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This New York City official is changing tampon access in 3 bold ways.

Most states tax tampons as luxury items. But now, New York City Council members are fighting back.

Unless you're a character in a Judy Blume novel, getting your period is rarely an event met with elation.

Most people who menstruate take it in stride. It's a normal bodily function, and it's usually manageable, especially if you have access to the period products you need (tampons, pads, menstrual cups, ibuprofen ... the occasional heating pad and chocolate bar).

Right there with ya, Tina. GIF from "30 Rock."

But for many women, that access isn't a given.

Women who get their periods while homeless, in jail or prison, or at school often don't have access to tampons or pads when they need them.

And even folks who can stop by the store and pick up a box of tampons on the regular pay a "luxury tax" tacked onto their purchase in most states. That can really add up — especially if you're living paycheck to paycheck.

Here's the good news: New York City Council members are teaming up to fight back against this tax and lack of access in some awesome ways.

Council member Julissa Ferreras-Copeland is leading the charge.

Ferreras-Copeland in action, via her Facebook page, used with permission.

According to The Atlantic, Ferreras-Copeland got involved after she read an op-ed about the tampon tax in The New York Times and decided to talk to the author, Jennifer Weiss-Wolf from the Brennan Center for Justice.

"After meeting with Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, who shared with me what she had written about the tax, I thought, 'OK, what can I do from a municipal level?'" Ferreras-Copeland told Upworthy.

Their conversation prompted Ferreras-Copeland to hold a roundtable in June, where she heard from advocates for homeless, incarcerated, and low-income women and girls.

“I couldn’t believe I could just go to a lawmaker with an idea and have her listen and do something about it,” Weiss-Wolf told The Atlantic. “That should be how government works.

Based on this, Ferreras-Copeland has a few big plans for the women of New York.

1. She launched a hugely successful initiative that put free tampons and pads in every girls bathroom in a Queens high school, and she wants to take it citywide.


We put toilet paper in bathrooms for free. Why not tampons? Image from Wikimedia Commons.

"Many [female students] found themselves cutting class or leaving school [after getting their period], where young men don't even have to think about this as a challenge in their school day," Ferreras-Copeland said.

Her pilot program provided pads and tampons to the school, keeping the school's bathrooms well stocked, for free. "[The pilot program] was so well received. The parents also very much supported it. The young girls thought, 'Wow, this is such a simple solution.' They could just be normal students— focused on their midterms, focused on their finals," she said.

2. She's drafting a package of legislation about period product access.

"There are many women out there that are struggling," Ferreras-Copeland said. "They have to decide between putting food on the table and being healthy and keeping their bodies healthy."

Her three proposed bills would make tampons and pads available for free in New York City's shelters, correctional facilities, and public schools.

3. She's also planning to introduce a resolution that calls on the New York state assembly to get rid of the luxury tax on pads and tampons altogether.

Thankfully, New York City isn't the only place where tampons and pads may soon become more accessible. Several other states, including California and Ohio, are considering eliminating taxes on feminine hygiene products, too. The New York Times is even calling for an end to the tampon tax altogether.

What can we all do personally? Keep talking about periods and why everyone deserves to experience them with dignity. Change happens when people choose to ignore stigma and speak out.

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Easy (and free!) ways to save the ocean

The ocean is the heart of our planet. It needs our help to be healthy.

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Volunteers at a local shoreline cleanup

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The ocean covers over 71% of the Earth’s surface and serves as our planet’s heart. Ocean currents circulate vital heat, moisture, and nutrients around the globe to influence and regulate our climate, similar to the human circulatory system. Cool, right?

Our ocean systems provide us with everything from fresh oxygen to fresh food. We need it to survive and thrive—and when the ocean struggles to function healthfully, the whole world is affected.

Pollution, overfishing, and climate change are the three biggest challenges preventing the ocean from doing its job, and it needs our help now more than ever. Humans created the problem; now humans are responsible for solving it.

#BeOceanWise is a global rallying cry to do what you can for the ocean, because we need the ocean and the ocean needs us. If you’re wondering how—or if—you can make a difference, the answer is a resounding YES. There are a myriad of ways you can help, even if you don’t live near a body of water. For example, you can focus on reducing the amount of plastic you purchase for yourself or your family.

Another easy way to help clean up our oceans is to be aware of what’s known as the “dirty dozen.” Every year, scientists release an updated list of the most-found litter scattered along shorelines. The biggest culprit? Single-use beverage and food items such as foam cups, straws, bottle caps, and cigarette butts. If you can’t cut single-use plastic out of your life completely, we understand. Just make sure to correctly recycle plastic when you are finished using it. A staggering 3 million tons of plastic ends up in our oceans annually. Imagine the difference we could make if everyone recycled!

The 2022 "Dirty Dozen" ListOcean Wise

If you live near a shoreline, help clean it up! Organize or join an effort to take action and make a positive impact in your community alongside your friends, family, or colleagues. You can also tag @oceanwise on social if you spot a beach that needs some love. The location will be added to Ocean Wise’s system so you can submit data on the litter found during future Shoreline Cleanups. This data helps Ocean Wise work with businesses and governments to stop plastic pollution at its source. In Canada, Ocean Wise data helped inform a federal ban on unnecessary single-use plastics. Small but important actions like these greatly help reduce the litter that ends up in our ocean.

Ocean Wise, a conservation organization on a mission to restore and protect our oceans, is focused on empowering and educating everyone from individuals to governments on how to protect our waters. They are making conservation happen through five big initiatives: monitoring and protecting whales, fighting climate change and restoring biodiversity, innovating for a plastic-free ocean, protecting and restoring fish stocks, and finally, educating and empowering youth. The non-profit believes that in order to rebuild a resilient and vibrant ocean within the next ten years, everyone needs to take action.

Become an Ocean Wise ally and share your knowledge with others. The more people who know how badly the ocean needs our help, the better! Now is a great time to commit to being a part of something bigger and get our oceans healthy again.

Joy

Teen with a fishing magnet found a safe full of cash. And then he returned it all to its owner.

The safe was stolen 22 years ago.

via Wikimedia Commons

It's incredible what a double-sided magnet can do.


A new trend in treasure hunting called magnet fishing has blown up over the past two years, evidenced by an explosion of YouTube channels covering the hobby. Magnet fishing is a pretty simple activity. Hobbyists attach high-powered magnets to strong ropes, drop them into waterways and see what they attract.

The hobby has caught the attention of law enforcement and government agencies because urban waterways are a popular place for criminals to drop weapons and stolen items after committing a crime. In 2019, a magnet fisherman in Michigan pulled up an antique World War I mortar grenade and the bomb squad had to be called out to investigate.


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'Batman' expert has the perfect explanation for saying 'gay' at a Georgia school assembly

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Author Mark Tyler Nobleman and Batman and Robin.

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Opponents believe these bills marginalize LGBTQ individuals by fostering stigma and potentially infringing on teachers' ability to openly address students' questions or experiences.

Currently, 11 states have banned LGBTQ discussion in public schools, and 5 require parental consent.

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Researchers dumped tons of coffee waste into a forest. This is what it looks like now.

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As a soccer match between German teams Preussen Munster and Würzburger Kickers went into its final minutes, a defender from the Kickers, 23-year-old Leroy Kwadwo, stopped to point out a problem in the stands.

A Munster fan was making monkey noises at Kwadwo, a black player of Ghanaian descent. It was a clearly racist heckling—an issue that has publicly plagued the international sport in various venues, even as recently as last week. But this time, the response from the crowd far outshined the racist in the stands.

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Women are shocking their boyfriends by showing them how tampons actually work

The viral videos are a great way to educate men on a sensitive topic.

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Menstrual taboos are as old as time and found across cultures. They've been used to separate women from men physically — menstrual huts are still a thing — and socially, by creating the perception that a natural bodily function is a sign of weakness.

Even in today's world women are deemed unfit for positions of power because some men actually believe they won't be able to handle stressful situations while mensurating.

"Menstruation is an opening for attack: a mark of shame, a sign of weakness, an argument to keep women out of positions of power,' Colin Schultz writes in Popular Science.

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People are cracking up at hidden notes a couple left for future homeowners in their bathroom

"What's wrong with the way we did it?!?!?"

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The Shinsekis certainly had a sense of humor.

As anyone who has dipped their toe into home improvement waters knows, home remodeling is a mix of excitement and headaches. It's fun to freshen things up and make your own mark on your home, but when you're tearing out the old, you never know what you're going to find. Something toxic like asbestos or mold? Something cool like money or a box of treasures?

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