In a world where ecological awareness and personal health are increasingly central, Iris + Arlo has emerged with a clear mission: offering menstrual products that respect both the health of people who menstruate and the environment.
The business’s adventure started when founder Lara Emond was looking for a healthy, environmentally friendly menstrual product for her own use.
Always wanting to make ethical choices without having a negative impact on her health and the environment, Lara makes a point of looking into what the products she uses are made of. What she found out is that the components of menstrual products, which are in direct contact with one of the most absorbent parts of the body, are practically never listed on the packaging.
Given that the ingredients of shampoo, conditioner, body creams and other products are listed on packages, Lara found this lack of information shocking.
This is why she started researching menstruation and consulted studies, reports, educational tomes, and yet more studies on the topic. These studies identified between 20 and 30 chemical products and carcinogens in widely available, traditional sanitary napkins and tampons, including chlorine, dioxin, pesticides, phtalates and endocrine disrupters.
Major environmental impact
Did you know that a traditional sanitary napkin can take up to 800 years to break down? That a person who menstruates can use up to 15,000 of such products in their lifetime? That annually, in North America, billions of tampon applicators, mainly made of plastic, wind up in the garbage and waterways? If you do the math, globally, the total can make your head spin.
Disappointed and concerned about the results of her research, which was intended to find a healthy product with a limited environmental impact, Lara thought, “if the brand that meets my need doesn’t exist, well, I’ll create it!” Iris + Arlo was born.
But Lara soon understood that you can’t create a line of menstrual products overnight. The corporations behind these products are powerful and have significant resources at their disposal. She would have to get creative to penetrate the market.
An educational impact
“Not only couldn’t I find a brand to meet my needs, which is clearly not a niche, but beyond that, there was a question of education and menstrual precariousness that really affected me.” Lara Emond, founder Iris + Arlo
Through her research, Lara learned some astonishing things. One in four young people who identify as female didn’t know what menstruation is and one in three didn’t know it was something to be managed. And in Québec and Canada, 34% and 27% respectively of women face menstrual precariousness.
Plus, every week Lara is asked “where does this product go?” She found it alarming to be hearing that in Québec. This is why education has become Iris + Arlo’s spearhead.
Based on this premise, the Iris + Arlo team rolled up its sleeves! The first goal was to eradicate menstrual precariousness among Canadian women.
Innovation to stand out from the crowd
To accomplish this, the team did their share of background work. Team members got their families and friends involved testing their products, ideas and prototypes.
This is how Iris + Arlo became the first company to provide turnkey, tailored solutions for institutions, schools, restaurants and companies that offer their employees menstrual products. In December, the Labour Code was amended to require businesses under federal regulation to provide employees free menstrual products.
Over 300 Canadian businesses now count on Iris + Arlo for their menstrual product solutions, which are offered in the form of a simplified program. Clients choose their type of dispenser — recycled, recyclable, even installed in stalls — the type and number of refills they want, and Iris + Arlo takes care of everything else.
Iris + Arlo is a brand with a social and environmental impact focused on global health, which offers healthy, sustainable, attractive products. Institutions that subscribe to the program are choosing healthy, environmental-friendly products for their employees and are helping reduce menstrual precariousness, because with every purchase, Iris + Arlo donates menstrual products to people in need. So the business has twice the impact. Through strategic partnerships, it distributes products to dozens of organizations across Canada.
Client organizations also receive educational materials for their teams and communication tools, enabling them to share their membership in the program.
Aside from institutional clients, the brand’s products are also available in Avril stores and Uniprix pharmacies.
But Iris + Arlo is far from done! The business will soon launch a range of reusable products that include period underwear, a menstrual cup in two sizes and a tampon applicator, all to help consumers reduce their environmental footprint.
“What I want is for menstrual products be available everywhere within five years, in all bathrooms, just like toilet paper. It would be a great source of pride if it were considered normal. It’s a small thing, but it has such a big impact.” Lara Emond, founder Iris + Arlo
By now you have no doubt realized that Iris + Arlo is more than just a business. It’s also a social and environmental mission. And as Lara says herself, “when you are interviewing someone for a job, you ask them about their values.” Because for her and her team, the environment and health are central to everything they do. In entrepreneurship, it’s important to be surrounded by people who share your values and your business’s vision. Otherwise, it won’t work.
The iris, which evokes the link between body and nature, is the coloured area of the eye through which we observe the world. It’s also a flower, and the goddess of the rainbow, symbolizing alliances, inclusion and equality, the fundamental values of Iris + Arlo. Arlo represents nature in its more raw, persistent form. It’s a relief found in nature where water runs along the ground. Iris + Arlo guides this never-ending flow that reflects the movement toward equity and inclusion.
Iris + Arlo is more than a brand: it’s a movement for equity and inclusion.
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Lara relies on the expertise of the regional director for Montréal, Sylvie Gasana, who offers personalized solutions and proactive assistance to entrepreneurs in her region. Her secret is taking the time to listen and anticipate potential challenges to help entrepreneurs forge ahead.
Thanks to the engagement of invaluable partners: Économie Québec, through its agent Investissement Québec, the Government of Canada, National Bank, the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), the Fonds de solidarité FTQ, and Fondaction, Evol has a large envelope to support, through conventional loans, businesses with inclusive, diversified ownership that generate positive social and environmental impacts in line with the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDG).
