Tsuno is a brand of bamboo pads and organic cotton tampons. Roz, the Founder, of Tsuno is driven by social change; you quickly realise she has founded this brand with strong ethics and values and is driven to make a difference.
Roz is an industrial designer by trade and education and one of those creative folks always looking to push the boundaries. Five years ago Roz discovered the menstrual cup and suddenly started taking a strong interest in how women manage their monthly periods and the options available. She quickly saw two issues.
Firstly the options of pads and tampons available to women use harsh chemicals, cotton that has been sprayed with pesticides and then bleached with chlorine and the amount of plastic used in them was horrific, we are putting these on, or in, our bodies.
Secondly Roz learnt more about the dire conditions that girls and women in developing countries have to deal with everyday when they have their period. They resort to using rags, paper and even bark. They end up missing school and drop out.
So Roz wanted to make a difference and created Tsuno. Tsuno is named after Yoko Tsuno, an old cartoon character who was the epitome of a competent woman. She was an engineer, a pilot, a scuba diver, amongst many other great things and nothing held her back.
Tsuno pushes the boundaries when it comes to pads and tampons. They create their pads and panty liners out of sustainable material. The pads are made from bamboo and corn fibre. Bamboo grows quickly and it is harvested by being cut, like grass, so it keeps growing. It is naturally pest resistant so no pesticides are needed to grow it. The structure of bamboo fibre is quite hollow so it is absorbent and a good material for sanitary pads. Tsuno have panty liners, regular pads and overnight pads.
Tsuno make their tampons out of certified organic cotton. The cotton is certified by the GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) ensuring you don't put harmful chemicals, pesticides and chlorine in your body. Available in mini, regular and super for heavy flow.
Tsuno donates 50% of net profits, which is pretty impressive, to charities helping to empower women in the developing world. Currently Tsuno donate to One Girl, who give education scholarships to girls in Sierra Leone and Uganda, and run an amazing menstrual hygiene program called Launch Pad.
Tsuno also work with Share the Dignity, Essentials for Women SA and the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre. In the last year more than 10000 boxes of pads have been donated to these organisations through the Tsuno website, from the generous public and matched donations from Tsuno.
All in all a socially driven business that we are proud to support. You can find Tsuno at Flora & Fauna here.
