In almost every women’s restroom at CRLS is a new kind of period product: Egal Pads On A Roll. Many feel that these new additions to the bathrooms are a step towards menstrual equity at the high school.
In a March 2023 interview, David Murphy, Chief Operations Officer for CPS, told the Register Forum about the prospect of a new period product. “There’s a company in Somerville called Equal Day. They came up with a product called Pads On A Roll. It’s basically pads, but they are on a roll just like toilet paper,” he described. “They are compact, and small so they can be installed in a stall. It gives students a lot more privacy when using the product.”
According to their website, Egal Pads On A Roll strives to ensure that all students have access to period products at school. “No one carries around toilet paper, so why should anyone have to carry around period products?” their website states. The company was started in 2019 after founder Tom Devlin read a Boston Globe article about pushing more accessible period products into public restrooms.
Out of 60 CRLS students surveyed by the Register Forum, over 81% of students have noticed the new dispensers in the restrooms, but only 36% have used them. Many cite that they typically bring their own products to school, or prefer other products over pads.
Many are wary of the new products due to their quality. Charity Rounds ’25 told the Register Forum, “I think they definitely went quantity over quality.” Others agree that the pads aren’t “thick enough for a heavy flow” and are “thin and flimsy.” Finn Graham ’25 told the Register Forum, “I’ve had friends who’ve used them and I know they’re not great.” He added that “they’re kind of too thin, and that’s been an issue for some of my friends who have heavier flows.” Nearly 40% of students surveyed by the Register Forum rated the overall quality of the Egal Pads a three out of five, with moderate coverage and decent absorbency.
Some wish the school had advertised the new products more, as many students interviewed by the Register Forum did not know they had been implemented. Aoife Shovlin ’25 told the Register Forum, “They kind of just appeared.” Deva DeCelis ’25, similarly stated, “I don’t think they did a good job promoting it.”
Others feel that despite implementing the new products, the school still does not do enough. “Just because there are new products, it does not mean they’re promoting more menstrual health equity,” said Labonna Dey ’25. “The pads usually run out anyway,” she said. DeCelis agreed, stating, “It took them too long to get to this point. If they really cared about promoting menstrual health, they would have done it earlier.”
Despite criticisms of the quality, many have found the products to be useful, and a step closer to equitable access to period products. “They have products in a lot of different places,” Graham ’25 described. “I think they are trying, and doing, better.”
This article also appears in our November 2023 print edition.
