The case against disposable period products is usually made on guilt - the landfill, the plastic, the centuries it takes to break down. All true. But guilt is a terrible reason to change a habit, and it rarely lasts. So let's make the case the other way: on cost, on comfort, and on what you're actually putting against your body. The environment wins almost by accident.
The money, plainly
A person who menstruates uses thousands of disposable products over their lifetime. Whatever you spend per month on pads or tampons, multiply it by roughly 35 years. That's the real number - and it only ever goes up. A set of reusable organic cotton PADS has a higher price on day one and then mostly stops costing you anything. Washed and cared for, good reusable PADS last for years. The maths isn't close over time.
The hidden cost: what's in them
Disposable pads are largely plastic, often with fragrance and other additives, sitting against the most absorbent skin on your body for hours at a time. Even a lot of "reusable" options lean on plastic layers and antimicrobial treatments. nookees PADS are organic cotton, with no chemicals, no biocides, and no PFAs, and they wash at 60°C. The hot wash is what keeps them genuinely hygienic without chemistry built into the fabric.
The comfort cost
Plastic-backed disposables don't breathe - which means sweating, that clammy feeling, and for a lot of people, irritation. Cotton breathes. The most common thing women tell me after switching is some version of "I forgot I was on my period," and they mean their skin stopped complaining.
"But the washing" - the honest answer
Rinse in cold water after wearing (cold lifts blood, hot sets it). Collect through your period. Wash the batch at 60°C, skip the fabric softener, air dry where you can. That's the entire routine. A few minutes, not a lifestyle.
So, the real comparison
- upfront: disposables win once. Reusables win every month after.
- lifetime cost: reusables, by a wide margin.
- on your body: organic cotton with nothing synthetic vs. plastic and additives.
- comfort: breathable cotton vs. plastic backing.
- the planet: thousands of products avoided, almost as a side effect.
I didn't build nookees as an eco-guilt product, and I won't sell it as one. The switch makes sense on cost and on comfort first. The fact that it's also the right thing to do for the planet is just the easiest part of the decision.
