From Sustainability to Impact & Giveback, to both Community & Company Culture and to Content (of course)...2022 was a blast! But it went by SO fast.
Here's a recap of all the fun that August Period Care had in our 2nd yr working to reimagine period care for ALL.
A note from our founders.
As a gift to all of you, for the next 24 hours - 40% sitewide!
Sustainability
Since the beginning, we’ve promised to be transparent and traceable – as the understanding of sustainability evolves, so will we.
Here are some of our sustainability wins from 2022:
We introduced PVA Wrappers for our pads!
- PVA stands for polyvinyl alcohol: a water-soluble synthetic polymer.
- We made the switch to BPI-certified compostable wrappers because being compostable means that the wrapper will break down into organic and nutrient rich materials in a municipal compost.
- Read more HERE!
We noticed our customers were buying pads in larger quantities, so we reflected that in our product box counts.
- We now offer boxes of 12 (instead of exclusively boxes of 4)
- This reduces packaging and therefore your environmental footprint.
This isn’t new in 2022 but DID YOU KNOW…
- August offers a subscription option of ‘every 3 months’ meaning that every 3 months you would receive 3 months worth of product.
- Better for the environment and for your budget!
2023 Sustainability Goals
Since the start of August, we’ve been committed to continually improving our sustainability efforts.
In 2023 we plan to increase the sustainability of our offerings and materials through product development of both new & current items. Some action items we have are:
- Reducing the overall materials we use on a per piece and per order basis
- Continuously increasing our transportation efficiencies
- Creating a formal 3-5 year sustainability plan for August’s environmental footprint.
In addition to these goals, we are excited to work on our sustainability language to align with definitions provided by verified environmental organizations working to combat climate change and innovate on solutions for our future.
Impact & Giveback
We believe that businesses have the responsibility to give back as they work to reimagine capitalism.
In 2022 we…
Handed out products in the ‘Menstrual Mobile’ with No More Secrets, MBS Inc. and continue to support them by donating August Period Care products all year long!
- Watch this TikTok about our day with them!
Participated in our second ever Thanksgiving Redistribution Pledge in an attempt to give back to Indigenous communities and spread the true history of this holiday.
- With your help, we raised over $15,000 to donate to The Kwek Society – an organization working to provide period supplies to Indigenous menstruators so that they feel dignified during their moontime.
- Read this for more education and further action about thanksgiving and how to amplify Indigenous voices.
Won 2 Shorty Awards for the ‘Loopholes Cereal’ campaign!
- Made in partnership with PERIOD., Free the Period, Ignite, No More Secrets and The Flow Initiative, and the plant-based cereal brand, OffLimits
- This campaign put the severity of period poverty on people’s radar and directly called on politicians and influencers to support the Menstrual Equity For All Act.
- We provided the period products and had so much fun making TikToks using the campaign jingle!
- It’s not too late to take action: support H.R.3614 – Menstrual Equity for All Act of 2021
Helped stock Period Products in more than 20 U.S. States!
- The August Advocates Program (AAP) now provides period care (and educational posters) to 60+ schools
- We can’t wait to connect with more of you – students or administrators – anyone can be an August Advocate.
- Nominate your school HERE
And last but not least, we launched our partnership with Beam!
- With each checkout on itsaugust.co, 1% of that purchase will be donated to 1 of 4 organizations of YOUR choice.
- Read all about their important work HERE, including addressing period poverty, providing gender affirming care and hormone therapy options, installing renewable energy sources, and cleaning up our oceans!
2023 Impact Goals
Next year, we hope to…
- Continue our monthly ‘Donation Days’ so that we can support other organizations working to end period poverty, educate about our bodies, and reimagine the menstrual experience for everyone.
- Connect with another 60 schools to be stocked with August’s environmentally conscious period products!
- And lastly, to partner with more amazing brands who align with our values and mission.
Who would you like to see us collab with?
Culture
With each year that passes, the August community grows. And for that – we are SO thankful!
EVERYTHING we do is for and by our community.
Seriously! Each product is made with your feedback in mind, each collab is meant to represent you, and all of our content is shared with the intention of empowering YOU to understand your body.
Our Inner Cycle community now welcomes 4,500+ members and in 2022 we…
- Hosted 45+ Medical board events
- Gathered for 3 in-person events, including our office-warming party at August HQ!
- Participated in over 100+ community virtual events!
- And got an exclusive first look (obviously!) at our LONG Night Pads Join the Inner Cycle here if you’re interested in destigmatizing periods, connecting with fellow menstruators, and getting access to chats with special guests and experts!
Of course, we have a smaller, behind-the-scenes community too…our Team!
- The core August team grew this year welcoming Erin (she/her) as VP of Business Development, Jake (he/him) as VP of Operations, Jana (she/her) as our Business Development Associate, and Hannah (she/her) as a content intern!
- You probably know the rest of us who have been on the team since the early days in 2020…if not, get to know some of the team in this article!
This rounds us off to 10 members – that’s right, just 10 of us working behind-the-scenes.
- That being said, stay tuned on our LinkedIn & other socials for upcoming announcements about job postings for 2023!
We’re small but mighty and, of course, aligned on our mission to meet high standards of care by providing ethically-made, higher quality, impactful period care and education for all.
Content!
2022 threw us a LOT of curveballs. Some were expected, most were sudden and eye-opening. Here are just a few that took us by surprise:
- overcoming the tampon shortage across the U.S.
- addressing the titanium dioxide drama – August products do NOT contain any FYI
- reflecting and reacting to the upsetting news about re-evaluating the state of reproductive rights
- and tackling as many as we could of the period irregularity FAQs that our community sent us through our #AskAugust blog. Huge shoutout to our trusted Medical Board made up of a diverse range of health care professionals!
We even started a podcast which you can find on any major streaming platform!
Our favorite content moments this year came in the form of collabs. We connected with incredible brands, Period Powerhouses, and advocates doing such important work. Including:
- Liberare – a collab that opened up the conversation about disabilities x periods featuring models Bri, Krystal, and Elicia
- Alloy Health – joined forces to educate and share #BeyondMyPeriod stories about menopause
- Candice Chirwa – the self-proclaimed ‘Minister of Menstruation’ who’s doing incredible period advocacy work!
- Madeline Scrace and the Team from MASHED – a film series that explores pelvic pain, queerness and features August pads and tampons!
- Chunks – designed the ‘Cramp Clamp’ hair accessory (which sold out in 48 hours on its first drop). But it’s back – get yours here!
- Leiti Hsu – showed us what unapologetic period positivity…and feeling sexy…look like on your period @ our Valentine’s Shoot
- The National Alliance for Eating Disorders – to bring attention to the effects of dieting and exercise
- Wisp – we now support the aftercare of those getting an abortion via Wisp by providing 4 Night Pads in all of their Medical Abortion Kits. Learn about our collab in this video!
Special shoutout to our Music Festival era, the origin story of The Period Fairy, and our very first #OnMyPeriod couples shoot shot by Lucy London Mcdonald too!
And that’s a wrap on 2022!
2022 was amazing! We can’t wait to step into 2023 with all of you by our side…and an August tampon in our back pocket.
From all of Team August, thank you for supporting us this year.