Canada Frees the Tampons | Aunt Flow
Canada Frees the Tampons
April 12, 2019
The crimson wave is flooding Canada and menstruators are celebrating.
London, Ontario and British Columbia join the menstrual movement by requiring buildings to offer freely accessible menstrual products in washrooms. Aunt Flow supports Canada in ensuring bathrooms are stocked with sustainable products and full-scale solutions.
BRITISH COLUMBIA – Free menstrual products in public schools
The ministerial order – which takes effect immediately – comes with $300,000 in provincial startup funding. Over the coming months, the ministry will continue to work with school districts, community and education partners to look at the needs of each district, identify gaps and ensure they have the funding needed to meet this new requirement.
North Island Students’ Union – Local 15 British Columbia Federation of Students – started stocking their bathrooms with Aunt Flow’s 100% organic cotton menstrual products in 2018. NISU serves post-secondary students, so the school currently falls outside of the ministry directive, which will serve kindergarten to grade 12.
Carissa Wilson led the initiative at NISU bathrooms stocked with Aunt Flow. Wilson is currently working on a letter asking for a similar mandate from the Ministry of Advanced Education to require post-secondary schools to offer menstrual products.
LONDON, ONTARIO – Free menstrual products in all arenas, community centers, and pools
London, Ontario quickly followed British Columbia’s lead and on April 9, 2019 city council voted unanimously to provide free pads and tampons in all arenas, community centres, and pools. Funding has not been allocated, but staff has been designated to understand cost implications and budgetary considerations.
London, Ontario has the third-highest rate of child poverty of cities surveyed during the 2015 census by Statistics Canada. London city council noted that period care products are extremely expensive and providing tampons and pads in washrooms at schools can directly increase school attendance amongst female students.
How Aunt Flow is Supporting
Aunt Flow offers a free-vend, menstrual product dispenser and a sustainable line of organic cotton tampons and pads.
The certified woman-owned company supports hundreds of businesses and schools by stocking their washrooms with menstrual products.
Just like businesses and schools purchase toilet paper to offer in commercial washrooms, they also purchase tampons and pads from Aunt Flow.
Why schools choose Aunt Flow for their menstrual product solution:
- Aunt Flow free-vend menstrual product dispensers are easy to reload and hold up to 5x the amount of product compared to any other dispenser on the market. This reduces work orders and janitorial time spent restocking.
- It’s important to know what you’re putting in your body. We’re committed to clarity, transparency, and conscientious ingredient selection for all our products. Aunt Flow ensures bathrooms outside the home are stocked with period products folks want to use. Menstruators will feel safe, confident, and comfortable.
- Since 2021, we’ve donated MILLIONS of period products to menstruators in need. We call this people helping people. PERIOD.®
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Claire Coder (Forbes 30 Under 30) is a Thiel Fellow and Founder & CEO of Aunt Flow.
Hi! I’m Claire. I founded Aunt Flow after getting my period in public without the supplies needed.
At 18 years old, I dedicated my life to developing a solution to ensure businesses and schools could sustainably provide quality period products, for free, in bathrooms. Our products are made with organic cotton, and we are constantly working to reduce our environmental impact! Since 2021, we've donated MILLIONS of period products to menstruators in need. I call this people helping people. PERIOD.®