Yorkshire Water

Period products are one of the leading causes of blockages each year in Yorkshire with 39% having flushed a sanitary product down the toilet at least once.

From September 2024, Yorkshire Water will be delivering an education program to a number of secondary schools across the county. They’ll be talking to students about where to find period products, highlighting the benefits of choosing sustainable options and giving them the knowledge on how to use them.

By partnering with Hey Girls, they’ll also be handing out free product packs so students can try reusable products at home – if they want to. The education sessions will cover period health, product care, and alternatives to flushing single-use period products.

The need

Through our partnership with Hey Girls we’re able to provide education on alternatives to single use products. By handing out sustainable, reusable period
products and having a space to talk about the problems caused by flushing single use products we hope to be able to reduce the number of blockages caused by period products.

The impact

Rachel Lee, a governor at Crawshaw Academy expressed her gratitude at having
been involved in our pilot: “We’re really thankful to Yorkshire Water and Hey Girls for this opportunity. Providing students with sustainable choices is crucial and ensures our PHSE curriculum stays relevant. We hope other schools will take advantage of this initiative.”

After running a successful pilot last year, the positive feedback from teachers and students inspired us to expand the program. We were shocked by how many school days were lost due to issues around period dignity and anxiety. By teaming up with Hey Girls, we’re introducing students to eco-friendly, reusable period products. This helps reduce the number of period products flushed away and potentially blocking our sewer system.

Nicola Shaw, Yorkshire Water CEO