As the climate and waste crises intensify, one of the most overlooked contributors to environmental degradation is also among the most personal: menstrual care. Every year, billions of pads and tampons—many laced with plastics and toxic chemicals—are discarded, leaving behind microplastics that persist for generations.
According to the BBC, 49 billion single-use period products are used every year in Europe alone, and in the US, about 20 billion are discarded each year, generating 240,000 tonnes of solid waste. Globally, disposable sanitary pads—which can contain up to 90% plastic and largely end up in landfills—are the most commonly used menstrual product. Other researchshows that disposable pads are estimated to take 500 to 800 years to break down, and materials such as plastics never truly biodegrade in a landfill. This is of major concern given that each menstruator will use and dispose of between 5,000 and 15,000 pads and tampons in their lifetime. Despite this mounting evidence of the ecological and health dangers of conventional products, the feminine hygiene industry has been slow to reform, held back by entrenched norms and legacy corporate interests.
Enter Susie Hewson, a pioneering voice who has been challenging this status quo for over three decades. After watching a documentary that revealed the environmental toll of chlorine bleaching in pulp production, Hewson, already engaged in environmental conservation, launched a personal campaign that gave rise to Natracare in 1989. At a time when conversations around the health and ecological impact of period products were nearly nonexistent, Hewson brought to the forefront the dangers of dioxins, synthetic fibers and microplastics.
Natracare emerged as the world’s first organic and plastic-free menstrual care brand. It was a deliberate, values-driven response to both ecological harm and the disregard for women’s health in product design. The company’s approach has long predated recent trends in ethical consumerism, with innovations like certified organic cotton tampons, biodegradable applicators and totally chlorine-free processes. Now, as a certified B Corp, Natracare continues to push the industry by proving that it is possible to scale a business rooted in environmental stewardship and human health.
Hewson’s journey, from reimagining her career in her mid-thirties to taking on global giants in the period products industry, highlights the role small but principled companies can play in correcting market failures—where the social and environmental costs of mainstream products are offloaded onto communities and ecosystems. In doing so, Natracare doesn’t just provide a better product; it also offers a powerful case study in how to rebalance business incentives around true sustainability.
Christopher Marquis: Susie, you restarted your career at 34. What triggered you to do that, and how did you come up with the idea behind Natracare?
Susie Hewson: There is a natural instinct I quickly rediscovered as a mother of two children under three with respect to reasonable concerns for the future of the world they would inherit. I had been involved in nature conservation, so it was easy for me to react to a documentary exposing how the pulping industry was polluting our water, air and soils with its carcinogenic byproducts of dioxins and furans generated by the commonly used chlorine bleaching processes.
That triggered my personal campaign to raise awareness of the negative ecological and health impacts of the tampon and pad brands of the time that dominated global markets; it was the start of the journey out of which Natracare was born in 1989 in the UK. Driven out of respect for nature and serious concern for women’s health, I set about informing and educating consumers—and hopefully also manufacturers—on the positive value of using only organic and plant-based materials in period products and changing to environmentally benign, totally chlorine-free processes.
I also needed to highlight and challenge the common use of oil-based fibres and polyacrylates, both of which release damaging microplastics into nature. These raw materials were—and to a major extent still are—used in many brands of absorbent pads, tampons and wipes. Science has now consistently demonstrated just how permanently damaging their impacts continue to be in our oceans and soils as well as their contribution to air pollution.
Certified organic cotton as a fibre of choice was important to me in order to make a point and show best practice as well as highlight the devastating impact on the environment and agricultural workers (mostly women) of the use of pesticides, fungicides and herbicides in agriculture. Organic is superior in so many ways to synthetics and plastics, and organic has full consideration for the rights and well-being of growers and processors.
I aggressively questioned the status quo through campaigning for safer processing and the use of organic and nature-derived raw materials, as well as raising the issues we women had with the use of synthetic fibers and plastics in tampons and disposable pads. As we entered the 1990s, my campaign gathered momentum and broad support in the USA and Canada as well, and that led to Natracare creating a challenger campaign and a whole new category of period products.
Marquis: What is your background? What were you pursuing before Natracare came into being?
Hewson: I graduated from art school in London as a graphic designer in 1975. I worked for various private and state companies over the years, then moved to Sweden in 1979 to study Swedish and weaving. There I did a lot of trekking and skiing, and I became an accomplished weaver. I went back to university in 1981 to complete a master’s in education. I taught 11- to 18-year-olds in the UK for a few years, in art and design (and, when required, major sports).
In 1985, I moved to Vancouver for love, swapped my cross-country skis for alpines, and used my other university qualifications to teach fitness and AquaFit. In 1986, carrying my first child, I returned to the UK and set up my own fitness franchise teaching all variations of fitness, including AquaFit. This was my introduction to writing a business plan and running a business. It was mid-1988 when my plans to create my own menstrual hygiene brand started to flow.
Marquis: At the core of your business, you are all about revolutionizing period care. Could you elaborate more on how you are doing that?
Hewson: First, there is knowledge, and then there is design for change.
In the United States alone, approximately 12 billion pads and 7 billion tampons are discarded each year. While many of these products end up in a landfill, others clog sewers or contribute to the staggering amount of microplastics in our oceans.
Natracare revolutionized period care by becoming the first 100% cotton tampon since the 1940s, the first certified organic 100% cotton tampons, as well as the first totally chlorine-free, certified compostable range of products—saying “absolutely no” to the pernicious flow of microplastics into our oceans.
Marquis: Becoming the world’s first organic period care brand didn’t come easy, so what were some challenges you faced while setting up your business and how did you overcome them?
Hewson: Getting start-up capital was impossible then. Imagine asking a bank for a loan to stand up against the largest and most powerful brands in the feminine hygiene industry—and me a woman to boot. No one shared my courage or tenacity, and I definitely suspected there were a few ounces of chauvinism and prejudice behind those desks as well. I had to get a loan against the value of my house to get started.
Over the years, as I have become well known in my sector—and as values have changed for the better, I hope—I am no longer asked whose personal secretary I am!
Marquis: Natracare is now B-Corp certified. Can you describe the certification process and how it has influenced your company’s practices and priorities?
Hewson: On January 16, 2025, we announced that Natracare’s parent company, Bodywise (UK) Ltd, had achieved B Corp certification, a designation that recognizes Natracare’s commitment to social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability—principles the company has held since our inception in 1989.
To become a B Corp, companies must meet rigorous standards measured across five key areas: Governance, Workers, Community, Environment and Customers. Under the auspices of our parent company, Natracare’s achievement in this comprehensive evaluation showcases our continuous dedication to making a positive impact.
One of the key areas of impact for Natracare remains plastic education and reduction. According to our research, we’ve found that, on average, there are 36 grams of plastic in every pack of traditional period pads that enters the market. That’s 2.4 grams of plastic per pad, and 2.5 grams for the outer package itself. This equates to the equivalent of five plastic carrier bags per pack of period care under the industry’s traditional manufacturing practices.
Under Natracare’s plastic-free manufacturing parameters, in the past year alone, we have sold 5,444,330 packs of plastic-free period pads, resulting in an estimated 432,096 pounds of plastic saved. That’s landing around the average weight of two blue whales, whose marine environment our campaigns seek to keep pristine.
By producing certified industrially compostable products, Natracare is keeping crude oil out of our products and operations—and keeping crude oil plastics out of landfills or from being produced in the first place. Additionally, by using biodegradable cardboard applicators instead of plastic ones, we have prevented 11 million plastic applicators from being flushed or from entering landfills.
Marquis: Growing your business along with some leading competing brands isn’t easy. How are you balancing growth and expansion plans along with empowering your workforce to be a part of your long-term vision?
Hewson: As a founding company that remains true to the principles defined in our Environmental and Ethical Policy—specifically in a marketplace drenched with greenwashing—Natracare has been steadfast in our commitment to truth and transparency, out of respect for the importance and values of our campaign objectives. We do not chase dollar gaps in the marketplace, but instead, we direct our focus to designing and producing products which address real health and ecological concerns.
Our team members have been drawn to working for Natracare because they have seen that our company values reflect their values. We have a few of our staff who have been with us for more than 20 years, many upwards of eight years and a few knocking on 12 years.
In addition to earning respect, empowerment is about the development of skills and opportunities. There may be more competing brands out there today as investor-led power-ups see their opportunities in this arena, but we are confident that our deep commitment to women’s health, meaningful growth and nature-friendly solutions is the pinnacle we alone stand upon.
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