Students at Outwood Academy Shafton have become the latest to benefit from an innovative campaign by Yorkshire Water and Hey Girls, aimed at promoting sustainable period products and tackling period poverty.
The campaign seeks to improve period dignity, educate young people about reusable products, and reduce the environmental impact of flushing single-use pads and tampons, which often cause blockages in sewer systems.
Yorkshire Water’s education team has developed an engaging programme featuring sessions on period health and wellbeing for secondary school students. Alongside discussions about the benefits of sustainable products, students also receive free ‘Full Cycle’ kits and learn how reusable products can be better for their finances, the environment, and the sewer network.
Anne Reed, social value and education manager at Yorkshire Water, said: “We are proud to be working with Hey Girls to help educate young girls in Yorkshire about reusable, sustainable period products and the benefits they bring, both environmentally and financially.
“Over 220 million non-sustainable products, which contain plastic and take a very long time to break down, are flushed away every year, causing problems to the sewage network. The aim is not to convert everyone to reusable products, but to use them as a gateway to openly talk about period poverty and the problems flushing single-use sanitary products can cause.”
The partnership between Yorkshire Water and Hey Girls will see 20,000 reusable period packs distributed to secondary schools across the region, including Outwood Academy Shafton. The school was chosen to take part due to blockages being a known issue in the area.
Alison McQueen, principal at Outwood Academy Shafton, said: “We were really pleased to welcome Yorkshire Water and Hey Girls into the academy to educate and promote the use of sustainable period products. The partnership aims to make period products accessible to all while minimising environmental impact, both of these topics are important to our socially conscious students.
“Students are taught about sustainability through our Personal Development curriculum and are very aware of the need to live sustainably. Talking to students after the session, they felt empowered to make informed choices about their period products and contribute to a more sustainable future. We are incredibly thankful to Mrs Riley and Miss Kaye for their support in leading this project from an academy perspective and very grateful to Yorkshire Water and Hey Girls for their commitment to working with us.”
Kate Smith, co-founder and director of Hey Girls, said: “We are pleased that Yorkshire Water is underway with delivering educational sessions to young girls, to promote period dignity and providing them with free period products. We want to put an end to 1 in 10 people affected by period poverty in the UK and stop 49% of pupils missing an entire day at school because of their period.”
Through this initiative, students at Outwood Academy Shafton and other schools across Yorkshire are not only gaining access to sustainable period products but also learning about the wider impacts of their choices, creating a brighter and more sustainable future for all.
