SCOTLAND alone sees more than 400 million single-use period products disposed of every year, and a single pad can take up to 500 years to degrade.
These facts are just two of the reasons that Gaela Hanlon, from Young Scots for Independence (YSI), will be asking the SNP conference to support the Sustainable Period Products resolution on Saturday.
On the second day of the party’s conference, which is being held online due to the ongoing Covid pandemic, the resolution will be the ninth to be put to a vote of party members.
It calls for the free period products now offered to women across Scotland to be replaced with more environmentally friendly alternatives.
The resolution also asks that the Government make alternative, reusable period products, such as menstrual cups, available to everyone who would like one.
READ MORE: How the world reacted to Scotland's historic period product legislation
YSI hopes that by helping to cover the upfront costs of sustainable and reusable products “Scotland can more effectively tackle climate change and period poverty at the same time”.
Hanlon said: “Scotland made history when it became one of the first countries in the world to take the fight against period poverty seriously by introducing mandatory free period products in public institutions.
“Now, in the year of COP26, we hope to build on that work by maintaining the existing offering of free products but with a switch to reusable and sustainable products that are better for the environment.”
She went on: “Switching to sustainable, reusable period products, can save people hundreds of pounds over the lifetime of a product. Unfortunately, the prohibitive upfront cost of many reusable products can prevent people from making the switch, exacerbating period poverty.
“By covering the upfront cost of switching to sustainable products we can not only encourage people to use more environmentally responsible products, but we can also make another strong effort to end period poverty in Scotland forever.”
The resolution reads: “Conference commends the work done by the SNP government to fight against period poverty as well as their ‘Let’s call periods, periods’ campaign and applauds the Scottish Government’s commitment to be carbon neutral by 2030.
“Conference notes that single use, disposable, sanitary products can be disproportionately expensive and damaging to the environment, with around 35-47 percent of all menstrual products being flushed each year.
“Conference supports the introduction of a scheme – to work alongside the #TrialPeriod campaign from Zero Waste Scotland and the current free provision of sanitary products – to give people who such provisions are appropriate for, the opportunity to opt for reusable sanitary products. This would work to boost the work to eradicate period poverty while also being conscious of our impact on the environment.
“Conference acknowledges that reusable products are not appropriate in all situations and therefore further calls on the Scottish Government to investigate swapping the current free provisions of disposable products to biodegradable options, where possible, meaning that people who are unable or do not wish to swap to reusable products would also have a suitable option that reduces the environmental impact of their periods.”
It has been put forward by Young Scots For Independence, Fiona Robertson, the National Equalities Convener, the Alloa Branch, the Angus North And Mearns Constituency Association, and the Thurso And District Branch.
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