CARA: Menstrual Product and Waste Carrier for Multi-Day Trips Outdoors
1. Moving Image above (An animated gif or video snippet at the top of the post or for index page and social media2. Project Title Above (The name of the project)3. Next, Lead Image
4. Project Overview: WHAT + HOW? (One paragraph describing what it is and how it works.)Project Overview
CARA is a menstrual product and waste carrier designed for use in multi-day trips outdoors. Designed by recent grad Alexia Cohen as part of her thesis, DARE + DEFY: A Woman’s Place in the Great Outdoors, CARA—from the word carapace, meaning the shell of a turtle—features an expandable waste collection container at the center, with two separate dry enclosures at the top and bottom to keep unused menstrual products, toilet paper, and/or wipes clean and ready to use.
5. Two or Three More Final Images plus Video Embed. (Here you can show a detail shot and a context shot.)
6. Why It’s Great. (One or two paragraphs describing why the the project is great, some background, and motivation. Then be explicit about the project's value—why is it great? Finally, maybe put a pull-quote in the middle.)Product Features
All of the "hacks" that women perform while camping on their cycle—such as organizing tampons and pads in an attractive carrying case, concealing used materials, and designating easy-to-access compartments in their personal bags for wipes, toilet paper, and menstrual products—are featured in the CARA waste carrier. CARA’s menstrual-positive and sporty design effectively eliminates the need to rummage through a backpack every time one has to change a menstrual product.
“Browsing through the Leave No Trace website, I found waste collection bags, bear canisters, and a small trowel to dig cat holes for human waste, but nothing specific for women’s menstrual needs.”
CARA honors menstruating women’s experiences and celebrates their place in the great outdoors. It does so by conspicuously displaying that yes, people menstruate, and that fact should not stop them from doing what they love! CARA is not only a viable solution to a challenge that menstruating women face, but an empowering representation that women-specific needs can be practically met through intelligent design. Lastly, CARA challenges stakeholders in the feminine care industry to think more critically and comprehensively about the products they choose to invest in.
7. Process Images. (VERY important. All portfolio reviewers request these shots and are disappointed when they are not there.)
8. Process Description. (One or two paragraphs describing the highlights in your design process.)Process & Research
There are two critical parts to CARA’s physical shape and functionality that were accounted for in the prototype stages of its design: 1.) The soft and collapsible accordion-like center that was developed through the exploration of origami patterns that open, twist, and collapse, which was tested further using nylon fabric, laser-cut paper, and heat bonding tape and 2.) The two exterior plastic compartments and their hinges. My first prototype was constructed with chipboard and tape to emulate both the hard and soft sections. With Rhino 3D modeling and 3D printing processes, I was able to construct the final project in the VFL, SVA’s fabrication lab.
My research methodology was primarily focused on interviewing and engaging women in conversation who would benefit from CARA’s design. I began by reaching out to individuals through a facebook user-group called All Women All Trails: Hiking & Backpacking, an incredible community of over 24,000 women from all over the world who share tips and tricks, favorite spots to hike, and gear reviews. I posted a question there about how women manage their periods while in the outdoors. In just 48 hours I received 200 responses from the community, which became an invaluable survey of diverse user feedback to boost the development of my project. I learned that while many individuals advocated for the menstrual cup as well as Thinx menstrual underwear—no matter where they were hiking or what resources they had access to—several women still used the duct tape/ziplock bag method to store their used tampons and pads.
9. What was your biggest success during this project, why did it happen, and what did you learn from it? (A 1-paragraph response minimum)Successes
Making an almost fully functional prototype was probably the biggest success. The form and material exploration for this prototype was quite extensive, starting with a works-like prototype that I tested for a week when I had my period, which helped me figure out how large the container needed to be when fully expanded. Once the size was set, the creation of the final patterns and forms went through a series of steps of trial and error with a variety of fabrics, origami patterns and heat bonding materials. Once the soft parts of the piece were set, the frame had to be built to match and hold the fabric pieces together. Shooting the promo video piece with a drone was also a highlight.
10. What were the biggest challenges of this project and what did you learn from them? (A two-sentence response.)Challenges
In reality this piece is the classic design school project—it is a bit over-designed. After doing some more interviews with women after the prototype was created and going on a backpacking trip myself while having my period, it became pretty obvious that CARA needs to be much smaller, lighter and simpler. This would make it most effective when carrying in a backpack as well as more affordable to produce.
11. If this was a group project, name the group members, and describe your greatest personal contribution to the effort? (A list of names, plus a 2-sentence response.)The Group
The other group members for Cara consisted of Bivi Blake and Spark Rockland. I was responsible for physical prototyping and branding; the group conducted research, ideation sketching, and photography.