Fall 2022 Reflection from our Menstrual Health Researcher Mallika
My name is Mallika Digavalli and I am a first year student at Georgia Tech.
I first joined Wish For Wash because I wanted to explore sustainable menstrual products, as those are both subjects I find to be rising topics of importance. From the very first meeting with the Menstrual Health subteam, I was assigned a role of researching different period products. I had the opportunity to propose ideas of what to research for our commentary, and my knowledge on period products and period poverty expanded greatly. In the past few months, I have learned about different regulations that cause the sustainability gap between the EU and the U.S., the contrast in programs, ideals, and goals of companies classified as ‘sustainable’ vs ‘unsustainable’ by a variety of criteria, and the various structures of businesses in the U.S. vs EU, ranging from those considered small companies to manufacturing giants.
Additionally, all the members of the team I work with are so kind and supportive, and I consider them great mentors. So far, in my time with Wish For Wash, I have met an incredible group of people, performed research on the differences in menstrual health sustainability across the world, and learned so much about period access and the importance of sanitation and ensuring that people have access to affordable eco-friendly period products. This semester has been very educational and fulfilling, and I am so excited to see what the rest of my time with Wish For Wash holds. — Mallika
