEA X LUNETTE (2020-2021)
According to wen.org disposal of single use menstrual products - tampons, pads and applicators generates 200,000 tonnes of waste per year. Environmental friendliness is one of the core values at Lunette. In addition to offering environmentally friendly and reusable products, Lunette is an active advocate for environmentally friendly lifestyle. We work with influencers like Zero Waste Nerd, Going Zero Waste, and RocketScience to promote for zero-waste products, and reduced carbon footprint. According to our own estimations the cups and reusable pads we have sold during the time of this project save around 50 million single use products from the landfills, assuming that the alternative to the sold products would have been single use pads or tampons. We collaborated with City to Sea, UK based environmental organization, campaigning to stop plastic pollution at source. We have a common goal of fighting the irresponsible consumerism, of which the Black Friday is an embodiment of. The opportunity to buy an essential item at a discounted rate is an attractive proposition, however, Black Friday merely perpetuates consumer culture which leads to significant adverse effects to the environment. So, rather than offering discounts during Black Friday, Lunette donated 25% of all sales between November 27th and December 1st to City to Sea and launched a limited edition of tees made to crush taboos and inspire conversation surrounding menstruation and donating 15% of proceeds to City to Sea. City to Sea will use this for their campaigns and research related to well-being of the oceans. Due to these values along our brand renewal, we updated the Lunette Menstrual Cup storage pouch to be made of post-consumer recycled plastics, of which a part is plastic bottles collected from the oceans, which replace an estimate of 1880kg of virgin plastic in a year. www.lunette.com/blogs/news/black-friday-it-comes-with-a-cost
LUNETTE X FIDA INTERNATIONAL IN EASTERN AFRICA (2020-2021)
The joint Finnpartnership projects finished in 2019, but the impact of the project continues. Pentecostal churches in Tanzania, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya institutionalized the menstrual advocacy work by making the MHM ambassadors permanent employees within the organizations. This shows that the project resulted is raised awareness at the organizational level and convinced institutions to continue SRHR and MHM work to support the menstruators within the communities. Fida has also continued supporting SRHR work with the partners through trainings, advocacy events, and by distributing menstrual products. The SRHR training package co-developed by Fida, The Cup and Lunette is still in use, e.g. in Tanzania 657 adults (436F/221M) including community and religious leaders, teachers, and parents, and Maasai communities and 110 youth (64M/46F) were trained between July 2020 and June 2021, and in total 89 cups distributed. During the reporting period Lunette has contributed by sending material for sewing reusable pads locally.
AGAINST FGM – WORLD VISION FINLAND X LUNETTE (2020-2021)
World Vision Finland has for over 20 years worked to end female genital mutilation (FGM) in Kenya and Somalia. According to a report by UNICEF, the U.N. children’s agency, more than 200 million women and girls around the world are living with the results of the dangerous practice of female genital mutilation (FGM/C), also known as cutting. In the next decade, 30 million more are at risk of being mutilated. World Vision Finland and Lunette started a partnership on the International Day of a Girl Child in October 2020 by launching an orange campaign cup, where 2 € is donated to World Vision Finland for FGM prevention work, and during this project approximately 2000 € were donated. With this donation, trainings informing about the harmfulness of FGM were held at the community level, and eight girls who fled FGM were supported with a business starter pack in Sook, Kenya. The starter pack included a sewing machine, and other supplies for starting a business. With the starter pack the girls are able to start a business as a seamstress and to earn a living. In addition, in March 2021 a one-month advocacy campaign was organized online and in Ruohonjuuri, a Finnish ecostore, to raise awareness on the harmful practice, which indirectly also helps Finnish girls who are in the risk of being mutilated. Blog text about FGM: https://fi.lunette.com/blogs/news/silpominen-on-mahdollista-lopettaa
SUSTAINABLE PERIOD PROJECT – AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND (2017-2021)
The project was launched 2017 in Australia and New Zealand. Teaming up with other sustainable sanitary companies, Lunette is part of the development of SustainablePeriodProject.org. This World First collaboration provides free downloadable presentations, resource kits and education on reusable and sustainable hygiene options to schools in Australia and New Zealand. With nearly 1,000 kits going out in the first six months, the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive as teachers and students learn about their sustainable menstrual care options. The Sustainable period project provides free resource kits to schools educating about sustainability, including a menstrual cup, reusable pads, period panties and information material. Lunette has been a keen supporter from the start, and donated all the menstrual cups needed for the kits and part of the info materials. All high schools in Australia and New Zealand (over 3000 schools) have received their kits by 2020. Project continues in primary schools, over 1200 of which have received a kit. Also Lunette’s donations from Menstrual Hygiene Day 2021 went to support more kits for Primary Schools. Collaboration with the Sustainable Period Project and the Body Shop April to June 2021 to raise awareness on sustainable periods. Also, 150 Sustainable Period Project kits have been delivered to The National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) that provides over 150 free health clinics in indigenous communities to educate and provide treatment.
FINNISH RED CROSS X LUNETTE (2020-2021)
Finnish Red Cross runs youth shelters in the largest cities in Finland. Many of the young people using this service struggle financially and buying menstrual products every month becomes a burden. Period poverty is not a myth – even in Finland, one of the leading welfare states in the world. For this project, Lunette donated 1496 menstrual cups, out of which 200 were sold in the Red Cross online store to raise funds for the shelters, and the rest distributed to menstruators in need through the shelters.
LUNETTE X THE CUP PROJECT – KENYA (2015-2020)
The Cup project started in 2015 in Kibera, one of the biggest slums in Nairobi, Kenya. The Cup educates girls, helps them with their changing bodies and provides them with a menstrual cup. The project consists of four one hour sessions where girls get sexual and health education, and they can ask whatever questions they have in mind. The biggest problem for school girls in Kenya is the lack of proper sanitary protection. Most girls miss one week per every month because of their periods, and eventually they will drop out from school earlier compared to boys. Together with The Cup Foundation, Lunette wants to change this! We want to keep girls in school and teach them how to understand and respect their own bodies better. Since the project, the lives of thousands of girls have been changed. After the program, the girls who participated in this project no longer miss school due to their periods. They also now have access to reliable information about issues related to sexual health and menstruation. Since working with The Cup, we have continued to see success and have cooperated further. The long-lasting partnership is still on, but due to COVID-19 field activities have been on hold. Instead, The Cup has been using the time by developing a new SRHR training concept called Rafiki and designed for low- resource settings. The Cup’s work has since expanded to Ivory Coast, and also in Kenya the work is to be continued in other slums than Kibera, where a lot of organizations have been active. The Cup has also identified new partners e.g. from Kayole- Soweto slum and orphanages elsewhere in the country.
SKID ROW CARNIVAL OF LOVE X LUNETTE (2017, 2018 & 2019) (WAYFARER)
A celebration of love and hope, Lunette was thrilled to participate in the Skid Row Carnival of Love in January 2017 & 2018, where we ensured that menstruating people who were experiencing homelessness had access to safe period care products. In addition to product, Lunette was able to provide instruction, education and love.
FIDA INTERNATIONAL (2017-2019)
Teaming up with Fida International and its local partner, the Pentecostal Church of Tanzania, Lunette is honored to be part of a comprehensive Menstrual Health Management package in Mwanza - where local boys and girls receive training on puberty, reproductive health, menstrual health and menstrual cup use. Additionally, we partnered with Fida International to break menstrual taboos and celebrate Menstrual Hygiene Day on May 28 th , 2018 at the World Village Festival. For each cup purchased from Lunette’s online store, a cup was donated to Fida International. Lunette is also Fida International’s partner in a project that aims to provide economically and environmentally sustainable periods for menstruators in East Africa.
LUNETTE X PLANNED PARENTHOOD (2016 ONWARDS)
Partnering with Planned Parenthood since 2016, Lunette has been excited to get involved through online fundraising events, campaigns and the distribution of menstrual cup education kits. In August 2017, Lunette donated a portion of our menstrual cup sales to aid in the rebuilding of Planned Parenthood clinics that were destroyed by hurricanes on the Gulf Coast. In October 2017, we provided the Planned Parenthood of Los Angeles with over 200 demo cups and other educational materials. In August 2018, we were able to donate 3,000 Lunette Menstrual Cups through online sales for Pride. In the years after we have made individual donations and worked with different branches of Planned Parenthood in multiple states.