by Ruby Raut, CEO and Co-founder of the UK’s first period pants company
Ruby Raut
I have always had respect for nature and a passion for protecting our planet. Even when I was a child, I understood the importance of being sustainable. This was carried throughout my adult life, eventually leading me to establish WUKA, the UK’s first sustainable period pants company.
I was born in Nepal which was a fairly sustainable environment growing up. For instance, my menstrual products consisted of my mother’s old sari rags cut into small square pieces and made into a pad, and when we went grocery shopping, we’d pack everything into one bag - we didn’t have individual bags for each category of product. This experience growing up meant that I was very connected to nature and fine-tuned towards a sustainable lifestyle.
I migrated to the UK when I was 20 years old where I completed a course on Environmental Science at The Open University. I wanted to study at a place that is not only open to people and ideas, but also produces more CEOs and MDs than any other UK university. Choosing a university that aligns with my values has been important to my success and that’s why I am proud to support the OU’s new research focus – Learn and Live – which will pursue research in sustainability, inequality and ‘living well’.
My studies opened my eyes even further to the damage that humans cause to nature. After I graduated, I was determined to find a job related to my degree so I could make more of an impact on our planet, though this was quite a struggle. Taking matters into my own hands, I gained work experience volunteering and developed my very first sustainable business idea in my spare time - a curriculum to teach children about food waste.
Growing up, we didn’t have a bin in our house, so it was innate to consider how to purchase products with the least amount of waste possible. However, I noticed that the sentiment around food waste in the UK was different, sparking my intrigue into educating children about the implications of food waste and its impacts on nature. I pitched my idea to Sainsbury's where it received funding for a year and was taught to over 4,500 children. This project was my first venture into entrepreneurship. After completing it, I began touring around other schools to raise awareness and educate students about environmental issues, one of which was period products.
There is a huge taboo and stigma around periods which is still ongoing in some ways. Women tend to suffer in silence and often find it difficult to speak about what's going on with their bodies. The reality is, even if you’re a millionaire you’ll still use the same period products as someone doing a warehouse shift. They are a product of necessity - they serve so much more than just being a ‘period product’. Period products means that unity and inclusivity can exist at the same time by bringing people together and using products that will save the planet.
Young girls at the schools I was visiting showed a lot of uncertainty and lack of understanding around periods and reusable menstruation products in particular. It was clear that a lot of education and confidence needed to be instilled within them. The last thing any woman needs to worry about is how to use a product, whether it will work or if it's safe, so I intended to make the most comfortable, simplistic, and sustainable period product on the market.
With WUKA confidently up and running, I am very proud of the brand receiving the Queen’s Award for Sustainable development this year. From my small town in Nepal, through education from the OU and looking up to role models like David Attenborough, I feel very humbled to continue working towards a more sustainable future.
The OU’s new survey revealed that young people consider sustainability and the environment, inequality of opportunity and health and wellbeing as the societal challenges that concern them most. It’s refreshing to see that young people care about sustainability as much as I do. This gives me hope for the future that we’ll continue to preserve our planet where humans and nature can thrive.