No, those aren't particularly girly-looking ties, but washable sanitary towels from Rachael Hertogs' online store, with everything a new-age woman could possibly want on hand for her 'moon time'.
Laugh all you like at the bunnies, moons and stars (you can buy a plain set too, but where's the fun in that?) but there's a serious message here, too; the average woman uses around 17,000 items of sanitary protection in her lifetime, which is an awful lot of stuff filling our landfill or being flushed into our sewerage system or even out on to our beautiful beaches. By re-using your pads you'll be making a pretty major contribution towards lessening this impact. So, ladies; what do you say to using the same set of towels for, oh, at least the next solstace? [Via Little Green Blog]
Yay! Our culture makes women scared of their own menstrual blood & I really don't see anything wrong with reusable sanitary towels. Aside from the environmental benefit, think of how much money they'd save! I'm not sure I'd give up my Mooncup for these but they're a great alternative (and so cute!)
I tried them, gingerly and with some revulsion, years ago. Well, firstly they're vastly more comfortable than the disposable kind/s: that was enough to hook me. (Later on, it also hooked a very un-green friend of mine, who was suffering misery from thrush.) In those days, one did have to change a bit more often (I tend to flood), but the modern brands I've tried offer as much protection as disposables.
Secondly, and rather to my surprise!, I found that my squeamishness diminished very quickly after I started using them, making menstruation actually a less miserable business all round.
So even if a perfectly ecologically sound disposable was invented tomorrow (!), I'd stick with the re-usable kind.
I've just brought some and their great! lot prittyer then disposables, much softer on my anoyingly sensitive skin and work out cheeper!
Downsides: hard to wear them at the charity shop were I work as they have to be carried in a bag I find and I keep my bag in a locker which I can't really get to; when I mentioned to my mum and sister that I was going to buy them, they both gave me funny looks and said uneasily 'Right...you know granny had to wash hers when she was a girl...'. Visions of me shoving tatty rags in my knickers obviously!
But if you can work around those problems - perfect!