2023-12-20 19:01:47
(Photo: 123RF)
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WAKE-UP-MORNING. The days when cleaning your menstrual cup was a high-flying task in organizations where bathrooms do not have a sink in each toilet cubicle are soon over: at the Polytechnique, a group of students have developed a method that allows you to thoroughly rinse this little device in complete privacy and safety.
The good news? This system is within the reach of many companies.
In fact, the small basin adjacent to the bowl is neither specially machined nor specially designed to rinse the menstrual cup: it is a tiny sink that can be purchased at a hardware store.
“In the design and development phase, we thought regarding installing a bidet that might be directly plugged into the toilet water system,” explains the instigator of the project, Hugo Le Moël, a doctoral student in biomedical engineering and head of orchestra of the project. The simplest solution was to use a very small sink that we would put next to the toilet.”
The idea of developing such a prototype came to him while he was listening to his partner tell him regarding the headache that the simple task of cleaning and reinserting this device in shared bathrooms can represent.
Unlike tampons or sanitary napkins, menstrual cups are reusable, making them a more environmentally friendly and economical alternative. If it is possible to wear it for up to 12 hours, specialized manufacturers like Ms. Lovary recommend “emptying it every 4 to 6 hours (sic) depending on your flow, in order to avoid the risks linked to toxic shock”.
Thanks to a team from PolyFab Normand Brais – a manufacturing workshop at the Polytechnique – at the Office of Sustainable and Societal Development and the University Buildings Department, this discreet solution was installed in a cabin in the main pavilion of the establishment to “facilitate the use of menstrual cups”.
The lucky one was selected because a lukewarm drinking water pipe was easily accessible, explains the student: “we made a connection on the pipe which carried the water to the sink, because it is lukewarm, which is better.”
He also plans to add a soap dispenser designed specifically to clean them.
The success of the pilot project is such that Hugo Le Moël will meet at the beginning of next year with the Campus Development Office so that in the design of future buildings, such sinks are de facto integrated into the cabins.
Ultimately, he hopes that in each bathroom at the University of Montreal at least one cubicle will be converted so that anyone who wishes to clean their menstrual cup safely and peacefully can do so. “That might be more complicated,” he admits.
An (almost) simple installation
Adapting a bathroom in a workplace to avoid employees having to worry regarding cleaning the menstrual cup is therefore within the reach of all companies.
For those who wish to follow suit, he recommends first doing business with an engineering firm so that the work complies with building standards.
It will also be necessary to ensure that the person responsible for housekeeping cleans the device well, and adds soap specially designed for cuts if this product is offered.
The rest is not rocket science, but does not come without cost.
Hugo Le Moël’s project did not exceed the $5,000 budget that he and his team had set thanks to help from the university’s Fund for Sustainable Initiatives.
However, the bill might have been much higher if he had chosen to convert another existing toilet cubicle, underlines the doctoral student in biomedical engineering: “at the beginning we wanted to do it in the Lassonde pavilion, but the costs increased. quickly rose to more than $10,000, because there was a lot of work to do to break the wall and make connections, and painting, which would have involved quite a few shifts from different trades in the school.”
However, a priori, if the device is included in the design of a bathroom, he does not believe that it adds such a significant amount. A seemingly innocuous gesture that can save employees a lot of headaches.
To telework or not to telework, this is the question that is causing turmoil in many companies at the start of the 2023 school year.
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