Promoting better sanitary waste disposal

At just 25 years of age, Wangechi Kamau, had already served her time in the corporate world and known that it wasn’t a good fit for her. She could have gone into the arts and pursued her love for drawing, singing and playing the drum and guitar fulltime, but she felt more strongly about how women dispose used sanitary pads and tampons during their periods. She was tired of seeing the thoughtless way in which this waste was disposed, even where sanitary bins were present.

“I felt strongly about this. Toilets involve a lot of contact with your hands and sanitary products carry blood and body fluids, meaning they carry a lot of pathogens,” she says.

This, she learnt after doing some research, led to eye, respiratory and skin infections among cleaners who don’t always have masks and gloves when cleaning women’s toilets. The carelessly-thrown pads also posed an environmental risk when disposed in garbage sites. She wanted to change the way women got rid of this monthly waste.

“It was a need people didn’t even know they had. The considerate ones usually wrap used pads in toilet paper, newspapers or the wrapper they bought the pads in, but with these methods, you can’t fasten wrapper so it unravels easily,” she says.

With this problem in mind, Wangechi came up with a solution: a sanitary disposal bag that women can stash their used pads into for a more hygienic disposal that not only concealed the eyesore, but also masked the odour and reduced human contact for other public bathroom users and the cleaning staff. She named the bag Lady Grace. “Lady” for the title earned out of respect for how a woman carries herself, and “grace” in reference to polite, clean and proper mannerisms.

The white portable bags look like micro-shopping bags which are sealable for hygienic and discreet disposal of sanitary waste. She got the inspiration for her product from hotels that provide female guests with a bag a day to put their used sanitary towels in.

“Normally, if the used pads touch the sides of the receptacle and someone touches it, they could get infections. Also there’s some rot that occurs and this could fill the bathroom with a foul odour when you open the receptacle to dispose yours. The pad could also stick to the lid due to the gluey substance on its bottom, which means someone else would see it when they open the disposal bin. However, with the bag, all these problems are solved,” says Wangechi.

Despite having an international relations major, with a minor in French and criminal justice from the United States International University-Africa, the 2013 graduate interned at a bank’s marketing department. She got absorbed into the bank soon after the internship, but she had no plans of staying. She worked there for a year while researching on her business, then left to start Lady Grace. 

RIGHT DESIGN

 “As a greenhorn, I knew I needed work experience and contacts which I got from interacting with lots of entrepreneurs who were supplying the bank with various products and services.”

When Wangechi finally went into business, she used her savings and a loan from her supportive parents, to raise the Sh800, 000 she needed to get her project off the ground. She enlisted a designer to work on the logo and packaging. However, though she embarked on the venture immediately after quitting her job just over a year ago, she only began sales slightly over a month ago.

 “I thought I would leave work and have this product in the market by March last year, but the lengthy process of getting permits and approvals caused delays,” she explains.

Patenting the design took her five weeks. It also took her a long time to find a manufacturer for her bag because of its small size. The company that would eventually take up the work would have to invest in machines that could cut bags in the size she wanted. In turn, she had to make a bulk order for the bags to make financial sense to the manufacturers.

After that, getting the right design from the manufacturers was another time-consuming effort. The bags are made of high-density polythene, then they are printed by a different person. She then assembles them at her house, which doubles up as her workshop, using industrial adhesive. Apart from herself, she has one employee to assist with the work.

For the time being, she is using the word-of-mouth approach to market her bags as she tries to get supermarkets and other retailers to stock them.

She is currently working on her next batch of bags which will be scented and made from biodegradable material as well as have anti-bacterial agents for more hygiene. For this, she’ll use a supplier she has identified in the United Kingdom.

Wangechi hopes that her bags, will become the disposable bag of choice for all Kenyan women in the near future and that all public bathrooms for women will have these bags as an essential item alongside toilet paper and hand-washing soap.

Wangechi’s tips:

1. Entrepreneurship is not an escape from employment. It is about finding a solution to a problem or filling a gap you have identified.
2. It will take some time and on-the-job lessons to figure out how the business world works. Do not rush things because if you do, you might make costly mistakes.
3. Entrepreneurship is a solitary journey. Keep the company of people who have walked this path before or those who are in the same stage as you are. They’ll understand what you are going through and you will learn a lot from them as they will from you.
4. Take pride in your business. It will drain you emotionally, physically and financially, but let the rewards that await your effort keep you going.