With all the effort to go all green and save Mother Earth, have you ever thought about how to also be eco-friendly with your birth control? Condoms are made out of rubber which isn’t all that eco-friendly and all the synthetic progestin and estrogen and other hormones are flowed into our waters via urinals. However, there are birth controls that are not as damaging to the environment. Who knows? You could still find one of these suitable and save our earth at the same time.
IUD. The IUD (Intrauterine Device) reduces the least waste and is 99% pregnancy-proof. They are hormone-free and is made out of copper – a metal which is abundant on earth. IUDs can be used for about ten years. However, IUDs are the least used form of contraception. Maybe most people don’t want to go through the process of insertion by a doctor.
Vegan Condoms. Yes, apparently there is such a thing. The normal latex condom you find in stores are actually quite damaging to the environment as it contains casein which is a dairy derivative. However, vegan condoms like Glyde replaces casein with a vegetable extract which is eco friendly.
Vaginal Ring. Also known as the Nuva Ring, it works as well as the Pill or Patch. However, compared with the two latter contraceptives, the vaginal ring lasts three weeks and uses lesser plastic waste than many other birth control methods.
Amongst the other common contraceptives like Diaphragm, the Patch and the Pill, the method which is the most detrimental to the environment is the Pill. This contraceptive harms the world’s water, causes dangerous hormonal imbalances in wildlife, impacts fish populations through the secretion of hormones into the waterways where it enters fish systems.
So, if you want to be green, choose your contraceptive wisely.
