Underground Garage Sale

WASH will be tabelling zines and handmade crafts at this years Underground Garage Sale in Mississauga.

2800 Erin Centre Blvd, Erin Meadows Community Centre, Mississauga, ON

Saturday, January 16th - 12PM - 5PM.

Come and say hi!

Facebook event here.

- Evy

Menstruation Tabling

Our tabling event on Monday was a success! It was great to engage with the student community, and it was very interesting to see some of the students' reactions. Some students just couldn't believe that we were talking about menstruation in public. Some giggled as they took the pad/tampon packages that we were handing out, others were completely shocked and mortified. We have been talking about the stigma associated with menstruation for a long time, but it wasn't until I was confronted with these reactions that I really understood how important it was to make menstruation visible. To be frank, menstruation has been constructed as a problem that needs to be avoided at all costs. Corporations capitalize on ideologies of uncleanliness to sell a myriad of products that will help women "cope" with their "feminine troubles". And so the process of menstruation itself fades into the background. For instance the pad/tampon commercials that I've seen on tv are so ambiguous. I don't know whether they're trying to sell me a box of flowers or a box of tampons.

Although we were met with some resistance, there were many students who were very interested in what we had to offer. They were surprised to see alternative options/products, and also to find out that the products that they have been using for so many years were toxic. One individual asked, "Aren't these products FDA approved? If they weren't safe, then why would they be on the market?". The truth is that mainstream pads and tampons don't usually cause immediate harm (although some individuals may experience irration on the skin surface), but they do contain chemicals/dioxins that are carcinogenic. This means that they can cause cancer. So the question is: do you really feel safe inserting a toxic tampon into your body, or having a bleached maxipad rubbing against your skin?

We'd like to thank natracare for donating the samples of safe/chemical-free pads and tampons to us, and Divacup for donating the demo poducts. The York student community really appreciates it!

- Alice

Tabling Nov.17th Volunteers needed!!!

We will be tabling at the York University Keele Campus in Vari Hall on November 17th between 10am & 2pm. The purpose is to raise awareness on alternative menstrual products (cloth reusable pads, chemical free disposable pads/tampons, menstrual cups). We may also be giving out samples of some products (provided our contact can get them to us on time). If anyone is available to help us out please email us or just show up at that date time. We need volunteers to
1) help set up/break down the table/chairs
2) hand out samples
3) hand out pamphlets

So even if it's only for 30 minutes on a break or before/after class we'd really appreciate it!!!

Anyone including non-members can volunteer, but we can only provide reference letters for those who are official WASH members (so don't forget to sign up with your full name and student number!!!)

- Alice & Vivian