{"id":82412,"date":"2024-06-11T23:27:20","date_gmt":"2024-06-11T23:27:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wirenewsfax.com\/menstrual-equity-polytechnique-montreal-will-install-sinks-for-cleaning-menstrual-cups"},"modified":"2024-06-11T23:27:20","modified_gmt":"2024-06-11T23:27:20","slug":"menstrual-equity-polytechnique-montreal-will-install-sinks-for-cleaning-menstrual-cups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wirenewsfax.com\/menstrual-equity-polytechnique-montreal-will-install-sinks-for-cleaning-menstrual-cups\/","title":{"rendered":"Menstrual Equity | Polytechnique Montr\u00e9al will install sinks for cleaning menstrual cups"},"content":{"rendered":"

A predominantly male university is tackling a traditionally female taboo: menstruation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Polytechnique Montr\u00e9al will install ten sinks in toilet cubicles in the coming years so that students can wash their menstrual cups in complete privacy.<\/p>\n

Students at the engineering school, who now represent a third of the student population, were also able to benefit from the distribution of reusable and disposable menstrual products on their campus on Tuesday, all in an approach that aims to be \u201cboth environmental and social\u201d.<\/p>\n

Dozens of curious students gathered at the start of the day around the kiosks set up on the second floor of the main building, as part of the \u201cMenstrual Equity, Let\u2019s Fix It\u201d initiative.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a line even before [the kiosks] opened this morning\u201d despite the summer session, says Sophie Beaudry, a bachelor\u2019s student in biomedical engineering met near the kiosks.<\/p>\n

According to the young woman, the upcoming installation of these ten sinks to clean menstrual cups and the distribution of reusable and disposable menstrual products are well received by students on campus. \u201cWe are a predominantly male environment in engineering, but to have this thought for girls, to remove the taboo, to have more options and more resources, it\u2019s just positive.\u201d<\/p>\n

A first prototype of a sink for washing menstrual cups was installed in a women’s washroom in the main pavilion last fall. It was thanks to a team of four students that the initiative came to fruition.<\/p>\n

The instigator of the project, Alice Le Mo\u00ebl, explains that the idea came to her during a discussion with her ex-girlfriend about the complications that accompany cleaning menstrual cups. Thinking that it would be good to \u201cbe able to do this more privately,\u201d she brought the idea to the Office of Sustainable and Societal Development at Polytechnique Montr\u00e9al, which funded her project. The engineering school then took it over.<\/p>\n

Unlike the tampon, which is thrown away after use, the menstrual cup must be emptied and cleaned in order to be reused.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been using the cup for several years and I love it,\u201d says Juliette Letellier-Bao, one of the students who participated in the development of the first sink prototype.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to wash it every 6 hours at least [\u2026], so it\u2019s still necessary to [make] it available if we really want it to be an option for the people who use it,\u201d adds the master’s student in engineering physics.<\/p>\n

According to Ms. Beaudry, not having spaces to empty your menstrual cup is a barrier to its use. \u201cIt\u2019s used more and more now that we have spaces to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who says reusable also says ecological. According to Jos\u00e9anne B\u00e9langer-Gravel, sustainable development advisor at the Office of Sustainable and Societal Development, almost all reusable menstrual products offered at kiosks have a lifespan of 10 years.<\/p>\n

The advisor also explains that a team of Polytechnique students recently became interested in the environmental benefits of these reusable products as part of a life cycle analysis course.<\/p>\n

In particular, they came to the conclusion, according to preliminary results, that a menstrual cup was more ecologically advantageous than a disposable napkin, \u201cboth in terms of carbon footprint, energy consumption and damage to ecosystems. \u00bb, According to Ms. B\u00e9langer-Gravel.<\/p>\n

\u201cStudies, rent, food are expensive,\u201d says Ms. Beaudry. If at least we have [disposable menstrual products] free, that takes away the burden, especially since we have to spend money on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

An opinion shared by Ms. Letellier-Bao: \u201cIt\u2019s an expense that you have to make every month [\u2026]. The fact that now there are dispensers [of tampons, sanitary napkins and panty liners], that really helps.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the Government of Canada, “one in six Canadian people who menstruate have personally experienced menstrual insecurity”, especially since this precariousness affects young people disproportionately.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope that [the initiative] will last over time,\u201d argues Ms. Beaudry. I think it could really be an inspiring model for other universities to follow suit.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A predominantly male university is tackling a traditionally female taboo: menstruation. Polytechnique Montr\u00e9al will install ten sinks in toilet cubicles in the coming years so that students can wash their menstrual cups in complete privacy. Students at the engineering school, who now represent a third of the student population, were also able to benefit from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":82411,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-82412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wirenewsfax.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wirenewsfax.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wirenewsfax.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wirenewsfax.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wirenewsfax.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82412"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wirenewsfax.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82412\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wirenewsfax.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wirenewsfax.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wirenewsfax.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wirenewsfax.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}