Survey Shows How Personal Hygiene Regimens Impact the Environment

SKILLMAN, N.J., April 1 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a survey commissioned by o.b.(R) tampons, women are generating about twice as much waste as men due to the fact that they have double the number of personal products in their medicine cabinet or vanity.

However, while women and men are equally likely to consider themselves environmentally conscious, women are more likely than men to say they are willing to make small changes to their daily lifestyle if they knew it would positively impact the environment.

o.b.(R) tampons are one way women can make a small, but mighty change in their daily habits to help reduce waste and save space in their medicine cabinet or vanity without giving up comfort and protection.

Because o.b.(R) tampons do not have an applicator, they generate 58 percent less waste than any applicator tampon. This means that using o.b. tampons saves one pound of waste per year per user -- totaling 37 pounds over a woman's menstrual lifetime. In addition, a box of o.b.(R) tampons occupies roughly one-third the space of a leading applicator tampon box, leaving more room in the vanity.

    Here are some other key findings from this survey:

    -- Taking Up Space.  Women confess to having about 12 products, on
       average, in their vanity or medicine cabinet.  However, they only use
       about six products on a daily basis and admit that they have about five
       containers of beauty or personal hygiene products that they never use.
       Men, on average, have about seven products in their vanity or medicine
       cabinet and use only three on a daily basis.

    -- Less Space = More Waste.  Forty-two percent of women say their vanity
       or medicine cabinet is overcrowded with beauty or personal hygiene
       products.  More than one in five women (22%) ranked tampons among the
       top five beauty or personal hygiene products that occupy the most space
       in their vanity or medicine cabinet.

    -- It All Adds Up.  Women ranked toilet paper or tissues (71%), shampoo
       and/or conditioner containers (57%) and cotton balls or swabs (48%)
       among the top five beauty or personal hygiene products that create the
       most waste.  Twenty-nine percent (29%) of women also ranked tampons
       among the top five beauty or personal hygiene products that generate
       the most waste.

    -- Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.  Seventy-seven percent of women say they
       recycle to reduce waste, but less than fifty percent of women are doing
       other simple things to reduce waste, such as buying products with less
       packaging (49%), buying in bulk (49%) or purchasing products with
       environmentally-friendly packaging (45%).

    -- Go the Extra Mile. Eighty-one percent of women say they would be
       willing to make compromises to be more environmentally-conscious, by
       either buying a product that is less visually appealing (63%) traveling
       further to purchase environmentally responsible items (27%) or paying
       more for a product or service (27%).

Using o.b. tampons is one way women can reduce waste and start making a small change that will have a mighty impact on the environment. For more information, go to www.mightysmall.com.