Eugene weekly., December 29, 2016, Page 14, Image 14

H E A L T H
BLOODY
GOOD
ANIMOSA'S GO WITH YOUR FLOW PACK
Local company Animosa creates
on-the-go disposal for period
products BY KELSEY ANNE RANKIN
A
person’s period doesn’t give a damn whether she’s
in the woods, if she has a house or if there’s a
trashcan around to take care of the, erm,
aftermath.
Cue Animosa, a local start-up company that is
redefining menstrual product disposal by creating long-
term, sanitary and odor-free period pouches.
Animosa founder Kate Blazar got the idea for on-the-
go menstruation pouches after a 16-day trip at the Grand
Canyon, where ravens relentlessly unzipped her backpack
and scattered its contents. Yep, she was bleeding. “I had
my do-it-yourself system that involves Ziplock bags,” she
explains. “There were just clear bags laying around with
bloody tampons in them.”
The raven incident caused Blazar to face her
internalized shame surrounding menstruation. By June
2016, she got an MBA in innovation and entrepreneurship,
left her position as head of business development at
Arcimoto (she was previously executive director at enviro
nonprofit Cascadia Wildlands) and pursued her dream of
a period-positive (and woman-positive) company.
Jessica Southwick, Maggie Perzdock and Ally McClain
joined Animosa in its blueprint stages, and together the
four business-savvy women incorporated the company by
July 2016.
Animosa currently offers two bloody good products:
a small and large multi-sectioned pouch made of highly
durable water- and odor-proof material that can safely
hold used products for days, as well as bioplastic baggies
and hypoallergenic wipes.
The team will distribute 500 pouches to their backers
if (and when) they reach their $10,000 Kickstarter goal.
And Blazar hopes more products soon will be available
WALKING IT OFF
Catching up with Eugene writer and outdoorsman Bill Sullivan
“W
alking is the best physical exercise,” writer
Bill Sullivan says. “People are designed to
walk. It gets rid of the crap of civilization.”
Sullivan is pretty famous in these parts, and around the
Northwest at large, for his collection of hiking guides.
Many of us outdoorsy types have one, two or all of his
books on our shelves.
On a cold December day, I caught up with Sullivan at
the home he shares with his wife Janell Sorensen. The
first thing that strikes a visitor — besides the resident
turtle, Luigi — is the massive pipe organ in the living
room. Before we settle in, Sullivan pumps out a rousing
rendition of “Let It Snow.”
“I also play Bach fugues,” he says with a grin.
He shows me around his office, a repository of books
and artifacts from a lifetime outdoors. And as any fan of
his work would hope, Sullivan has a lot of hiking boots.
Then we take a walk.
Sullivan suggests a ramble through Eugene’s historic
Pioneer Cemetery, and strides briskly out the door.
“To preserve Oregon, you have to know what’s there,”
he says. “And you have to do it with your eyes open, not
with your ear buds in.”
“What makes a top-10 hike?” I ask
“It has to be sturdy, so that you can send people there,”
Sullivan says. “There are unexcavated sites in Oregon,
endangered species, places I don’t want to send crowds.”
It’s through his books, he notes, that Sullivan disperses
the pressure on our state’s natural environments.
14
December 29, 2016 • eugeneweekly.com
BY RACHAEL CARNES
BILL SULLIVAN
“My books provide historical, geographical and
geological interest,” he says. “If people understand more
about the significance of where they are, they’ll be more
proactive about preserving it.”
And walking, he explains, is democratic. “It doesn’t
require any particular gear, except a pair of appropriate
shoes and a backpack with the hiking safety essentials,”
Sullivan says.
(Even casual day hikers should carry with them extra
clothing, navigation aids, water, food, repair supplies, fire
online for the menstruating masses.
“Starting a company brings in every piece of your life
and you really have to look at it closely and ask, ‘Am I
crazy for doing this?’” Blazar says.
Within its first six months as a business, however,
Animosa has already garnered international attention.
“We want to build on the idea that together we’re
creating something that is bigger than just any one of us,”
Blazar says. “And it’s through these connections that
makes us all stronger.”
For more information, visit Animosa's Facebook page or animosa.co.
starter, first aid supplies, flashlight, sun protection and
shelter, such as a “waterproof jacket or the like,” he says.)
In our community, many bus routes wind their way to
trailheads. You don’t need a car to get to many of Lane
County’s wild places.
But you need to know where to go and how to get there.
“My books have been successful, I think, because I came
at it as a writer,” Sullivan says.
Poetically scribed, with hand-drawn maps and clever
details, these books have spurred generations of
adventurers.
In addition to his hiking guides, Sullivan writes
fiction, mysteries and short stories. His memoir, Listening
to Coyote: A Walk Across Oregon’s Wilderness, was
chosen by the Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission as
one of the 100 most significant books in Oregon history.
I ask him if he thinks up creative new writing ideas on
his walks?
“Nope,” he says. “Walking burns off all the stress of
the day, all the thinking. My best fiction ideas come to me
in my sleep.”
As we’re passing through the fog, I ask Sullivan if he’s
familiar with the Japanese concept of the “forest bath”
— called shinrin-yoku — which involves visiting a forest
for relaxation, recreation and stress management.
He looks at me patiently and says no, he’s not heard of
that concept, although he understands the idea.
“Look at Outward Bound,” Sullivan says, referring to
the experience-based outdoor leadership program. “You
take kids who are messed up to the wilderness, and they
get to get in touch with what really matters: Starting a
fire, finding a flat spot, getting out of the rain.”
Nature as therapy?
“People were not designed to live in cities,” Sullivan
says. “We were designed to walk in the woods.”