The Zelena Akcija ("Green Action") environmentalist organization joined a global campaign calling on local authorities in Croatia to introduce vouchers for the purchase of reusable menstrual products in their waste management plans, in order to both cut the amounts of municipal waste and help combat period poverty, which is thought to affect one in 10 women in Croatia.

The campaign, promoted online with the hashtag #EnvironmenstrualWeek, wants to raise awareness of menstrual health issues and environmental pollution and will last until 23 October.

The group said in a press release that apart from raising awareness of these problems, they wanted to “break the taboo” and call for a clear policy which would see environmentally-friendly period products – which do not include toxic substances and plastic – become widely available.

“We demand from local authorities to include vouchers for the purchase of reusable menstrual products, as a form of cutting down on municipal waste,” said a member of the group, Ana Marija Mileusnic.

The group also emphasized some economic benefits from a more widespread adoption of reusable period products. They said that the switch could mean saving 130-900 kuna (€17-120) per year for every woman, or more than 30,000 kuna (€3,990) over their lifetime.

In addition, reusable period products helps fight so-called period poverty, i.e. lack of access to affordable menstrual products, which, according to surveys, affects as many as ten percent of Croatian women.

The campaign #environmenstrualweek was originally launched by the Women’s Environmental Network from the UK.