Planet-friendly Period Care
Over the last few decades, the period products industry has seen many innovations that have significantly enhanced the performance of period products.
Most of these innovations have primarily focused on either making the product thinner or more high-performing (while reducing the overall cost). The material that has been able to check all these boxes so far has been petrochemical-based plastic; as it is mass produced, it is cost-effective, and from a performance and product manufacturing point of view, it can be easily modified/optimized.
Globally, around 300 billion period products made with a large amount of petrochemical-based plastic are used and discarded every year, resulting in millions of tons of non-biodegradable waste that could remain unchanged for 500-600 years in landfills. In the US alone, around 20 billion period products are discarded every year.
At Sparkle, we believe that products should be designed by not only keeping the performance in mind, but by also focusing on the entire product life-cycle. That’s why we have created our products by replacing the conventional plastic in the different layers of the pad with plant-based ingredients. Our products are also engineered in such a way that whether they end up in an industrial composting facility, or even in a landfill, they offer a more sustainable alternative when compared to their conventional counterparts.
To ensure our plant-based products do not end up in landfills, we developed the BetterCycle program so that Sparkle products can safely go back to the Earth.
Our Core Values
We believe that a company's core values are as important as the products it makes. We are committed to conducting business in a sustainable, ethical, and transparent way by keeping people, the planet, and our purpose at the heart of everything we do.
People
We embrace diversity, equality, and inclusion. Through our actions, we aim to become a trusted brand for our customers, the best establishment to work at for our existing team members, the employer of choice for any interested candidates, and the partner of choice for our suppliers and other key stakeholders.
Planet
We are committed to doing business in a responsible and sustainable manner. We strongly believe that making thoughtful decisions today is the way to move forward and sustain the environment for future generations to come.
Purpose
We strive to set the highest standards of transparency and integrity in our organization. From making safe, sustainable and high-quality products to fighting for reproductive equity and donating period products to menstruators in need, we always work towards making the world a better place.
Our Story
Sparkle’s story, quite fittingly, started with a spark.
Three, to be precise.
The social and cultural stigma surrounding periods in Surat, Gujarat, India while she was growing up, sparked Hetal to think about all the hurried whispers, hiding, guilty glances, and the almost shameful image that the society had set for its menstruators.
On the other hand, traveling the world, visiting many countries and experiencing (first-hand) the lack of sanitary products, as well as its physiological and socio-economic effects on millions of adolescent individuals, was the spark that set Chirag on his course.
When Hetal and Chirag came together with different perspectives yet a shared vision, that’s what sparked the inception of their journey to make a positive impact together. After having explored several paths, they’re now both taking the road less traveled by not just developing sustainable and plant-based period products; they’re also aiming to develop new mindsets, new perspectives, new avenues, and new ways of life for menstruators across the globe.
Hetal Virani
Co-founder 
Hetal leads day-to-day planning and implementation as well all financial and operational-related activities.
- C.A. from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.
- C.W.A. from the Institute of Cost Accountants of India.
- C.S. from the Institute of Company Secretaries of India.
- Bachelor of Law and Bachelor of Commerce from Veer Narmad South Gujarat University, India.
Hetal’s Story
While growing up in the small city of Surat (Gujarat, India), I experienced many instances where periods were stigmatized.
Hetal’s Story
While growing up in the small city of Surat (Gujarat, India), I experienced many instances where periods were stigmatized. Even the simple task of buying sanitary napkins from a store consisted of awkwardly whispering the name of the sanitary napkin brand, which was then quickly put in a black bag to hide it from the world. In fact, one of my closest friends is not even allowed to enter her kitchen during her period. Why?
How can we expect young teenagers to freely discuss their problems with menstrual hygiene management when they hesitantly lower their voices at the mere mention of the words, ‘period’ or ‘pad’?
In addition to observing the taboo nature surrounding menstruation, I also noticed another aspect. As a regular user of sanitary pads for over 15+ years, I constantly experienced skin issues and discomfort while using pads from commercial brands. Eventually, I did some research and realized that the harsh chemicals and plastic components present in the pads could have been the main reason behind my constant skin irritation and allergies.
In the meantime, I met Chirag, who was trying to find sustainable ways of utilizing agro-waste generated from his banana plantation.
That’s how the journey of Sparkle began.
Chirag Virani
Co-founder
Chirag guides Sparkle in the areas of R&D, product design, manufacturing and business development.
- Mechanical Engineering from McMaster University, Canada.
- Master in Business Administration from Ryerson University, Canada.
- Post-Graduation program from UC-Berkeley, USA.
Chirag’s Story
To be fully honest, my knowledge of periods, menstruation, and pads was very limited before I started working with different NGOs.
Chirag’s Story
To be fully honest, my knowledge of periods, menstruation, and pads was very limited before I started working with different NGOs. I was aware of the biological process which was taught during science classes in school; but other than that, I had no idea about the extent of physiological or socio-economic issues that women faced during their periods.
After completing my Grad Program at UC Berkeley, I took a gap year to pause, unplug, and rediscover myself. I wanted to put my engineering degree and business skills to good use so I took up volunteering at different NGOs in Kenya, Tanzania, Vietnam, South Africa, India, and Costa Rica.
As I participated in different outreach programs which included medical camps, HIV counseling, teaching, and feeding programs, I witnessed the problems that millions of menstruators faced during their periods. They missed school or work simply because they did not have access to sanitary napkins. In fact, they used unhygienic rags, papers, or ash to manage their periods.
After I met Hetal, both of us decided to purchase conventional sanitary pads that were available in the market and donate those pads to menstruators in need. In the process, we started our NGO, United World Foundation, in 2017. As we searched for long-term and scalable solutions, we realized that simply buying sanitary pads from the market and donating them would only solve the problem temporarily. Furthermore, we also realized that while solving the problem of accessibility of sanitary pads, we were creating another environmental problem - the conventional pads that we were donating contained up to 90% plastic, which would not biodegrade for centuries.
The fact that I come from a family of farmers became the last piece of the puzzle. My family has banana plantations near one of the biggest banana growing belts of India.
Everything started to fall into place one-by-one after that - we realized that banana fibers were naturally super absorbent and highly effective at locking away menstrual fluid, so we started developing innovative ways to transform banana stem agro-waste into sustainable raw material for making new period products. We made our first biodegradable sanitary pad in 2017, co-founded Sparkle in February 2018 and as they say, the rest is history.