From Use to Disposal: Completing the Menstrual Health Cycle

Pinkishe Foundation

2/7/25

The Other Side of Menstrual Hygiene: What Happens After the Pad?

It was a regular day in the field.

We were visiting a government school for a menstrual health survey. The energy was warm. Girls laughed in the corridors, books were being shared, and dreams — of becoming teachers, nurses, dancers — echoed through the classroom walls.

But something else echoed in our heads as we stepped into the washroom.

There, tucked behind the door, were three used sanitary pads.
No bin. No newspaper. No instructions.
Just a quiet pile in a corner — ignored by all.

And one thought rang loud:
Who’s supposed to pick that up?

Menstrual Hygiene Doesn’t End with a Pad

When we talk about periods, we often focus on access.
Are girls using pads?
Are they managing their hygiene?

But we rarely talk about what happens after.

In many rural schools and homes, there’s no system for safe menstrual waste disposal. Girls often don’t know how to wrap a pad, where to throw it, or why it even matters.

And it’s not their fault.

They were never told. Because nobody talks about this part.

A Problem We’re Not Seeing

That one pad behind the bathroom door?
It may end up clogging a school’s water line.

Another might be thrown in an open field, only to be picked apart by stray animals.

And some? They’re handled — bare-handed — by local waste pickers.
No gloves. No bins. No dignity.

So while we hand out pads with pride, and rightly so, we must ask:

Are we solving one problem while quietly creating another?

We Need to Start Asking Better Questions

Distributing sanitary pads is essential — but it’s not the whole story.
If we never talk about safe disposal, if we never teach girls where the pad should go, we’re leaving them with half a solution.

What if we paused and asked:

Do the schools we work with have bins?
Do the girls know how to dispose of a pad hygienically?
Are we creating community waste systems that handle menstrual waste responsibly?

Because menstrual hygiene isn’t just personal — it’s collective.
It impacts everyone — girls, families, communities, ecosystems.

Let’s Close the Loop on Period Care

At Pinkishe Foundation, we’re working across India to make menstrual products more accessible. But we’re also committed to the conversation beyond distribution — the one about dignity, sustainability, and awareness.

Because periods don’t end when the pad is changed.
That’s where the next chapter begins.

Let’s stop asking only if girls are using pads —
and start asking if the world around them is ready to handle that responsibility, too.

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