If you follow me and read my post since last year you may know that I obtained a menstrual cup some time ago. The truth is I haven’t got an occasion to try it… until now, thanks to quarantine.

I needed some time to prepare the cup and of course also prepare myself for trying it. Living in a dormitory was an obstacle for me to do it, so when I started bleeding on quarantine at home I though it was a appropriate day to insert my menstrual cup. 

Quick backstory: I got my first period when I was turning 10, so according to my calculations I have used about 3360 menstrual pads till today (for almost 10 years). So continuing counting I will use at least 10080 more until I stop menstruating.

“Tampons, pads and panty liners along with their packaging and individual wrapping generate more than 200,000 tonnes of waste per year, and they all contain plastic – in fact, pads are around 90% plastic!” - OrganiCup

One pad decompose in about 500 to 800 years! And burning them causes highly toxic emissions. So please consider switching to more sustainable menstrual products as:

• Cloth pads (watch this video!)
• Cup
• Periodproof underwear

My first period with menstrual cup:

Day 1 | Although I tried doing this before, it didn’t work out then. “Take your time” - I said to myself and began putting in right place. The first day of wearing a cup wasn’t the most comfortable and I wore a pad due to the insurance. I found very little blood inside the cup in the evening, which surprised me.

Articles and videos that helped me at the first day:

• 7 Things No One Tells You About Using Menstrual Cups
• How to use a Menstrual Cup – In-depth Instructional Video 
• First Time Using A MENSTRUAL CUP During A HEAVY Period - Sarah Therese - I love her channel!
• The truth about menstrual cups TMI WARNING | I tried the diva cup - I completely love the girl’s energy :D
  

Also what I found helpful was medical lubricant, but to be honest I used it only at the first day. I didn’t mention it before but if you want to know, my cup is from the brand calledPerfect Cup;)

Day 2 | I felt really comfortable after wearing a cup at night. Also I didn’t notice any leakage. Although I think the ring was irritating me sometimes.

Day 3 | Again I felt very comfortable all day. I think the cup’s size is appropriate for me.

(sanitizing my cup in hot water while taking shower)

Day 4 | My bottom stomach hurt a bit, I think I put my cup a little too deep. But I reinserted it and then it was okay. In the evening I noticed that the amount of blood inside the cup was low so I decided to take a break of it and try on a cloth pad I sew before.

Day 5 | I stopped bleeding and after wearing a cloth pad for a night I felt a lot more pleased then after using a disposable pad. 

Summing up: I loved it from the very first day! The feeling of not having a blood flood inside my pants and having any skin irritation caused by the chemicals inside the disposable pads… Absolutely stunning! Now I feel like: everyone who is menstruating should try that! 

Also I have a story here: when I got my cup, I showed it to my boyfriend and he loved it and started playing with it, but when I showed it to my (women) roommates they were like “yuuuck!” and the situation was really shocking for me, because before I hadn’t met anyone who would react that way on a cup…

I’ve also asked some other people what they think about menstrual cups.

• “They are problematic and embarrassing in public toilets.”
• “I’m afraid I can stain something while putting it out.”
• “They are cool. Someday I’ll buy one!”
• “At least you don’t waste money on tampons and pads.”
• “I think it is a good way to reduce your waste.”
• “They seem to be more comfortable than tampons.”
• “In my point of view they aren’t made for me, but I’m not sure, because it seems to be better and more comfortable solution.”

And what is your opinion about menstrual cups?

I will finish with mentioning that there is nothing to be ashamed with talking about your period or using a menstrual cup! Love your body and accept everything about it! You are beautiful and worthy! ♥ ♥ ♥

So I’ve not been very active on tumblr during the last months, because my job and my master’s keep me more than busy.

However, I’d like to share with you one of the projects I’ve been working on because I think (and hope) some of you might be interested!

So please like and reblog and comment your friends!

We are organising Houstainable, an innovation contest to find new solutions for sustainable and smart living spaces in cities.

How it works? Hand in your ideas via our website between the 16th of December 2020 and the 21st of December 2020 and exchange ideas about the future of living in cities with other innovative minds! Develop your ideas into concepts to be evaluated by our jury!

Houstainable provides an opportunity to meet people from all over the world and to find alternative approaches and solutions. We want to encourage people from all backgrounds and fields to network with others who care about the future.

Check out or social media and website:

https://www.instagram.com/houstainable

Houstainable

Houstainable – Networking for Sustainability

If you have any questions, I’ll be happy to answer them! I hope you all have a great day ☺️

effects of Climate Change: antarctica

The most known effect of Climate Change is the gradient of temperature and the fact that the ice of the poles melts but what are sideeffects of this gradient? 

The rising of temperature effects the activities of animals, their obsolescence and their reproduction. Their ability of rivalry and their  trophicrelation. Furthermore animals will leave their old habitat and search for a new one because they aren’t adapted to their old one and an adaption is needed to survive.

Of course, the ice will melt too and their habitat gets smaller and smaller wich is also a cause to leave it. Besides the number of rainfall will change and the sea level will rise. And the absence of ice will lead to erosion of the coasts. 

But what will happen to the animals? Let’s have a closer look at an example. 

This is krill, the most important organism in the polare seas. It’s nutriment to most nearly every creature in the antarctica, dircetly or indirectly. 

Krill eats phytoplankton which lives under massive ice. If the ice melts there will be a a big leck in the offer of nutriment for the krill wich will lead to a high number of deaths of the krill. Furthermore the rising absorption of carbon dioxide will make the oceans acid. The shell of krill is made of calcium wich is the reason why the acid sea can destroy the shells easier and baby krill die more often because their shells can’t be build. 

The missing of krill has an huge effect of every creature on the antarctica. Orcas eat seals. Seals eats cods. Cods eat herrings. Herrings eat krill. And there isn’t enough krill out there. So ther won’t be enough herrings. Consequently there won’t be enough cods. Consequently there won’t be enough seals. Consequently there won’t be enough Orcas. Huge networks of nutriment will collapse and the ecosystem will be destroyed. 

Climate Change has an huge impact of the life of millions out there. It isn’t just bad for humans but it will be the decline of millions of millions of organism.

What should humans do?

• make laws about fishing in polare seas
• use environmentally friendly methodes of fishing which don’t destroy the habitats
• don’t use routes which lead through habitats directly 
• avoid harvaries (yes, nobody does it intentional) 
• avoid tourism in arctic zones because people will detroy habitats, disturb animals, destroy organism and bring in different creatures to the habitats wich will have an negative impacts on it
• create ‘nationalpark’ zones to protect the nature
• stop Climate change

What shoul you do?

• eat less fish (which was caught near the antarctica)
• reduce the waste of plastics
• try different methodes to stop Climate Change like saving energy or stop pollution
• spreadthe message by sharing this post, telling your friends or posting about the climate crisis too

Ecosystems around the globe need us to save them because we are the ones who will kill them slowly. 

I keep reading things like this and i keep hearing things like “we have to save the planet” and “humans are destroying our planet” but guess what? Nobody wants to do it.

Nobody wants to use less palm oil, plastics and so on. Nobody wants to do something different than liking posts on Instagram and keep telling how good all the anti climate change protests are.

And it fucks me up because we need to do something. And everyone is we.

I’ve got friends who tell me how bad the use if palm oil is and that we need to stop to cut down the rainforest and those friends are eating Nutella at the same time.

I’ve got friends who tell me how great Friday For Future is and how important this idea is but guess what, those friends are wearing the lastest clothes and do absolutly nothing but talk about how evil humans are.

I do not want to say i am a better person but i keep trying and i want to make a change.

And so can you. Everybody is able to help our planet. Everybody can save it!!! Stop talking and start doing it.

(Same time ago i posted about how you can help our planet.)

Stop being someone who says “the humans are destroying the earth” and start recognizing that we are destroying the earth - but we can change it. There is still hope.

I always wondered why somebody doesn’t do something about that. Then I realized I was somebody.

Lily Tomlin

You are somebody! Even small things can make a difference:

• seperate your garbage
• be a friendly human
• eat less meat/chicken/fish
• buy less plastic products
• buy less palm oil products
• donate clothes/money
• respect others
• spread the message
• try to make the world a little bit better by every choice

Caring for climate change, the clearing of the rainforest and extinction of animals isn’t about politics, it’s about saving our earth!

oh well

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From probably around the time I was 7 or 8, I could sense something was off with me. I spent years struggling with depression, before I even knew what it was, and the years 12-17 were the darkest for me. So many days I woke up, and questioned why. So many days I wished everything would end. So many days I suffered, and could not see a light at the end of the tunnel. I still cannot completely say what it is that brought me out of this time, but I know what’s keeping me out and I know I won’t go back. For the majority of my life I could not have told you what true happiness felt like, and today there are days when I will cry because of the sheer joy of being alive. When I was 16, my youngest sister was born and she has been a light unto my life since. She broke through, she made me feel. I look at her and I am overcome with gratitude, I thank God for her everyday and bringing me salvation. She’s quite literally my sunshine. She brought me from the darkest parts of my life and made me finally want to stay, if for nothing else than to watch her grow. She is the purest thing I have ever seen and she cleansed me. Depression was not easy, is not easy. It was not easy to live through, to live with, to comprehend, and to overcome. But she was my turning page. Had she not been born, I cannot say where I would be today, mentally, emotionally, or physically. Today I can say that I am the happiest I have ever been. 2017 brought me some of the worst experiences of my life, but it brought me the best also. I fell in love with my life that year. I looked around me at all my friends and, for once, I could feel the happiness, the joy. And since, it has only gotten better. I appreciate the people in life so much, the experiences in my life so much, the feelings, because I know what it is to live without them. To feel alone and cold and empty. I cannot say that I am grateful for what I went through, but I am grateful for where it brought me to today. I know now that there is power in positive thinking. Your mind controls much of what happens to you. I’ve learned to focus on the good, to water it and let it multiply. What grows is what you feed. I had to release all negativity and toxicity from my life to get better, and I continue to everyday. Happiness is not something given to us, you have to work for it. But the reward is worth the effort. I’ve got in close with God and close with myself, I’ve learned us both, and I no longer doubt if I’m doing the “right thing” or who I’m pleasing or if a + b will lead me to c. This Universe is ALWAYS working for you, never against you. Trust in it. Everything works out in your best interest, as long as you feed into your best thoughts. The power of positivity is real. Manifestation is real. The Secret to life is that what you get, is what you give, and that law is true whether you realize it or not, whether you believe it or not. So believe in it, and watch your life change, for the better. Because of everything I’ve mentioned, I can now say that I know I will never have to face that struggle with depression again. Because I believe I am bigger than it, I believe I have overcame it, so it is true. Depression is not easy, and I will never say it is, but it is that simple. It cannot have power over you, unless you let it. Quit feeding the beast, and start feeding beauty.

*All this to say, I do still face very trying, rough days. I still breakdown, I still cry myself to sleep sometimes. But I know one day is not forever, and the pains I feel today do not have to affect my tomorrow. November 2017 was quite possibly the worst month of my life. I was raped. And barely a week later, I lost my grandfather. I thought that pain would destroy me, but I didn’t let it. As someone who faced years of depression, I thought I would fall back into it. But the one good thing about suffering through depression, is that you realize you never want to feel that way again, and you have the tools to fight it. I did not want depression to have power over me, and I did not want my abuser to have power over me. So they didn’t. I fought, and I won.

April 18, 2018- 4:30am EST

MK Ireland #258 : …me- my past and present…

Who wears black in California sun

Please excuse my bathroom, it’s being remodeled.

Theres a lot of shit going on, but it’s been going on, people are fucking tired of the insanity. There’s no more asking. There’s no more room for empty promises of change. Be open to learning and accepting. If you’re offended by the term “white privilege” or if you deny it’s a thing I encourage you to take a moment with yourself and really think about it. That discomfort and resistance you feel, it’s change tugging at you, begging you, to use that privilege and make change happen.

and realize you’re given the opportunity every day to change your life. Whether it be for the better or worse is your choice - but you realize you hold the power in your hands. We are only inhibited by the thoughts in our head; there are even ways to overcome our physical barriers. Our strength, diligence, and willpower will surprise you - it continues to surprise me constantly; as I will never stop learning and growing. Perspective really is everything. If something isn’t right for you, look at it differently - a new angle - this is a hard exercise, but one of the most rewarding. You have to remember when bad things happen to us, it is a lesson. Stop, and think to yourself, “how can I overcome this? I will come out stronger and more wise than I was before.” The last thing I leave you with, is the power that overcomes all - Love. The most compelling and brilliant force we can enjoy and express in our human form - don’t abuse it. Love your friends,experiences, family, environment, and most important (What seems to be the hardest for most everyone) is love yourself.