King's College London

Can menstrual poverty in local communities be alleviated by addressing challenges in the supply of sustainable menstrual products?

Background and research motivation

Menstrual poverty is defined as the lack of financial resources to access menstrual management products and adequate infrastructure. In 2023, the organisation Bloody Good Period reported that one in every four people who menstruate struggle to afford menstrual management products in the UK.

Most homeless centres and food banks offer traditional menstrual management products (MMPs), mainly disposable pads and tampons, to alleviate the monetary burden of managing menstrual cycles. My research focused on addressing menstrual poverty in the context of a local London food bank by conducting a literature review on past initiatives and qualitative research.

To answer the research question effectively, my KURF project aimed to:

• Explore the environmental impact of MMPs to identify sustainable alternatives.

• Study menstrual management habits to determine whether alternative MMPs would satisfy demand.

• Understand the experience of menstrual poverty and its burdens.

Researching the environmental impact of menstrual management products

Beyond an economic toll, my research confirmed that traditional MMPs have a significant environmental impact.

In the UK, pads generate around 21,049 tonnes of waste annually, while tampons produce 5,854 tonnes. By contrast, a menstrual cup produces only 0.2 tonnes of waste, while reusable underwear can produce 1,210 tonnes (assuming they are discarded that year, including packaging). A shift to these reusable alternatives can represent a 79 per cent decrease in menstrual-related waste in the UK alone.

Moreover, menstrual cups and underwear are the most sustainable products across various categories, as determined by applying a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. Organic pads scored the worst, given that they account for 65 per cent of the depletion of fossil resources and 39 per cent of water use impact.

This shows that there is evidence to support a transition to supplying sustainable menstrual management products in a London food bank to reduce waste.

Understanding menstrual management habits: Demand for sustainable underwear

An important question in my research was whether a shift to supplying sustainable MMPs would be met with adequate demand. For this part, I relied on qualitative research and interviews with individuals experiencing unstable housing and menstruation.

Across the literature, single-use menstrual pads were the most frequently chosen product by respondents. For example, a study in Spain found that 60.6 per cent of respondents chose pads. Similarly, 69.5 per cent of respondents in Australia and 47 per cent in the United States reported the same preference. Past studies have supported that menstrual underwear (external MMPs) may be a stronger alternative than menstrual cups (internal MMPs).

There is also a recent trend of respondents switching to sustainable alternatives. In the United States study, one in five respondents reported using menstrual underwear, while half of the Australian respondents had incorporated some form of reusable product into their most recent cycle. A study among Syrian women in a refugee camp showed positive reactions to menstrual underwear.

These findings suggest that there is a welcoming attitude towards reusable MMPs across different contexts.

Designing effective initiatives

Past interviews and qualitative studies with women experiencing homelessness revealed that the supply of MMPs alone, regardless of type, does not holistically tackle the burden of menstrual poverty.

A primary concern was the lack of power and information regarding access to menstrual management products in food banks. Most women reported not knowing where or how to access these products and expressed a lack of agency in relying on workers to do so.

Furthermore, most food banks lack the infrastructure to meet hygiene, comfort, and privacy needs during menstruation. While these challenges apply to all MMPs, they are especially relevant when evaluating the supply of menstrual underwear, as they require washing and changing, rather than simple disposal.

Reflection and learning

Considering the research and analysis conducted, menstrual underwear can be effectively supplied as a sustainable alternative, provided it is used along with other products as a short-term measure. A holistic long-term initiative to address the issue of menstrual poverty in food banks would also address issues in infrastructure and safety for homeless menstruators.

Limitations of the research include limited studies engaging with the experience of transgender and non-binary menstruators, who are especially vulnerable to homelessness. The results could also have been strengthened by gathering primary data from the local food bank, where the initiative was initially considered for implementation.

At a personal level, my experience as a King’s Undergraduate Research Fellow profoundly enhanced both my academic and interpersonal skills in research. It expanded my understanding of menstrual poverty, an issue I am deeply passionate about and hope to continue addressing. The highlight of my fellowship was the connections I made with professionals and academics. Alongside my supervisor, I had the opportunity to engage in meaningful discussions with other members of the Centre for Sustainable Business during my final presentation, where my ideas were challenged, expanded, and supported.

This experience has been meaningful academically, professionally, and personally.

Isabel Cancian is a third-year BSc Political Economy student at King’s College London. She was a King’s Undergraduate Research Fellow with the Centre for Sustainable Business in June 2025.