Students sign petition for free sanitary bins in University accomodation

In a move that would surely enrage meninist Ryan Williams, student Adelaide Mott has started a petition hoping to equip all bathrooms in University accommodation with sanitary bins.

The petition has appeared a year after University of Birmingham’s Free Periods campaign, that provided students with free sanitary products following the controversy of the Tampon Tax.

According to the petition, whilst universities such as Cambridge and Liverpool provide their students with sanitary bins in halls, Birmingham falls behind expecting students to provide their own.

Currently, Unviersity accommodation only provides students with a normal kitchen bin which can place students in an awkward position. A Brum student, Martha, told the Tab: “I share a bathroom with two boys and having to put sanitary waste in the normal bins is uncomfortable for everyone.”

These babies need a bin

The Tab spoke to Adelaide Mott, who created the petition: “I set the petition up because I didn’t think it was right that girls should have to buy their own sanitary bins. We are expected to responsibly dispose of our waste but not given the means to do so.

“I thought the petition would be a great indicator of how many people agree with me on this topic. Whilst periods are still a bit of a taboo topic, they’re natural and the university should be encouraging people to not only feel comfortable with disposing of their sanitary waste in often mixed-gender flats, but also to feel comfortable discussing these kinds of issues.

“The petition has received very positive feedback and has received 130 signatures in less than two hours. I have also submitted it to the Guild of Students assessment panel. If they like my idea, students will be able to vote for students to receive sanitary bins free of charge of the next few weeks.”

The Guild of Students

The Tab also contacted Guild of Students President Eleanor Keiller, who said: “Firstly, it’s great to hear from a group of students who are passionate about an issue and are keen to campaign to make it happen – we know, too, from the overwhelming response to our Free Periods campaign that students care about ensuring those with periods don’t face extra costs on campus!

“After speaking to HAS and as per the below University statement, we have confirmed that sanitary bins are currently available within all communal and public toilets in University accommodation. They have suggested, however, that providing individual sanitary bins within en-suite rooms would entail a potentially intrusive cleaning service when the bins were emptied. We’d be interested to see if this is something that students believe should happen, and will be keeping a close eye on the petition.”

A University of Birmingham spokesman added: “We don’t provide sanitary bins as standard in student accommodation because most have private en-suite facilities and gaining access to regularly empty them would be intrusive.

“Sanitary bins are provided at Pritchatts House, which has a number of shared toilets. Sanitary bins are also provided in public toilets across campus. However, we do welcome feedback from students in regards to this issue and how we can continue to improve our facilities.”

Unfortunately it seems students may still have to continue buying their own bathroom bins.

To sign the petition follow the link below.

https://www.change.org/p/guild-of-students-sanitary-bins-in-university-accommodation