Sustainable hygiene product launches in Australia

Heather McIlvaine

19th May 2017

UK-based feminine hygiene brand FabLittleBag has just launched Down Under, operating its own e-commerce website and partnering with online retailer The Well Nest.

Created by Martha Silcott in 2015, FabLittleBag is a 100 per cent biodegradable bag designed to make it easier for women to dispose of tampons and pads.

Currently, most women have two options for disposal: wrap items in toilet paper and bin them, or flush them. However, neither of these is ideal. (Flushed tampons can block sewage systems and pollute waterways.)

Silcott’s solution is an opaque bag that can be opened with one hand and sealed for discreet disposal, which comes in handy when there’s no bin in the bathroom.

As taboo-busting brands like Thinx have put periods in the media spotlight in recent years, FabLittleBag is riding the wave to international success.

Aussie entrepreneur Rebecca Park purchased the rights to distribute the product Down Under, where interest has been driven primarily through word-of-mouth marketing.

Park is now looking to ramp up sales through a local e-commerce offering and retail partnerships.

“The obvious retail partner for me was Priceline, but that’s proved to be a little more difficult than I had anticipated,” she told Internet Retailing.

“Bricks-and-mortar retail is a little bit old school. I’m finding the online world much more willing to embrace new products faster,” she said.

Brisbane-based online retailer The Well Nest is the first Australian retailer to stock FabLittleBag.

“Being able to range a product that’s beneficial to women’s health and the environment is something we couldn’t wait to be a part of,” The Well Nest founder Valeria Ramirez said.

Park said the arrival of Amazon in Australia is also “particularly interesting”, since Amazon is one of the main vehicles for FabLittleBag in Europe and the US.

Park’s ultimate goal is to make it as easy as possible for Australian women to buy the product, which “solves a whole lot of problems I didn’t know I had”.

“I came across articles about the pollution that flushed tampons cause, especially around the coastal areas in Queensland. It’s really bad environmentally, but a lot of city dwellers don’t know about it,” she said.

“There’s been a big push lately to be able to talk about these things. There’s been a taboo around it [periods], but once you open up the conversation, the awkwardness is gone.”

Park expects FabLittleBag to be popular at music festivals, outdoor events, or in other situations where sanitary disposal options might be compromised, as well as for everyday use.