Though menstrual cups and tampons are becoming the chosen alternatives for women during periods, for many, sanitary napkins are still the best bet. However, the burden of napkin disposal on the environment is huge. So, students of Malwa School, Gidder Baha, have come up with an ecofriendly hygiene product made of banana stem at the science congress here.

The girls had heard of stories of allergic reactions caused by synthetic pads. Their solution was to collect fibre from banana stem, crush and dry it and sanitise it with neem. Then it was stitched with cotton cloth in the shape of sanitary pads, say Khushnoor Kaur and her friends.

The soya factor

Fathimathul Nafrah P.K. of Kadambur HSS, Kannur, too has designed a sanitary napkin made of soya chunks. After trials with fibrous matter such as white flour (maida), they zeroed in on soya chunks because of their absorbency. The chunks go into the main absorbent core, while butter paper, cotton and beeswax form the rest of the product.

These pads can be used for a maximum of four hours. The production cost was ₹3, but industrial production would further bring down the cost, she says.