Lidl Ireland becomes world's first major retailer to battle period poverty with free pads and tampons

Lidl Ireland just announced that it will be making period products freely accessible to all customers who need them. The initiative uses Lidl's app; people who sign up online with their phone number receive a coupon that's valid for seven days and can be redeemed for one free box of selected pads or tampons. There's no need to re-register monthly — once they've signed up, customers will receive a new coupon on the first day of every month.

Period poverty affects a shockingly large percentage of those who have periods: a 2018 Plan International study found that almost half of girls in Ireland aged 12 to 19 sometimes struggled to pay for menstrual products. Without access to tampons or pads, they either resort to using other materials that either don't work or aren't sanitary, or avoid everyday activities for fear of blood seeping through their clothes.