A recap of what happened in 2019!

From meeting period industry giants like Procter & Gamble to working with supermarkets and local authorities to bring about positive change and even winning an award, what a year 2019 has been! This year has been a whirlwind and a journey, transforming me from the postal worker that started a petition in 2018 to an environmental activist.

Since there’s been so much happening this year with the campaign and the work I’ve been doing urging governments and councils to use their period poverty funding on eco-friendly products, I thought I’d recap and share everything that’s happened this year!

Whilst this is a list of certain things that have happened, there is a lot more going on behind the scenes like; persistently contacting decision makers, sending hundreds of emails, lots of meetings, coming up with campaign ideas, coordinating campaign actions, drinking lots of tea and happy dancing whenever there is a result.

The end period plastic campaign.
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• In 2019 the campaign and it’s thousands of supporters took action on manufacturers Lil-lets and Procter & Gamble and retailers Morrisons and Superdrug.
• In January I held a demonstration alone outside Lil-lets head office in Solihull and delivered the petition to them.
• I’ve met with six of the fourteen manufacturers and supermarkets that are decision makers on the campaign, these being Procter & Gamble (owners of Tampax and Always), Boots, Bodyform, Superdrug, Sainsbury’s and Tesco. I delivered the petition, spoke to them about the unnecessary plastic in their products, the campaign and why they need to bring about change.
• In August the campaigning resulted in supermarket Sainsbury’s stopping the production of their own-brand plastic tampon applicators. They are the first decision maker to make this move and it will save 2.7 tonnes of plastic each year.
• The campaign has been featured in a variety of publications including The Guardian, Mashable, Metro, Virgin and Ethical Consumer.

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I'm absolutely thrilled and honoured that for my campaigning and activism efforts I’ve been named on the Independent’s Happy List and the BBC’s 100 Women list, which celebrates influential and inspirational women around the globe! The campaign has also won an amazing Surfer’s Against Sewage Plastic Free Award for best campaign!

A film about the campaign and my journey, that I had the pleasure of making with The Planet Shine.

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Campaigning for period poverty funding to be spent on eco-friendly period products.

A lot of the work I’ve been doing this year has been calling on the UK and Welsh Governments to use their period poverty funding on eco-friendly products. If you don't know what this funding is, it makes menstrual products freely available to pupils in primary and secondary schools across the UK. The conventional tampons and pads usually provided with funding contain high amounts of plastic, which is why I’ve been pushing for it to be spent on eco-friendly versions, so that we can tackle period poverty, the plastic crisis and protect the environment simultaneously. ​

Meeting Caroline Lucas in June 2019

• In April, I used the campaign as a platform to urge UK Government to spend the funding sustainably. Supporters got involved by sending emails to the Department of Education.
• In May, I contacted local authorities across Wales as the funding is spent on a council by council basis, with councils deciding what to use the funding on. I began to meet Welsh councils and spoke to them about how they could use the funding in a green way.
• In June, I met with Green MP Caroline Lucas to discuss my concerns about how the UK Government’s funding would be spent. Together we worked on an early day motion to raise this issue in parliament and gather cross party support.
• I contacted all MPs asking them to sign the EDM, many campaign supporters joined in by asking their local MPs to do the same. The EDM got almost 70 signatures in total, with many more MPs pledging to sign after the 2019 session closed.
• In September, Caerphilly Council whom I’d been working with since May shared the news publicly that they were committed to spending all of their funding sustainably! This positive move by the forward-thinking local authority is a UK and global first.
• I’ve been meeting with other councils in Wales since this news and many are considering the move, which is really exciting.
• What the UK Government’s funding is going to be spent on remains unclear. After pushing for eco-friendly products to be bought they have added ‘environmentally-friendly pads and tampons’ to the list of products that will be available for schools to choose from as well as reusable cups and cloth pads. 

Support.

​Something that I've been reflecting on has been the sheer amount of support that I've received for what I am doing. From individuals to charities and organisations this overwhelming support has helped lift me and constantly made me feel empowered and inspired to continue addressing this issue with decision makers and local authorities and taking action. Thank you for supporting me.

A particular highlight of 2019 for me is when my head took over the BBC newsroom.

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2020.
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I think we all want to start seeing global leaders, governments and manufacturers not just saying the right things, but also taking real action. We've seen the impacts, 2020 is the start of a new decade and it's time for conversations and discussions that lead to definitive changes being made. I don't just hope for a year of green action, but instead, a decade of green action.

I am excited for what 2020 is going to bring, change is most definitely coming. I will continue to fight and tackle this and any issue that I can to make this world a better place. I urge anyone who has something that they are passionate about or something that niggles away at them, to stand up and make their voice heard. We can all make a difference.