Special Lecture on the Occasion of International Women's Day
CeNS celebrated International Women's Day-2022 on 14th March 2022 with an event highlighting the importance of sustainable menstruation practices. Rotarian Ms Nisha Bellare, founder of RevaEconauts, which promotes new age menstrual hygiene products like the NariYari Menstrual Cups and cloth pads, and Ms Uma Khemuka, homemaker, presented a special lecture titled "Roopantara - Transformation - A talk on sustainable menstruation", to CeNS (in-person) and JNCASR (on-line) audience. Thetalk, both in English and Kannada, was one of the series of events at the Centre to commemorate the 75th anniversary of India's Independence – Aazadi Ka Amrit Mahotsava.
The program began with welcome remarks and an introduction to the speakers by Dr Geetha G Nair, Scientist, CeNS. The speakers spoke about how usage of single-use sanitary napkins, which 500-800 years for each pad to disintegrate, leads to huge waste management issues such as soil pollution in landfills, air pollution when burnt at less than 800 degrees Celsius and water pollution when the pads are flushed down the drain. They stressed the fact that the time has come now to take corrective steps to protect the environment, and girls and women can make the difference by switching over to reusable period products such as cloth pads and menstrual cups. They also gave an insight into the ease of use of such products if one wishes to make a shift to eco-friendly practices. Both Nisha and Uma interacted with the audience to answer several of the queries. The session ended with a word of thanks by Dr Neena S John, Scientist, CeNS.
