These four young women are already a catalyst for change in their chosen areas. They tell Sharon Stephenson what they are worried about right now, and what makes them hopeful about the year ahead.

Shuari Naidoo

First, the numbers: menstrual cups are estimated to save more than 5000 tonnes of disposable period products from going into landfills over 10 years. And users can save somewhere in the vicinity of $4000 over a decade by using menstrual cups.

They are numbers that resonated with Shuari Naidoo when, as a 16-year-old Tauranga student, she was casting around for a product to sell as part of the Young Enterprise Scheme.

“I wanted to create a menstrual cup that was affordable, sustainable and cost effective,” says the now 19-year-old. “One that also helps to counter the issue of period poverty, which affects one in five New Zealanders, as well as tackling the taboo that much of society still has around menstruation and menstrual products.”

After months of trying, and failing, to find a local manufacturer, Naidoo took production offshore.

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