Period product donation bins now available in the South Island

The Warehouse has gone a step further to enable period product access in New Zealand by extending its customer donation bin trial.

The initiative sees a further sixteen locations equipped with donation bins, bringing the total number of The Warehouse stores involved in the programme to 26, including, for the first time, stores in the South Island.

Chief Product Officer at The Warehouse Group, Tania Benyon, says The Warehouse is committed to doing its part to stamp out period poverty in New Zealand, including breaking down taboo surrounding periods.

"Every day, the stigma around periods and a lack of access to period products can stop people from living their lives.

"Through a trial of customer donation bins with The Period Place in ten of our stores last year, we were able to reach those in the community in need of products and education. What we saw was how much our customers wanted to get behind the cause too, and we're pleased to now be introducing donation bins to sixteen more stores with six in the North Island and ten in the South Island.”

New products collected in the bins, either purchased at The Warehouse or elsewhere, are donated through The Period Place to local community groups who support people with barriers to access - such as cost, vulnerable living situations, or quality education.

The additional stores are Ormiston (Auckland), Taupo, Rotorua, Napier, Gisborne, Tory Street (Wellington), Nelson, Blenheim, Belfast (Christchurch), Ashburton, Timaru, Oamaru, Dunedin, Greymouth, Queenstown and Invercargill.

Period education is also a vital part of supporting product access, and today The Warehouse and The Period Place have launched a free educational podcast, available on The Warehouse's Period Portal site on thewarehouse.co.nz.

The series, hosted by Tegan Yorwarth and Period Place co-founder Danika Revell covers a range of topics with guest speakers and aims to provide period education and reduce period stigma.

Co-founder of The Period Place, Danika Revell, says a lot has been achieved since The Period Place partnered with The Warehouse.

"It's been twelve months since we first reached out to The Warehouse to help champion our kaupapa of Aotearoa reaching period equity by 2030, and we've achieved a lot - tens of thousands of stigma reducing conversations have been facilitated, thousands of period products have gone to people in every region of the country, and most importantly, a lasting, impactful and committed partnership has been formed".

In parallel, The Warehouse Group will provide free period products in team member bathrooms across its store network, distribution centres and support office locations.

Benyon hopes that providing period products in team bathrooms will eliminate any anxiety or stigma surrounding menstruation.

"Our team should have the same access to period products in the workplace just as they would any other basic bathroom necessity.

"We know people can get caught out without products while at work, which can lead to feelings of unease, embarrassment and even shame. We hope that through providing period products in team bathrooms, we can help to eliminate any anxiety surrounding menstruation."

The move follows the launch of The Warehouse's affordable $1 range of period products in 2019.