First off, if you’re not sure what The Keeper is – it’s a reusable menstrual cup.  As you might guess, since this is a post lauding all the benefits of using The Keeper as well as praising my own personal Keeper – there might be parts that are just too much information for some.  So, consider yourself forewarned!

I found out about The Keeper a year or so after the birth of my first nearly 11 years ago.  I had heard about cloth menstrual pads but I’ve never been a pad gal myself; I had always used tampons so I knew that option wasn’t for me.

At that time I was thinking a lot about how I could green my period up and, I considered a lot of different options including organic tampons and pads.  But, they’re both quite pricey and not within my budget; they still aren’t.

I knew I had to find something that would work as I was also getting more and more sketched out by using conventional tampons since they’re made from cotton doused with so many chemicals it would make your head spin; and I didn’t want that near my special lady bits anymore now that I was aware of the consequences.

That’s when I finally was introduced to The Keeper.  Made of natural rubber the keeper is a reusable menstrual cup that catches your menstrual fluid and then is emptied a few times a day.  When you’re done with your cycle you just put it away and there it is ready for your next month; no running out to the store cause you’re out of supplies, or spending money in any way on your cycle except this once!

The reason I decided to write this post is because as I came up on my moon this month I realized I’ve had my Keeper for about 10 years now!  I think that’s just amazing.  I can’t imagine how much money I’ve saved myself, how much I’ve saved my health, and even what I’ve saved going into the land fill as well as the reduced use of pesticides by ditching conventional tampons.  Of course these are all small things – but over 10 years!  12 cycles each year…less babies and such – that’ s a LOT!

Personally I find The Keeper the best option for me but I encourage you to investigate all the options available including The Diva Cup (same idea different design), cloth menstrual pads (AKA “mamma cloth” ) – which you can make yourself using a free online mamma cloth pattern, and – well, you tell us.

What is the most earth friendly way you feel you’re able um, managing your moon time?  We’d love to hear all the different things natural mammas are doing to green their period so we can all make our monthly cycle more sustainable.