For females only – or non-squeamish males! Lots of feminine hygiene information. You have been warned. If you’re mature enough to want to learn…go ahead.

I’d like to think that a lot of my eco-friendly choices are motivated by a genuine, selfless drive to save the planet. But if I’m being honest, a lot of times I make these choices based on how convenient they are…and it’s just a bonus that it’s good for the environment.

This is one of those times.

This is a Lena cup, one of many reusable silicone menstrual cups available on the market.

If you’re anything like me, and you’d never encountered one of these before, you’re probably thinking: “Umm…yeah, I’m not putting that in me.”

My sister, Vida, had been extolling the virtues of reusable cups for a while and stocks them in her online store, Bloom Body Shop. So I had been curious about them but never enough to actually give up disposable pads and tampons. It’s just so convenient to wrap up the mess and toss it away, never to be seen again. Never mind that they’re non-biodegradable. Never mind the gross occasional leaks from wearing tampons and pads. Never mind the hassle it was when I got my period and wanted to swim at the beach or while traveling, I could just plan my trips around my very regular cycle (at some points, I even took hormone pills just to avoid getting my period during beach trips).

For the last few months, however, as I’m already in my mid-30s, my cycle hasn’t been as predictable as it once was. And unfortunately, because I book my trips way in advance, I inadvertently found myself with not one, but TWO upcoming trips that would line up exactly with me getting my period.

The first trip was to Coron, Philippines with my family. Distraught, I asked Vida if I could buy a cup from her as soon as I arrived in Cebu before we flew to Coron. I was apprehensive about it but hated the thought of having to bother with tampon changes while island-hopping in areas that didn’t exactly have lots of nice public bathrooms. She ended up giving me one, free of charge.

Vida was very patient about explaining the mechanics of using a cup – which she also outlines in her blog, All Scrubbed Out (she has a very helpful and informative video in there as well!).

I struggled a bit while trying to put it in the first time. It was quite uncomfortable, mainly because I was very tense and was probably all clenched up. Once it was in place though, I could barely feel it at all! I wore it to sleep that night, with no issues. But then the next morning, I dreaded having to take it out. I had anxieties about not being able to find it up there, or that it would be stuck. After a solid 15 minutes in the bathroom, I managed to get it out, wash it, and reinsert it again.

The next day we flew to Coron, and all my anxieties ceased. On my heaviest day, I swam, snorkeled, climbed up to a waterfall, sat on a boat in my swimsuit, and had zero leaks. It was the best (and cleanest!) period I’d ever had up to that point.

I now understand why so many women who have switched to cups say, “I wish I had known about this years ago!” because now I feel the same way.

Prior to switching to a cup, I would use about 20 pads or tampons every cycle. That’s 240 pads or tampons a year, or a whopping 5,040 pads or tampons in my lifetime since my first period at 13. That’s 21 years of leaks, of voluntarily keeping myself from swimming or going to the gym, of having to plan around my cycle, of feeling like I had to stay home on my heaviest days.

But no more.

I use Flo to track my cycle, and I used to groan whenever I saw it predict my period on inconvenient days…but now it doesn’t feel like such a catastrophe anymore. In fact, when it predicted my period on the day I was scheduled to hike Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia, I simply packed my Lena cup (which comes in its cute polka-dotted cotton bag) into my backpack. When I finally had to use it, I was already so comfortable with it that it literally took me under a minute to remove, wash, and reinsert when needed. I had zero issues.

This one little cup will last me 5-10 years.

Yes, silicone menstrual cups are convenient. Yes, they are, in my opinion, the best advancement in menstrual products to date. No, I will not go back to disposables, ever. And yes, that’s good for the environment, too.