Bermudian Gayneté Jones released her first environmentally friendly period product on home ground in Hamilton.

Four years later, her Best Periodt menstrual cups are available not only in Bermuda, but also at several big name chains in the United States, including 5,670 CVS Pharmacy stores.

She now lives in Toronto, Canada, but will be returning to the island this week to launch her next offerings — biodegradable menstrual pads and panty liners.

Single-use menstrual products are a huge concern to some environmentalists.

The average woman uses an estimated 11,000 menstrual products during her life, while globally an estimated 200 billion menstrual products are thrown away each year.

Some environmentalists are concerned that these products may contain dangerous chemicals.

A 2022 study found that single-use menstrual products, such as tampons, are one of the most common garbage items found on beaches and in the ocean.

“Not everyone is a fan of reusable menstrual products,” she said. “I wanted to create something clean and environmentally friendly for them.”

Best Periodt pads and liners come as a multipack with pads for light, medium and heavy flow days.

Her liners are designed with the customer in mind first and the underwear second.

“Sometimes we are trying to fit them so hard into the underwear that the pad is not comfortable, or it leaks,” she said. “I said, no, we are going to redesign that.”

Ms Jones was also insistent that her products contain no harmful chemicals or dyes. She had them tested several times by a third party to make sure.

“It has been a big project,” she said. “It has truly just been me and Jesus as the full-time employees at this place. My husband Dean Jones is the chief financial officer. We also have contractors in different places but I am the only full-time person.”

She will introduce her Best Periodt pads and liners to the public on Saturday at the Phoenix Store in Hamilton.

“From 9am to 3pm, I will be meeting customers and talking about the new products,” she said. “We will be offering giveaways and samples.”

The entrepreneur will also be speaking during the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation’s Global Entrepreneurship Week.

“I will be speaking in the Together We Build Conference at Grotto Bay on Friday,” she said. “We will be talking all about navigating entrepreneurship as women — transparently sharing the highs and lows to help drive us forward together.”

One of the challenges of the job are “mansplainers” — men who overconfidently explain to women things they know nothing about.

“The first bout of that was the manufacturer for the menstrual cups,” she said. “The chief executive wanted to be at all the meetings and just had a whole lot to say. He thought the stem should be designed in a certain way. I had to explain that if we did it that way it would not be easy for the user to grab and remove. He said but people love it. I said: ‘How would you know?’”

Many of the store buyers she deals with are also male.

“Thankfully, for CVS we have a woman buyer and she is a completely different experience,” Ms Jones said. “She understood everything.”

Best Periodt also has an educational component.

“We realise we need to break the taboo around menstrual products,” she said. “On our social-media pages we have a good number of men who are following us so they can help their daughters, sisters or wives.

“We are not only teaching them how to use our products but about how periods work, in general. There is a gap there that needs to be addressed.”