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MIT graduates create sanitary pads made out of bananas

  • Two MIT graduates launch sanitary napkins made out of waste banana fibre to promote safer menstruation
  • The team particularly chose banana fibre because it is an absorbent found in abundance
  • This concept was appreciated worldwide and even won the ‘Social Enterprise’ award in a competition hosted by Harvard in 2014
MIT graduates create sanitary pads made out of banana to promote safer menstruation

In an effort to spread awareness about safer menstruation, two MIT graduates have come up with sanitary napkins made out of waste banana tree fibre to make them more accessible to women in the rural parts of this country. They have named these low cost and eco-friendly napkins ‘Saathi’. 


It was in 2012 when Amrita Saigal, an MIT graduate started working on a low-cost sanitary napkin model particularly to cater to the rural women.  However, it took a couple of years for her to finally launch Saathi with the help of her fellow MIT colleague Kristin Kagetsu. 

 

These napkins are 100% eco-friendly and have been particularly launched in this vertical to bring a change in this industry which is known for producing napkins made of non-biodegradable plastics and chemical toxins. 

 

Moreover, it also generates employment opportunities to the rural women who can sell these pads using the machine created by the Saathi team. The machine which costs $500 can make four pads in a minute. Additional costs including the monthly purchase of the banana fibre, outer cover layers and adhesives can come up to $650 for 30,000 pads. These pads according to a report in the Indiatimes is produced for ₹1.35 and sold for ₹2. 


The report further said that the team particularly chose banana fibre because it is an absorbent found in abundance and is now a new source of income for farmers who are providing the fibre to produce these pads. 


The concept of Saathi was appreciated worldwide after Amrita, the co-founder won the ‘Social Enterprise’ award for Saathi in a competition hosted by Harvard for its alumni in 2014. Both Amrita and Kristin also received $50,000 as a cash prize for this innovative concept.    

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