World Environment Day is just a week away! Mother nature is not not exclusive to any gender, caste, species or kingdom. As our mother earth has taken care of us since times immemorial, we also need to fulfil the responsibility of taking care of her. So on this World Environment Day let us take an oath that we each one of us would do our part in taking care of our mother nature.

Why does the title say only girls? I guess taking care of the environment is a joint effort by all the genders and members of the earth. Well because I am going to talk about something that can be solved only by girls/females. Because we girls create a lot of non biodegradable waste in terms of disposable pads and tampons. It is estimated that a female creates 300 pounds or 136 kgs of female related waste in a lifetime. Now you can calculate how many gazellions of kilos of waste all the females of this world are creating each day! This has to stop or come down somehow. The answer can be cloth pads, biodegradable pads and menstrual cups. And that's why I am here to motivate you and eventually guide you to switch to menstrual cups. I have the one from Sirona, a multiple award winning Indian brand which offers a wide range of premium sanitary essentials for complete feminine hygiene.

What is a menstrual cup?

It's a small conical structure shaped like a cup. It can be safely inserted inside the vagina for 6 to 8 hours to collect the menstrual blood. And then it can be taken out, cleaned and inserted back again. It's a safe menstrual cup and liberates you to do all activities including swimming and yoga.  The Sirona Menstrual Cup is very comfortable and you are free to swim, do yoga and all other outdoor activities. You can lead a smell free, rash free period.

What is Sirona Menstrual cup made of?

Sirona Menstrual Cup is a quality product from Sirona. It is made of medical-grade silicone, the Sirona Menstrual Cup is soft, easy, 100% safe to use and does not cause skin irritation. It is FDA approved and gives you a dry, odourless period.

The best part about cups is that you don't need to worry about leakage. Once you master the art of insertion, there is no looking back. Till that time, you can use panty liners to be on the safer side.

Advantages to the environment: The Sirona cup is one of the best Menstrual cups that is available in the Indian market and will last you for around 10 years (if taken care of properly) That means no female waste contribution to mother earth!

Price: 399 INR . It turns out to be very economical in the long run. Click here.

Available at Amazon and at all major E commerce sites.

Pro Tip: Try practising the art of insertion and removal before your actual period. That way you won't be flabbergasted once your periods start. It may take a few cycles to fully master it.

So girls this World Environment Day, we all should strive towards a cleaner environment. Of course planting trees plays a mammoth role but let's try to reduce pad related wastes as much as we can. Hope this Sirona Menstrual cup review by me has motivated you to some extent to make the switch.

Have you tried menstrual cups? How long have you been a convert?

What I have learned is that we have to take each day as it comes and be grateful for every.single.thing. We should just celebrate being alive and healthy. Hence birthdays and important dates should not take a back seat; they should be the driving factor in our otherwise mundane, stressful life.

Our younger daughter's first birthday was celebrated in a way that wasn't what I had wanted it to be. I know first birthdays are overrated but still I wished it was grand. It was in January 2020 and I had been planning a big bash on her 2 nd birthday (ie January 2021) since then. However destiny had something else in mind and we are still in this Corona lockdown.

However this year I refused to admit defeat. Since pictures are a big part of my life, I decided to make the party photo friendly.  So even we couldn't go out, I made sure the memories are pretty enough! Given the party planner I am, I put up a very intimate gathering with her parents and her two sets of grandparents and here I am doing a photo dump and some tips which you might find useful.

1. Choose a venue (inside your home)

Designate a place where you can decorate and eat and click. I chose one wall of  the living room. Because it's the most open area of our home and it gets the best natural light. I chose an ombre screen.

2. Choose a theme: As you might have guessed, it was a Mermaid party.  I tried to emulate an underwater ambiance.  A pretty mermaid balloon, Mermaid birthday banner, two shells, lots of confetti balloons and an Ariel cake. 

3.. Choose a color theme.  I chose white and grey and blue.  Dress up and decorate accordingly. 

4. Decide on a menu which you love but not consume regularly.  I cooked up a storm and it turned out delicious (according to everybody). 

5. Last but not the least, do not forget gifts and return gifts! Grandparents don't expect anything but when you give them something (as trivial as a box of chocolates and chips), it brings a smile on their face. Of course our elder daughter was more excited for this party than her little sister. We had gifts for both of them and party favours for the older members. It was basically killing multiple birds with the same stone: little one's birthday party celebration+ family get together+a party for our elder one+my mommy duties fulfilled.

I was satisfied because I have something to show my daughters for 2021 when they grow up. It was a bitter sweet feeling. Sad because it could not be grand, grateful because we have our family.  We have roof above our heads, food on our plate and are healthy.  Thankful for all the things in life.  Hoping for a better future for this world. The pandemic lockdown has been an integral part of my little one's development.  She has learned to walk and talk in 2020 . I still can't believe that I am a mom of two and this tiny insect has been in my life for 2 years! 

How have you been celebrating in this lockdown?