Metanoïa

In Europe, a menstruating person will use between 10,000 and 17,000 sanitary pads in their life – a staggering figure given that a tampon or pad has a lifespan of 4 to 8 hours.

Period panties, on the other hand, have a lifespan of 4 to 6 years, depending on how you look after them.

Every year, 47 billion conventional protections are used worldwide. These protections are 90% plastic, and only 13% is incinerated, the remaining 87% is landfilled. The decomposition time of a pad or tampon is about 500 years.

8 hours of use versus 500 years of decomposition makes no sense to us.

Metanoïa was born out of the desire to create a product that is as eco-friendly as possible. We are committed to creating underwear to combat the waste produced by today’s conventional protection. And more importantly, our goal is to offer the world the most eco-friendly underwear out there.

Very often, and in the best case scenario, period underwear brands offer you a product made in Europe, but do not tell you where the (often Asian) textiles and raw materials come from. Here at Metanoïa, we aim to provide you with maximum transparency about our work. We are continually working to further reduce our carbon footprint.

Our panties are made in France, all our textiles are OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 certified and are also produced in France at the same location as our panties. The raw materials come from Turkey and Austria. Our organic cotton has been grown and processed into yarn spools in Turkey, the yarns have been turned into textiles in France and these same textiles are then cut to create your panties. According to the European Commission, in 2018, cotton production in Europe represented only 1% of world production. This number has not increased with the crisis.

For more information, you can find out where all our partners come from and where their production is located on this diagram above.

We have all read various articles denouncing the chemicals contained in conventional protective products. Products such as phthalates, which are endocrine disruptors (which disrupt the proper functioning of our hormones), or residues of glysophate, you know the famous Monsanto-made Roundup. A number of other pesticides, banned in Europe, have also been found in very low doses in tampons and pads.

We at Metanoïa believe that it is possible to ensure that our bodies and flora are respected during our periods. That’s why all of our textiles are OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 certified.

Why is this certification important?

The independent institute OEKO-TEX examines textiles for the presence of harmful substances that can damage human health. When textiles are certified under the OEKO-TEX® Standard 100, this means that there are no substances that are harmful to your skin and health.

Beyond the importance of ecology and our health, when we tested the period panties for the first time, we realised two things we had never known before: you have to experience it and they change the way you live your period!

Metanoïa period panties can be worn between 10 and 12 hours depending on your flow. You no longer need to think about changing tampons, pads or emptying your cup. One less mental load!

The softness of organic cotton gives you the comfort you need. Your flow is absorbed and stored in the lower layers, so the first layer dries quickly and you stay dry all day long.

For a long time, conventional sanitary protection brands have marketed their products on top of the shame and taboo of menstruation: the tampons packaging make this disposable product mysterious, almost as if no one should know what is in them. Don’t blame them too much though, the taboo of menstruation goes back long before them. Even to this day, menstruation is still regarded as dirty and unclean in many cultures and religions. The fact is that we don’t talk about it enough or even at all, and yet cyclical beings make up half the population.

Being a cyclical being can be quite challenging when you live in a linear world defined by continuous performance, success and progress. By getting to know yourself better, understanding your cycle, you are able to respect your needs, make better choices, learn to listen more to yourself and thus become a better version of yourself.

Here at Metanoïa, we believe that discussing this taboo subject can help us to understand each other better and to achieve this, we aim to talk to you about absolutely all topics surrounding menstruation in different formats and on our different platforms. We have more projects to come in the near future.

Besides, period panties make it possible to talk more about menstruation. And how’s that? Well, they can be seen around the home; in the laundry basket, on the edge of the bathtub or on the clothesline, and they are not linked to anything taboo like with conventional protection. This allows us to talk about it more freely with our spouse, brothers and sisters, parents and children, and to feel more relaxed about this very natural phenomenon.