It’s your job to dispose of YOUR sanitary pads

Pakistan is not normally known for effective waste disposal. You often have heard about food disposal stories in our cities. Our hospitals are breeding grounds for diseases as there is no proper mechanism for waste disposal. One thing that hasn’t been talked about is the waste disposal of sanitary pads. I saw a tweet last night which made me discuss the issue regarding the disposal of sanitary pads in public places such as universities and colleges. You might know that May is menstrual hygiene month so what better time to talk about the issue. The situation of the disposal of sanitary pads at our universities is dismissal. There have been instances where girls just throw their used sanitary pads out there in the public washrooms and then their mess is cleaned up by the sanitary workers. Now this is a regrettable situation for the already overworked workers! One should not put all the blame on the girls, our public spaces cannot dispose of sanitary pads properly. Universities and other public places urgently need to invest in proper effective waste disposal methods because we are living in the 21st century and women wearing sanitary pads is normal! Not disposing of sanitary pads in the right way can cause hygiene issues as well. Sanitary pads if not disposed of properly can cause menace public health issues. These pads are made up of plastic and the plastic used is not disposable and this can lead to environmental issues. This dialogue also should make us think about the sort of labour that we expect our house to help and the people who assist us in day-to-day cleaning work. One should always be considerate towards them and this goes for all the Pakistanis out there, not just the ladies!