Always Dri-Liners

Alert: Do not read on if you are faint of heart in regards to "that time of the month".

That time of the month is already bad enough as is. Everything is upsetting. You feel like everyone is out to get you. Nothing is going right. You're crampy. You have weird cravings for poutine (at least I do.) I never thought about it until after I started Packaging Probe, but did you ever notice how much garbage comes from that time of the month? Tons. Apparently, 12 BILLION pads and tampons are disposed of each year. In addition to that mental image being a little gross, can you imagine the impact all the plastic has on the environment? I shudder to think. Although I have been too wimpy as of yet to make the switch over to The Keeper, it would do some good for tampon, maxi pad and pantiliner companies to reduce their packaging even slightly - it would save them money and reduce waste overall waste. See below for the Always Dri-Liner:




My assumed rationale behind the amount of packaging: It's in a little pouch so you can sneak it into your purse somewhat subtly and conveniently. The plastic is there to protect it from the other things in your purse.

Alternative considerations: The wax paper backing is completely unnecessary - its use in the current configuration is so it doesn't stick to the plastic (!) and provides instructions on how to use the pantiliner (!). Similarly, the plastic is not really necessary. Say you spilled something in your bag - since the pantiliner is not hermetically sealed it would get wet anyway. Similarly, the plastic wrapper for the case of "sanitary disposal" does not really apply since you are throwing it in the garbage anyway. As a result, I would recommend that Always could try having a wax paper wrapper with the "instructions" on them. As a side note: the perforated sides of Always maxi pads and pantiliners are so noisy when you open the package that you might as well yell in the bathroom "EVERYONE! I AM ON MY PERIOD!!!!!!" P&G needs to get on that design flaw also. And finally, the box that it comes in has a plastic window - is it really necessary for us to see what pantiliners look like? Save the plastic and stick with the recyclable and quickly biodegradable boxboard.

Always, via Procter & Gamble
1 800 879 8433
Email them and use UPC number 03700031349 6