A Biodegradable Sanitary Napkin Made From Water Hyacinth

The water hyacinth is to Lake Victoria, Kenya what kudzu (“the plant that ate the south”) is to the southeastern United States—an invasive plant with an unbridled appetite for wreaking environmental and economic havoc. So thick are the weeds that blanket the Kisumu shoreline, in fact, that light can barely penetrate the upper layers and local fishermen are cut off from open waters. But the water hyacinth can be classified as a natural fiber, one that can be spun into filaments and used in papermaking and textiles. For a group of visiting students from the Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, the solution was simple: When life gives you water hyacinth, you pulp the suckers into something the native population can use; in this case, sanitary protection.