Darner Design – making a change

Imagine having to miss school or work for days every month because you lack access to period products. This is the reality for millions of women and girls worldwide, who are fighting a silent battle against period poverty. Jenny Lazebnik, founder of Darner Design, decided it was time to speak up and make a change not only for women but for the planet with her reusable period products.

For women and the planet

Period poverty is the inability to access or afford hygienic period products, clean water, sanitation, or education about menstrual health. This affects 500 million people globally. But even in the Netherlands, 400,000 people couldn’t afford period products sometime this year.  Women and children have to resort to unsafe alternatives like toilet paper, newspapers or old fabric, risking serious health issues, or they are forced to miss school or work. Period poverty is not just about products and facilities, but also the lack of education, awareness, and a culture of shame and taboo around menstruation.

Using single-use period products means needing new products every month, which comes at both a financial and environmental cost. Many disposable pads contain up to 90% plastic and take hundreds of years to break down. A person who menstruates will use and dispose of between 5.000 and 15.000 pads and tampons in their life, which doesn’t even include packaging yet.

Jenny is a researcher at Wageningen Environmental Research and the founder of Darner Design, a company that makes reusable period products. With a PhD in entomology and her passion for nature and insects, she is regularly confronted with the realities of environmental degradation. Alongside her scientific work, she finds joy in making things by hand, especially through sewing. Fittingly, the word “darner” means both to mend with thread and refers to a type of dragonfly, symbolising the union of repair, nature, and creativity at the heart of her work.

Reusable period products

Darner Design’s products are simple, easy to use and good for skin. The reusable period pads’ fabric has functional parts: an organic cotton top and underside that works against odours, an inner network of fibres that absorbs and prevents leaks, and a waterproof PUL element that ensures dryness. Most importantly, the products do not contain any harmful substances, which are often found in disposable menstrual products, such as glysophate, PFAS, and heavy metals.

The Darner Design pads can be worn the same way as single-use pads. But instead of throwing them away, they are washed with the rest of your laundry and are ready to use again.

Darner Design’s journey

Darner Design started at Jenny’s home. Having tried menstrual underwear and looking for a solution that might be more comfortable —and worn with any of her underwear — Jenny decided to design a reusable pad for herself. She scoured the internet for the right materials (that had all the qualities of absorbency and waterproofness without any of the harmful stuff), found just what she needed, and it worked!  After many prototypes and testing, a reusable pad was born that was both absorbent and waterproof and fit most undies! After having plenty of leftover material, she decided to sew more pads.

She brought her pads to a ‘MaakFesitval’ in Groningen, stirring up conversation. Here, Jenny learned about period poverty and its impact. It was never her plan to become an entrepreneur, but this was the moment she realised she could make a real social impact with her reusable period products. And thus, Darner Design was born. One size of pads turned into four, reusable lunch wraps and lunch bags got added as well. And she is still designing new products.

Darner Design grew into something bigger for Jenny. It was no longer just about the product, but about the message and creating a movement. “Making an impact means making a difference.  To make a difference in people’s lives and for the planet. It is not just about creating awareness, but about creating behavioural change. That is impact.”

Creating impact together

Change is made in collaborations. Darner Design partnered up with foundations, such as het Armoedefonds, Zero Waste Nederland, Zero Waste Apeldoorn, and a women’s shelter in India. With the help of donations and subsidies, Darner Design products are donated to places like shelters in the Netherlands.

To create more impact, Jenny contacted StartHub Wageningen for advice regarding her options. StartHub enrolled Darner Design in an external programme that assisted her in taking the next step. She collaborated with three other companies. They received a subsidy and developed a new product chain together. This has opened many doors for Darner Design. One of the partners, Fraenck, took over some production. With the subsidy, more materials could be purchased at once, which had not been possible before. This enables Darner Design to produce more pads, thereby reaching more people and companies and reducing even more waste.

Darner Design stands before a big challenge. It’s not just about the products and accessibility, but about changing the culture around periods itself. There is so much embedded shame about and around periods. Jenny wants to change this culture, from one of shame to one of empowerment. With Darner Design, Jenny wants to create better access to period products, prevent waste from single-use products, and change the culture around periods and reusable products.

Everyone can make a difference, and with a small step every day, change is made. That is Jenny’s dream: to inspire everyday choices that nurture both our well-being and the earth we all share.