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“Reusable, organic cloth pads. Made with love for anyone who has a period, period.”
- Amy Li Baksh, The Lily Pads Project
With The Lily Pads Project, environmental activist Amy Li Baksh strives to make period products sustainable, inclusive and accessible for everyone who menstruates in Trinidad and Tobago.
The conversation around periods and menstruation has recently gained new traction as we’ve begun to shed some of the stigma surrounding them. Films like, “Period. End of Sentence.” and global celebrations like Menstrual Hygiene Day have really brought these discussions about periods, and other issues related to menstruation, to the world's attention.
I think it’s safe to say that we’ve all encountered periods before, whether it be through our own experience or the experience of someone close to us. Periods impact us all, some more so than others.
With periods comes the issue of accessibility as well as inclusivity and sustainability.
Fortunately for us, these are all areas that Amy, the creator of Lilypads, is insanely passionate about.
Amy, is a pioneer in the local sustainable period movement. Through Lilypads, Amy provides an eco-friendly alternative for people who menstruate. This allows them to minimise their environmental impact while supporting a local business.
Almost two years ago, Amy, who had been working in advertising at the time, decided to start Lilypads.
Amy explained that they’d always been passionate about solving social issues and when they were no longer feeling fulfilled by their day-job, they decided to take on a new project.
One hurdle Amy had to overcome was deciding where to start. For Amy, the scope of challenges faced by our society as well as the amount of work needed to solve them felt like too much to take on alone.
“I thought the best way that I can stop feeling this way is to say ok I can’t do everything but I can pick one thing that I feel strongly about that can have an immediate impact and Lilypads was that thing.”
Now, you might be wondering how exactly Amy was able to zero in on that specific challenge.
Amy explained that it was ultimately their own experience struggling to find sustainable period products that had encouraged them to start making their own.
“Originally I started looking at reusable period products for my own personal use and at the time I couldn’t find anything locally,” Amy says. “I ended up ordering online and trying out a cup and a set of pads. They were definitely an improvement for me compared to the disposables in terms of comfort but I felt like I could do this better.”
This small spark is what transformed Lilypads from just an idea to a reality.
If, like me, your knowledge of reusable period products is pretty limited then you’re in luck because Amy was more than willing to give a description of the different alternative options.
“Reusable pads and reusable menstrual cups, are the two most common types, there’s also period underwear which is basically where the pad is kind of built into the underwear itself and menstrual cups are like the silicone little cups that function kind of like a tampon but they last years and years. Then there’s cloth pads which are basically layers of fabric stitched together that have an absorbent layer in the middle and then a water resistant layer at the button, so that one for me seemed like the easiest one to diy so that was what I did and I made it for myself and that’s kind of how it all started,”
Amy’s Lilypads consist of hand-sewn,multi-layer cloth pads, and panty liners made from a diverse array of fabrics. These pads are multi-layered for maximum absorbency, contain snaps to make them foldable, and come up with a cloth bag for easy storage.
They're also environmentally friendly, stylish, functional and as Amy emphasised, they’re also affordable.
Finding affordable period products is a task that is becoming increasingly difficult for women and girls around the world.
According to Action Aid, “Period poverty affects women and girls all over the world. Access to sanitary products, safe, hygienic spaces in which to use them, and the right to manage menstruation without shame or stigma, is essential for anyone who menstruates.”
The issue of period poverty is one that Amy feels passionately about. This is why Amy prioritizes affordability in the creation of their cloth pads. Amy candidly shares that they don’t make much profit on their sustainable pads but instead Amy focuses on providing a quality product that they will stand the test of time for their customers.
Going even beyond this, Amy plans to expand Lilypads to create even more ways to help those in low-income households who don’t have the same access to menstrual products.
“ I was really hoping to have workshops, especially in rural communities to teach people how to make their own pads because it’s just cloth. There’s a [specific] way that I do it for my lilypads but you can make them out of so many different types of fabric and you can upcycle old t-shirts. It’s just about finding the right amount of layers for your type of cycle. It’s something that you can DIY if you can’t afford to purchase them.”
Amy understands that though sustainable period products may be the most ideal for the environment, they may not be the most practical for those in communities that lack certain basic resources.
“ There are so many different pieces to the puzzle. How do I provide pads to these communities if they are the ones that are more likely to not have a regular water source? You need to have a water source, to have access to water, to wash reusables. It’s just not feasible to do one without the other.”
It was then that Amy and I got to talking about the local perception of sustainable period products. I asked Amy what the reaction to lilypads has been like here, in Trinidad, and they explained that it had been varied but generally positive.
“I think the people who knew about reusables before and I guess like me, were looking for a local option, were really excited to hear about it. A lot of people who didn’t know much about [reusable cloth pads] have still been open but of course, it’s such a sensitive topic. Especially in trini culture we really have a taboo talking about periods and menstrual health so that is something that I always have to be sensitive to when I’m approaching someone or more often when somebody’s approaching me. A lot of times when people don’t know what it is they enthusiastically approach you and then when they find out they kind of recoil . It's just about finding a way to ease them in slowly. I find especially men have such a visceral reaction to it. It’s like they’re terrified of talking about periods so that’s a big hurdle to overcome.”
Period stigma is one of the biggest challenges in the movement to eradicate period poverty. When there’s stigma surrounding a particular topic, we tend to shy away from it. In the case of periods, this then leads to a lack of resources available to young people who menstruate. In some extreme cases, young people who menstruate are asked to refrain from attending school or from interacting with other people because periods are considered clean instead of a natural biological process.
I asked Amy if they’d experienced period stigma growing up and they shared the following, “I think I was fairly lucky. My mom felt like it was very important to be straightforward with me about [menstruation]. She talked to me about it in a scientific way from a young age so I don’t think I had as much stigma surrounding it.
Amy shared that though, throughout her upbringing, her period had been explained fully, this wasn’t the case for all of their peers.
“There were people who had no idea what to expect who didn’t even know periods were a thing.” Amy explains. “They just woke up one day bleeding and thought that they were gonna die.”
Though this scenario may seem comical to some, it highlights the work that still needs to be done to bridge the gap with respect to the sexual and reproductive health education of young people.
Amy suggested that one important tool to bridge this gap is conversation.
“ We just have to talk about it, we just collectively need to push through the barrier of that awkwardness and just pass on to the next generation that it’s ok, our bodies are normal, all these processes that we go through are normal, there’s nothing weird about it or gross about it, it’s incredible and life-giving. Of course there are structural things to be put in place too. We definitely need better reproductive, sexual health in our schools at least at secondary school level. Even earlier, in primary school we should be teaching kids the basics about their bodies. It’s a matter of safety for them as well. Information is really the way forward, the more we can spread information the more we can give people the tools to be empowered about their own bodies, the more we’ll start to see cultural change happening.”
“The more education you give someone is the more that you give them control over their own life.” Amy says.
On the LilyPadsTT Instagram, Amy creates an inclusive and informative space for anyone to learn more about periods with some social issues sprinkled in as well.
One such issue that remains dear to their heart is the problem of inclusivity within the period space. Amy wants more people to understand that women, though they take up the majority of the conversation, are not the only people who menstruate.
“ I think people just make the assumption that [Lilypads] are just a product for women so we talk a lot about women’s bodies, women’s rights, women’s health but I try to always introduce into the conversation that women are not the only people that menstruate and that there are trans men that menstruate and non-binary people who menstruate and have this reproductive system. I try to make Lilypads as inclusive for those communities as possible. That’s why I’d talk about the uterine reproductive system or people who have uteruses, the language is a bit clunkier but it’s to make sure that everyone feels like they have a place.”
To close us off I asked Amy what advice they’d give to people just joining the environmenstrual movement and they shared the following:
“I’d say do some homework. There’s a lot of good information out there and talk to people who have tried it themselves because you’ll get a better sense of what would work for you and people think that it’s a really big step and it’s a big adjustment because for the first time you’re dealing with cleaning menstrual products, which is something that is completely alien to anyone who’s only used disposables but it’s really a much smaller leap than you think. So, just do a little research, find out a little bit from people who’ve tried it before and try it out yourself and if you don’t like it you can always go back [ to disposables].”
If you’d like to learn more about Amy and about LilyPadsTT, you can find them via Instagram (@lilypadstt).
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