For one semester, I went to a hippie college.

Why did I do this? Well, two reasons. Reason A) I consider myself a hippie-at-heart. I have fun at bonfires and like to sing with a group around a guitar, enjoy spending time without shoes and could never work in an office for 8 hours. Reason B) I only applied to two colleges out of high school, and when the Ivy League didn’t accept me, I had one other option.

(I was an idiot. It’s okay. You can say it.)

Anyway, before I quickly transferred to the small, expensive, 2nd Tier liberal arts college I eventually graduated from, I spent 4 months in the company of some of the hippiest hippies I’ve ever known. We’re talking unshaven legs, militant vegans, classrooms filled with the stench of marijuana, and professors who were actually surprised when you did your work. I had a few great classes and learned to love 9 grain bread, but by October break it was painfully obvious I didn’t belong.

One of the events at Hippie College that I’ll always carry with me was the attempted conversion from tampons to menstrual cup a few girls on my floor waged on me. It’s so much better for you and the environment! They said, standing so close I could smell the patchouli they bathed in. It’s easy! Comfortable! You don’t even feel it!

They never convinced me, but were able to coerce a few other girls on the floor to try it, many of whom decided to throw away their tampons forever.

The DivaCup is the most recent “natural tampon” to hit the market. Its website claims natural menstrual cups were invented in the 1930’s, and all they’ve done is updated the model, made it “super comfortable”, and gotten it FDA approved.

“Since The DivaCup is reusable, it is very economical.” The website claims, “As well, you can feel confident that you are doing your part in environmental conservation. Landfill and pollution problems are on the rise and continue to be a worldwide concern. In 1998, 7 billion tampons and 13 billion sanitary pads and their packaging made their way into landfills and sewage systems in the USA alone!”

The plastic funnel is inserted just like a tampon, completely eliminating the need for a pad, and only has to be changed twice a day. The downside? You have to wash it out each time.

Have any of you lovelies ever tried something like this? Do you think those dread loving hippie girls really had a point? Or are you all set with your Stayfree?