PeriUBT: Money collected for vending machines

Vanessa Jüttner is a student at the University of Bayreuth and wants menstruation to no longer be a taboo subject. With the PeriUBT initiative, she and her team collected money until the end of October to set up vending machines with free period products on campus. They got the go-ahead from the university administration in advance.

Miriam Bauch, Head of the Equal Opportunities Departement at the University of Bayreuth supports the project. "Talking about free menstrual products on campus helps to make the topic of menstruation less shameful," she says. "The vending machines reduce the stress when one forgets a tampon and for students with a small purse they can mean financial relief. So the project is another step towards more gender equality and I'm happy to support the students!"

A six months try out

For the six-month test phase, which is to begin on 10 January, the PeriUBT team had collected money via a money pool. 1135 euros were donated. A dispenser costs 150 euros, and the initiative wants six to be set up during the test phase. "A complete filling with 40 sanitary pads costs about four euros and a filling with 200 tampons about twelve euros," explains Vanessa Jüttner. "All costs incurred are to be financed with the donations from the moneypool."

The locations for the dispensers have not yet been finalised. "The dispensers are to be made accessible throughout the campus," explains Jüttner, "mainly in women's toilets, but also in men's toilets and toilets for disabled persons."