TOMS for Menstrual Pads?

In developing countries, girls are less likely to attend school than boys – partially due to menstruation. Limited access to feminine products causes girls in Rwanda to miss up to 50 days of school a year.

One woman decided to change that. She took her business vision global – to fill a need and do good.

“Periods are a reminder that the way our bodies work is sort of magical,” says Madeleine Shaw, founder of Lunapads.

Her Vancouver-based company is reinventing the perspective and conversation around menstruation. And it’s paying off. Today AFRIpads, which she helped build in Africa, employs 65 people and has provided more than 125,000 girls with feminine products.

Shaw started the company in 1993 to address an allergic reaction to disposable tampons. She developed a line of washable menstrual pads.

So, when she received a letter from a group of women in Zimbabwe alerting her to the lack of feminine products in their country, she began giving away as many Lunapads as she could afford.

“Other groups started contacting us in Central America and Africa,” remembers Shaw. “Bit by bit, we realized there’s no reason why they can’t make them themselves.”

Uganda then requested permission to duplicate the patented design and create a commercial venture.

“A lot of people said get a contract, protect your intellectual property. We didn’t want to do that. We just wanted to help,” says Shaw, who gave them the green light.

Recently, the company launched a #Pads4Oprah social media campaign to drum up celebrity support for their One4Her partnership with AFRIpads.

“We’re like TOMS for menstrual pads,” says Shaw.

Bonus PINK Link: HP’s Vice President of Global Social Innovation talks about technology with a soul.

Do you purchase products with social good in mind?

By L. Nicole Williams

Nicole is the Editor at Little PINK Book. Follow her on Twitter @williamsnicolel.

“Service is a limitless opportunity; it is the reason why we breathe.” Michelle Obama