How Eco-Friendly are they?

• Switching from disposables to cloth keeps about 250 to 300 pounds of trash out of the land fills.
• These pads are made of second-hand materials (except thread and tyvek), so they don't create demand for more materials to be produced, which means that at the end of the day there is a little bit less of the earth destroyed and a little bit less stuff in the landfills than there would be if I bought new. I buy Tyvek instead of the more commonly used polyurethane laminate (PUL) because it is recyclable, while PUL is not.
• I do all of the work in my home and I buy green energy through my local green power program.
• As a member of Sustainable Connections, I have taken the Watershed Pledge to protect local water quality.

Where do the materials come from?

• Except for the thread and soft structure Tyvek, all of the materials I use are reclaimed and second-hand.
• I barter for clothing that is fatally storn or stained but still has a lot of good usable material, and i get scraps from other seamsters.
• I also shop at thrift stores and yard sales for second-hand yardage.
• Most of the organic and hemp materials are scraps from Texture Clothing.

Are the pads made by a WAHM?

Yes. Well, if the M stands for mammal. I do make the pads in my own home but I don't have kids.

Who's Amy?

It's just a name!

My name is Laura. I started Amy's Rag Bag in the spring of 2008.

Charity

I give 10% of the purchase price of non-discounted items to Huru International. Huru provides cloth pads to girls in Africa so that they can attend school while they have their periods. They also provode local sustainable employment for African women by hiring them to make the pads. Here is Huru's blog post about our contributions.