As teenagers we were taught that condoms are the safest way to protect ourselves from sexual diseases and to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Recently, the use of condom has increased in popularity due to new findings on side effects of birth control pills and other hormones based contraceptives. However, some concerns about condoms are arising among environmentalist. The main problem is the materials that are often used to make them involves non-biodegradable latex, or in the worse scenario, synthetic materials such as polyisoprene. On top of the material their are made of, its single use purpose does not really make it ‘eco-friendly.’
Most of the companies producing condoms are not very transparent regarding their composition. Even in condoms labelled as ‘natural’ ’, it's hard that they are 100% natural and thus will not decompose before many years. In addition to that, most of commercial condoms contain casein, a product derived from goats/cow milk, making them neither vegan nor cruelty free.
Luckily, nowadays alternatives are available in the market such as HANX and Sustain Natural, which instead use a vegetable binder to guarantee smoothness. Many progress have been made in substituting single use products mainly made by plastic such as straws, cups, glasses, plates and cutleries with more sustainable and eco friendly material such as bamboo or wood. Therefore, next step would help to apply these principles to condoms too.
Who says that you can’t be sexually active and take care of the environment at the same time? I thought it would be helpful to list some companies that produce eco-friendly condoms around the world.
GLYDEA states in its About section, GLYDE is the world's first certified non-toxic, ethical and fair-trade condom. It’s also the only condom certified by the Vegan Society. GLYDE was invented to deliver a more satisfying safer sex experience while using sustainable ingredients and cruelty-free practices. In addition to that it is B Corp making it oriented to society and environment. They offer a huge variety of products, even a line which is natural flavoured. It's very easy to wear and since it's latex free, you will avoid the nasty smell.
PRICE: their value pack starts from 31 euro + delivery (free if you spend more than 22 euro) for 36 condoms.
HANX is a company based in the UK that creates doctors approved, vegan condoms that are biodegradable. I tried it myself and I can guarantee there is no difference with the standards ones and for some aspects such as the smell they are even better. HANX offers a home delivery service straight making it purchasable everywhere and for the shy ones also privacy-friendly as you won't need to walk to the pharmacy. Finally, for the creative among you HANX offers also eco friendly lubes!
PRICE: from 4.50 euro for 3 condoms
'Have you ever thought about what you're putting inside your vagina? We have.' I found Sustain Natural claim very catchy! The Company, was founded in the 90s by Jeffrey and Meika Hollender. Their philosophy is that we should pay attention to what condoms we use as at the end of the day, they end up in our most intimate and sensitive areas. Their condoms have very high safety standards as they are triple tested. The production involves fair rubber and are Nitrosamine free (carcinogenic chemical). The brand is multi-sustainable: the Fair Trade rubber is made in a solar-powered factory in India. There, workers receive fair wages and have fair working conditions. Even tho it is sold mostly in the US, it could be bought in the EU sustainable sites such as Free People. On top of condoms they sell underwear, tampons, period cups and much more.
PRICE: 12.40 euro for 10 condoms
A small disclaimer. The fact that these brands commercialise eco-friendly condoms doesn't mean they could be flushed in the WC . If you will do so, they find their way into our oceans and river destroying marine life and ecosystem. ALWAYS throw your natural latex condoms in the compost heap, so that they can biodegrade.
Finally, birth control has been a chimera in the last years. However giving birth is, or at least it should be a thoughtful decision. Condoms give us the chance to decide when and if we want to have baby. there is an obvious correlation between the increasing adoption of condoms and the decline in the number of pregnancies, and thus less growth in population.
As shown by a study carried by the Oregon State University, opting not to have a child is 20 times more effective than recycling. Other examples of advocacy in this direction include the Centre for Biological Diversity launching an ‘Endangered Species Condoms project’ in the US in 2009, to raise awareness around the increasing growth of human population and its effects in is pushing other species on the brink of extinction. That said, giving birth as well as not doing so is a personal decision which everyone should free to made. However, both should be made it consciously and respecting the environment.
A special thanks to TAF who made this article possible!
Care and share!!
Live pono!
Image credit: TAF
Comments