thanks but no thanks. LOL

It's official-I have now heard it all.

ugh.

well, I had to look =) I won't even ask how you extract it... To each her own =)

Being the depraved lunatic that I am, I am going to ask how it is extracted.

Ladies?????

Just how do you accumulate the... ummm... fertilizer... for use on plants?

Also, are any of you married ??? ;-) Sorry, couldn't resist that last question.

Please spare us the details...

Thanks for the link TheInfamousJ! what a great site.

As for everyone else I warned you that this thread wasn’t for the faint! If you don’t want to know the details then don’t read on.

I haven’t tried this yet but have been thinking of getting the keeper. http://www.keeper.com/

It is expensive but I know that it is saves the environment from sanitary napkins and tampons so I was considering it. I was especially considering it if I would use the stuff for my plants.

I am not sure I am going to make the leap yet but I am considering it and was wondering if anyone had tried it.

thanks again TheInfamousJ for your input.

Um…. yes I am married

I, too, use a menstrual cup (started by doing it for backpacking and then I did some math as to what I was spending in tampons and since I already had the menstrual cup ...). Mine is a Diva (silicone rather than latex).

Other people get theirs from the rinse water of their reusable pads.

Still others freebleed or if they have stained panties due to a surprising start, they rinse them out and use that for their plantwater.

No, no no no no DO NOT SAVE IT. The stuff must be used fresh or else it smells worse than death. Fresh does not smell.

Other warnings for those who are intrigued but not entirely grossed out: If you are on hormonal birth control, consider skipping this as a means of fertilizing your edibles. The "does the excess hormones have any lasting effects?" question has not been answered and you don't want to be the person who says, "Yes, I grew a 1000 lb tumor".

And no, I'm not married but I do have a boyfriend. Does he know? No.

Hmmm. This is the second time I came across this topic. The soaking part is news to me, though. This is definitely a frugal use of available resource.

Thank you for posting it.

InfamousJ -- why do you say skip this if you're on hormonal birth control? When I worked at a family planning clinic several of the staff used expired birth control pills to fertilize houseplants -- with good results.

I didn't ever get around to trying it -- and I'd definitely skip this application -- would require a change in my habits and a fair amount of work for what seems to be a paltry amount of fertilizer.

Alison -- I suggest skipping it ONLY as a means of fertilizing edibles (tomatoes, lettuce, etc.) if you are on hormonal birth control. This is because there is currently research that is going on as to hormonal transfer from blood into fruits and veggies and the lasting effects of such a concentration (if there is to be one). It is really more my opinion to be better safe than sorry. I didn't realize I didn't explain that well enough.

As for non-edibles, by all means go for it.

eek ... I should add that the question is to whether eating fruits or veggies fertilized by hormonal birth control causes any sort of lasting effect.

Also, there are other concerns as to the possibility of blood borne pathogens surviving in the soil (and up into your foodstuffs), but that debate is petering out with the side claiming that soil microbes can destroy any of them seeming to win.

Yuk! This grosses me out.

But then other people get paranoid about their water department's reclamation activities. Personally, I use their "end product" all the time--it's dry and free by the truck full and smells exactly like Kellogs' Gromulch.

Certainly had never occurred to me before! On the extraction front, I used to use natural sea sponges (bought them in art supply stores) as tampons. You have to wring those out anyway, guess you could do it on your compost pile or ?!? I used them because I am a rabid environmentalist and hated to throw out so many feminine hygiene products. Also that way you never run out of supplies. But somehow I now use the 'normal' products again (I am a little squeamish.) By the way, those of us who flow like volcanoes would get a lot more than 3 oz.!

About the hormones in birth control, some recent studies have shown that the water in highly populated areas like the Chesapeake Bay is messing with the hormones of male fish. Some large percentage of male fish studied were producing eggs! 40% or ? The female hormones causing this are excreted by women taking birth control pills. That is why to not spread your birth control pills around, you wind up putting 'girl' hormones into boys. Actually it is a big warning about releasing any sort of chemicals into the water.

Marcia

This is simpler than you might think. If you have a sawdust toilet, your tampon goes into it, then all goes onto the compost pile when ready. Your rinse water from reusable pads goes in the compost too. I would think it's all easier composted rather than used fresh. If you have no sawdust toilet(try it, you'll like it!) just empty your tampon-laden bathroom garbage into the compost bucket. I use o.b. tampons. I don't know anything about the other brands, except they are too wasteful of plastic and cardboard for me. Plastic backed disposable pads can not go into the heap. The Humanure Handbook by Jenkins covers this.

Save money by buying the INSTEAD brand menstrual cups that are available at the grocery and drugstores.

The box says they are single use menstrual cups but they can just be rinsed out and reused just like the expensive ones ordered online.

I use cloth menstrual products and soak them in a bucket before washing them. The soaking water goes into my flowerbeds. It's really not much work, maybe 10 minutes per month, since I'm going to use my beloved comfy cloth anyway.

It's not a whit different than fertilizing with blood meal from a box or bag, is it?

Kristin

"Aunt Flo's Fertilizer" is something I've heard about for at least thirty years, and I'm pretty sure people have been using it for centuries.

For those who are squeamish but eat meat, you can also use the bloody liquid you find in the bottom of the little plastic tray when you take the meat out. Either just add it to your compost pile, or dilute it until just barely pink and use it to water plants directly.

I'd imagine you could keep a plastic bucket in the freezer to collect it over the winter, then just throw the huge ice cube into your pile with a bunch of leaves. As soon as a thaw comes on, the pile would start working.

"Save money by buying the INSTEAD brand menstrual cups that are available at the grocery and drugstores.

The box says they are single use menstrual cups but they can just be rinsed out and reused just like the expensive ones ordered online."

My sister does this. She says they're very comfortable.

One thing to remember is that Instead is shaped differently from menstrual cups like the Keeper and Diva (and those are shaped slightly differently from each other too).

This can be a plus, in that if for some reason a woman has trouble using a Keeper or Diva because of the shape, Instead may me more comfortable for her. Of course it can be a minus, too, in that if the shape of the Keeper/Diva works well for a woman, Instead may not.

Kristin

I use washable cotton pads and soak them in a bucket. I pour the water on the flowers. There's no smell if you pour the water out every day. It does not draw bugs. Why is my own blood any grosser than bloodmeal? Animal manure?

Since I don't live in the frozen north, I can do this all year. I don't know what would happen if the ground was severely frozen. Maybe the water could be poured on the compost. Y'all do compost, don't you?

wow! we throw away so much. It has to be a sin. changing my habits

Hmm, this is my first visit to this forum, and what thread do I pick to read first, lol?

I don't think this topic is gross at all. I think everything discussed is perfectly natural, and since I'm a "rabid environmentalist" to borrow led_zep_rules's phrase (or almost rabid, lol) it strikes me as a good idea. The collection might take some experimenting and fine-tuning, but once that is established it's no more work than ripping up cardboard or shredding paper for the compost pile.

I recently read that story about the male fish too. Scary what we as a society do to our world...

:)
Dee

Hello women, I'm glad to find this thread. I have a pristine, unopened package of reusable cloth pads and I've been hanging onto them, looking for someone to give them away to. (I was a little shy about offering them on freecycle.) They're excellent for anyone using this method to feed the garden. Email me if you're interested.
Janice

What a wonderful thing to do for the enviroment....its like anything else composted its the circle of life!

FYI, not all guys are necessarily grossed out by this thread. I'm not. I might not find it particularly relevant to myself... but in principle I suppose it isn't any different than composting anything else. Wouldn't bother me in the least if my wife decided to do this, and if it helps her grow better tomatoes then more power to her. After all, everything that comes from the earth returns to it again eventually.

I never would have thought of this. I don't know if I would ever do it myself because I am kind of squeamish. I do have some Instead cups that I bought to try but just couldn't really get myself to try them. I wasn't sure how to insert or remove them without much mess so I never used them. But I guess that if I ever do, I can recycle the "waste" to nourish my garden. I do think that my husband would find this idea very strange and would probably give me a hard time about it if I did it and he found out. He can be a bit immature about "female" topics.

Interesting topic. Thanks for enlightening me!

I have heard of women taking thier placentas home from the hospital and burying them in the garden, is this along the same idea?
Also, I love this topic because it is so woman centered! To the men who are grossed out, you have to remember that this truely is the life giving blood. Further as a vegeterian who refuses to use blood (or bone) meal this topic has introduced an excellent idea! I'm going to get some Insteads tonight!!

i know its already been said but was never really answered-

Why?

blood would not be a signifigant source of any nutrients in the quantities involved. Your buying an airplane to get free peanuts- yea it'll work, but there are better ways to do it.

Why? Well I guess if is sort of a feminist thing. And well you have and endless supply of it. why not? I don't think it is like the airplane analogy at all be cause you have nothing to loose.

btw I did plant one of my placentas is the garden :-)

Actually menstrual blood is high in nitrogen, and is therefore a good fertilizer. Bone meal has blood in it...

I tried using dilute urine on my peppers this summer. Boy did they grow! I musta harvested 30 pounds of bell peppers off of 6 plants that were mere volunteers from Costco produce slung out to the garden in wintertime.

One of the links below say that urine contains 80% of the dietary minerals. If these minerals are good enough for me to eat, they are also good enough for my plants.

Here is a link that might be useful: Urine as fertilizer

I remember this topic coming up and being discussed in length on another forum a while back...

I've done it a few times with my houseplants. I'm not sure if it made a significant difference but it certainly didn't hurt. I know some people say it made a noticable improvement in their plants though. Just soak your pad or tampon in water until the water turns pink then use promtly. Or if you use a cup, just dump the contents into a bucket of water. It's really pretty simple.

Like I said, I haven't tried this in a while but I think this thread is inspiring me to try it again. :o)

Actually menstrual blood is high in nitrogen, and is therefore a good fertilizer.

air is 78% nitrogen. just having nitrogen does not a good fertalizer make.

It's causation vs. corelation-

having nitrogen B always a good fertalizer

As a midwife I am concerned about sqeezing out and reusing homemade tampons. This is not sterile and can lead to serious infections.

Amazon that is a good point to bring up. I used to use sea sponges and it is very important to sterilize your morning supply in boiling water. And carry unused ones in your purse in a zip lock baggies and have another baggies for used ones. I used to rinse these out first.

it is funny though because I posted this thread and I buy regular tampons in bulk lol! but I have been thinking of getting the instead cup.

I got tired of boiling sponges. but my biggest problem is when you are wearing a full sponge and laugh you squeeze muscles that you don't normally realize you squeeze and well use your imagination..

All that does seem like alot of work. I'm all for recycling. But throw away has its sanitary purposes. Can you imagine if we reused needles nowdays. CDC would have a cow. I can't imagine any cup placed there being comfortable. i think i'll just have to be wasteful with feminine products until menopause.

"I can't imagine any cup placed there being comfortable."

Google it. :) You'll find thousands of women who find them very comfortable indeed. More comfortable than a wad of scratchy cotton, that's for sure.

Instead is one brand (made to be disposable but people do clean and reuse them). The Keeper, Diva Cup and Mooncup are all made specifically to be used for years and years before replacing.

There is zip, zilch, nothing unsanitary about reusable menstrual products. They are not eqivalant to needles because we are not sharing them with other people, so you're comparing apples to oranges.

Kristin

i just found an interesting article some of you guys might want to read. it is about spiritual aspects of using menstrual blood

Here is a link that might be useful: Blood Mysteries

it is funny... when i posted this thread i thought it would get some attention but i had no idea that it would remain an active thread for so long.

I have seen way grosser things in the composting forum! things like throwing a deer head into your compost pile and having it "disappear". i recognize the cycle of life and think it is awesome that someone is doing that but as for me well that just isn't going to happen :-)

I also do appropriate that amazon voices that she has a concern.

I think that as a society we have done some pretty kookie things to mess with the way nature works. Growing lawns, raking up all the leaves that would be a natural fertilizer are the most obvious things that we all know of.

Now I know that things have changed and we don't all run around naked bleeding all over the land...

when I was younger and deiced to go on birth control i thought that depo provera sounded like the coolest thing. I wouldn't have to remember to take a pill everyday just a shot every 3 months... I wouldn't get my period at all! sounded like a dream. plus everytime you ovulate your overy has to heal creating a potential site for ovarian cancer. I am at high risk so I thought the decision was pretty easy.

well I will spare the details but that drug destroyed me. every side effect listed happened to me and i didn't realize it until 4 months into it, after my 2nd shot that this might just be the cause . what was i to do? i had this drug in my system that was going to last for another 3 months! it sucked. when it finally wore off I bled for 4 months straight. this is what prompted me to look for alternatives. I had sponges and luna pads. At that time there was no cups that I knew of. anyway you can imagine how costly and wastefully you would feel if you have to use something every day for 4 months straight!

Are there many other ways to recycle that our society where (even member of this forum) are lacking? yes. Am i going to condemn people for not saving their blood? no.. i am not a freak (though many of you probably think I am) And believe me as a mother I always get frustrated at the fact that when people talk about America and how wasteful we are the first people we point to our mothers and disposable diapers. talk about an aspect of human life that deserves a little bit of convenience!

well i guess I am done ranting

Here is a link that might be useful: Alternative Menstrual Products:A Guide for Teens

I wanted to note that Sea Pearls recommends the following ways to sanitize sea sponges BEFORE YOU PUT THEM IN at the beginning of your period.

"You may boil your sponge for 2 minutes if you wish, however, we do not recommend doing so because it shrinks and toughens your sponge and shortens its useful lifetime. ...There are several ways to disinfect Sea Pearls. You may soak them in any of these mixtures:

1. A solution of 1 tbsp. baking soda in 1 cup of warm water.

2. A solution of 1tbsp cider vinegar in 1 cup of warm water.

3. A solution of 1/2 hydrogen peroxide and 1/2 water.

4. A solution of 1 tsp. tea tree oil and 1 cup warm water. (Tea Tree oil has been shown to inhibit 60 strains of bacteria, including staphlococcus aureus) "

Here is a link that might be useful: Sea Pearls FAQ

Why not just take a good crop right in the middle of your
plants.It will have many more minerals then blood and takes longer to decompose.So ladyes stick with the ol and fatefull . ha ha ha

I know both my grandmothers told me years ago that they did this when they were younger, and it had apparently been a tradition passed down from mothers to daughters for generations. Remember, this was back when they used folded rags, and they kept a large bucket for soaking the soiled ones either in a kitchen corner or on the back porch. Before washing the rags, they would pour off the bloody water and use it on the plants and garden. Plants loved the stuff!

I'm just grateful we don't have to hand-wash all our laundry now!

Here is an interesting site to check out:

http://www.mum.org

I didn't see any talk of plant fertilizer there, but it is an interesting site with all sorts of archived vintage ads for menstrual products, news articles, and trivia about menstruation.

There really is a Museum of Menstruation that you can visit too, if you are ever vacationing in the area.

Here is a link that might be useful: Museum of Menstruation

I have used a Diva Cup for almost 2 years now. I assure you, it is anything but *gross*.

My cycle is heavy and nothing else worked well for me, but the Diva Cup has been a dream. It is also less messy than any of the alternatives.

I think I'll try this over the summer. WIsh me luck.

Greetings All,
I am very pleased to see more women exploring natural options for various aspects of daily living. But I do have a curiosity about those who claim to be "environmentalist" but seem unsure about how to collect their menstrual fluid.

Any female who is an environmentalist would have no doubt considered using a non-disposable product for handling her menstrual flow--I would hope. Since some posters have touched on it, but haven't gone into great detail about collection/reusable menstrual products I will provide more information.

Menstrual Cups: Not limited just the Diva or the Keeper/Knock off MoonCup are a great option for both improving your foot print on the environment and allowing you to neatly collect your menstrual flow. Insteads fall into this category but because they are worn very high in the vagina, next to the cervix like a diaphragm I would not recommend it for those that want to stay neat or collect blood. I would imagine it difficult to remove the Instead without spilling the flow but you would have to check out a forum of actual Instead users to find out if I am right. I personally use a Mooncup UK.

If you are looking to switch to a menstrual cup you should explore all your options and brands that are made world wide and get one that you think will be better suited to your body. If you look at the bottom of my article on The Culture of Menstruation http://theanthroblogogist.50webs.com/body/the_culture_of_menstruation.html you will see links to every known menstrual cup made. If you need more information you can indefinitely feel free to contact me through my website.

I've also heard about people using the rinse water from their cloth pads. Thats great as long as all natural detergents are used to launder your pads. Try etsy or ebay to find very cute cloth pads, or find a pattern and make some yourself.

With sea sponges I am not really sure how much of an environmentalist one could be, since these were actually living creatures at once. I can't assume but can only imagine how far down hill things might go in the harvesting/farming of sea sponges just to be used as your personal tampon. I wouldn't recommend it as they are not a readily renewable source & something like a menstrual cup has more positives on this option.

I do not recommend using disposable products to harvest your menstrual fluid from as they are laden with chemicals which is why most truly heath and environmentally conscious people have looked for better options. I am sure that if these are just house plants and nothing edible it might be fine, but for your health benefit switching to one of the healthier options discussed would be an excellent choice for yourself and the environment.

To all of those people here who are "grossed out" by this I can only lend a sad laugh that you think of your body that way. It is silly to think that far "grosser" things aren't being put into every product you could possibly buy in a store. I do think that there are valid points about pathogens and disease, etc. But I would expect a person to know their body, know if they are taking BC to be careful or avoid fertilizing edibles. And use common curtesy and not fertilize a public (especially edible) garden without the consent of those who share it. Other than that, there is little if anything gross or dangerous about using your own bio-goods to contribute to the natural life cycle of the earth.

To answer someone's question about being married. Yes I am married & my husband knows about all of this. He was weirded out by me bringing up the watering of plants with the blood from my cup (I haven't done it yet) But he is pretty open minded and would never try to stop me from doing so. Also I am sure he would eat plants I have grown that way (We use natural methods of BC, so no extra hormones).

Why do people think its accptable to eat plants grown from animal feces or even animal blood as fertilizer, but somehow our own is just disgusting suddenly?

Goodluck & health to everyone, please visit my page if you would like more info, or to discuss any of these topics further.

Sincerely,
The Anthroblogogist
http://TheAnthroblogogist.50webs.com

Here is a link that might be useful: Visit The Anthroblogogist Website

well- I'll try anything once so I'll have to try this one too..it matches all my criteria for a good thing, useful, good for the enviroment, easy, and free:)

I soak used tampons in a quart of water in the bathroom and water my houseplants with the rich nutrient filled water. I have done this for years and my houseplants love it.

This is a fascinating topic. But there seems to be a bit of wishful thinking involved, because the amount of blood involved each month is scant tablespoons. If you have bloody rinse-water to throw on the garden, thats a great way to get more use out of the water, but not much else.

Stoloniferous, you are clearly not a member of my family :) Not everyone produces the same amount of menstral fluid. For example, before going on BC my cousin would regularily had three week long /heavy/ periods with a mere week break. This tends to lead to at least a quarter cup of blood a month...
Scant tablespoons is the norm, but even that would have some nutrients, and why waste?

Very interesting to read up on. Thanks for asking this question.

To answer why: Menstrual blood contains not only nitrogen but also small amounts of phosphorous and potassium. Depending on how many menstruating people live in your home, and how heavy the flow is, you could get a decent amount for free regularly. And there's something that feels, IDK, circle-of-life-ish to pour diluted menstrual blood into your compost bin.

How: I use a menstrual cup. When I remove it, I pour it into a jar and rinse it, pouring the rinse water into the jar as well, and shut the lid tight. When the jar is full (usually 2 days), I take it out to the outside compost bin, pour it in and dust a light layer of fresh dirt on top to cover any smell (mine seems to have minimal odor). I keep a large kitchen compost jar in the fridge, but I don't really want any blood nearby food. That jar fills up with eggshells, coffee grounds, vegetable peels, fruit cores, etc, in about a week. Every Saturday, I stir up my bin and bury the new food waste and sprinkle more dirt on top to keep away gnats and lock in the odor. And when I have new plants, or am repotting, I use the dirt from my compost bin. They all seem to thrive with the new dirt and the old dirt goes into a bucket for me to use to cover waste in my compost bin.

Risks: Blood may contain pathogens. However, most people will know if they have blood-born diseases. As far as the other bacterial or microbe concerns? Composting will take care of that. One link suggested creating blood meal by baking it, which would definitely kill any bacteria but that seems like a lot of work. If you take hormones, or medications, trace amounts could get into your food supply, but as said in other comments, decorative houseplants won't mind. I don't see any major risks if you wash your hands and either store it properly long term (air tight and cold storage, away from food) or use it relatively quickly.

Ew factor? That's a personal thing, really. I don't find it ew at all, and I have both a needle and blood phobia. I cannot donate blood, or see blood without going into hysterical fits of laughter, but menstrual blood is just different. It looks and smells different. I don't associate it with pain of injury. It nourishes fetuses, man. I don't have kids, I might as well nourish my plants since my body insists on this monthly subscription to Lucifer's Waterfall. Prior to this discovery, I used urine to bring back some sickly coral vine, so why not? I haven't paid for fertilizer or new soil in years.

Does my spouse know? Yup. He is not bothered. He thinks it's funny and says he expects nothing less from his little punk-witch. He also eats my homegrown veggies with gusto (I don't take hormones or medications or have blood-born diseases, so we're not worried about that).

What menstrual cup? There are several sizes/brands/materials out there, and every person is different. There's definitely a learning curve to using them. It took me 3 days to figure out how to insert/take it out comfortably without spilling. But once it is in, you won't feel it, it definitely doesn't leak, and I will never go back. The size is mega important. I tried a larger size after I got used to it, and I couldn't get it back out without the help of my spouse. I personally don't think soaking commercial single-use pads/tampons would be worth it, and I worry about the chemicals and microplastics in both those items (one of the reasons I switched). Reusable cloth pads (I used to use those), are soaked anyway prior to wash, but the blood is super diluted - at that point, I would use it to water decorative plants, instead of throwing it in the compost.

Why is this any more controversial than using urine or blood/bone meal? Others have said it. I'll say it too. It is a normal human waste product that half the population produces for 3+ish decades of our lives. I've bled every month for 27 years at this point. While it's inconvenient at times, and sometimes painful, it's not disgusting or distasteful or filthy. I was taught to hide it as though it were shameful when I was young, but that always confused me. Really, there's no shame here at all.