87. DAME

Founders: Celia Pool and Alec Mills
Founded: 2018
Website: www.wearedame.co

Period plastic is now the fifth most common type of plastic to wash up on European beaches. In the UK alone, 1.3 billion tampon applicators are thrown away every year.

Founded by Celia Pools and Alec Mills in 2018, DAME is the startup helping women switch to a kinder, more sustainable sanitary alternative.

In January 2019, it launched what it claims is the world's first reusable tampon applicator. Designed by medical engineers using ‘self-sanitising technology’, DAME says its product can help a woman save 12,000 single-use applicators over her lifetime.

And that’s not all. DAME also sells a range of 100% organic cotton tampons. Unlike many tampons, which contain synthetics such as pesticides and chlorine (which can leak into a woman’s body as well as the environment), DAME’s tampons are toxin free, hypoallergenic and biodegradable – and all its packaging is either reused, reusable, or from recycled resources.

What really impresses us about DAME is that it’s also committed to changing the conversation around periods. Rather than the narratives of shame, fear, and discretion pushed by mainstream brands, DAME wants to normalise periods and create a product that women are proud to own.

What’s more, it’s a certified B Corp, which means it meets the highest environmental and ethical standards. And, in October last year, it was certified as the UK’s first Carbon Neutral Plus brand, and now offsets its carbon emissions twice over.

Whichever way you look at it, DAME is a business that’s truly aiming to be a force for good – and, at the moment, that’s the kind of business the world needs more than ever.