Saalt. One niche company fostering global change with just a few products. When we discovered that Saalt had purchased and ported a custom vanity number through NumberBarn, we were eager to highlight their extraordinary work.
Saalt’s signature line of reusable menstruation cups, discs, and period underwear are adding to a growing movement that’s reshaping the way people navigate menstruation around the world. They’re enabling saving money on period-care, and also saving the planet from millions of units of environmental waste caused by one-time use menstruation products. A historically taboo topic across cultures, Saalt’s efforts are (in their own words) “bringing uteruses out of the Dark Ages.”
We spoke with Liz Raphael, Saalt’s Customer Experience Specialist and Education Coordinator. Her contagious enthusiasm categorically inspired us as she shared how Saalt is advancing innovative and unconventional approaches to a multi-layered topic.
A Champion Against Period Poverty
When Saalt co-founder (and mom of five daughters), Cherie Hoeger, needed to send feminine products to her relatives in Venezuela, she learned that women in Venezuela consistently lacked access to menstruation products. Cherie knew that sending a one-time donation of feminine products wasn’t enough.
She soon encountered a global phenomenon known as “period poverty.” For many women and persons with periods around the world, menstruation products are both unavailable and extremely expensive. As a result, when menstruation happens, it interrupts opportunities for education and employment. With limited products to assist in monthly menstruation care, women and persons with periods can’t attend school or go to work for up to an entire week. Accumulated delays in education and employment ultimately can contribute to economic poverty and vulnerability to various forms of exploitation, like human trafficking, etc.
Cherie started aggressively exploring other solutions. And so began her quest to supply a “sustainable, comfortable, safe and environmentally-friendly period product” to individuals with periods around the world. In only four years since its inception in 2018, Saalt’s products and outreach-oriented business model have, quite literally, made a world of difference.
A Company Truly Worth Its Saalt
Saalt’s impact speaks for itself. A “person may use an average of 11,000 disposable products in their menstruating lifetime” Liz shares. Multiplied by millions of individuals who experience menstruation, the exponential environmental and economic burdens are staggering.
Because of their products and outreach, Saalt has donated over 40,000 period cups, and diverted over 8 million waste products. They’ve funded over 60,000 pounds of environmental cleanup and as well as funded over 100,000 days of school for young women in underserved locations.
“Using business as a force for good” drove Saalt to meet the strenuous criteria required to become a certified B corporation. “The B Corp’s standard of conscious capitalism in every aspect of business is exactly what we wanted for Saalt—from sourcing products responsibly, measuring supply chain sustainability, committing to honesty and transparency, and giving back to create meaningful impact.”
Their commitment to people, the planet and responsible use of their profits makes Saalt a powerhouse, challenging other businesses to “maximize their social impact while simultaneously decreasing their environmental footprint.”
“Bringing Uteruses out of the Dark Ages”
For centuries, conversation about menstruation has remained elusive and obscure, even between women. But the effects of menstruation are universal. Saalt has created an online community for people to talk more openly on the topic, ultimately cultivating connection and friendship as well.
Saalt partners with organizations to bring period products to places where women can’t obtain them. In locales where discs or cups are less culturally or socially acceptable, Saalt donates period underwear. “I think it’s one thing to donate a cup, but it’s another thing to make sure that a person adopts using their cup,” Liz says.
Saalt’s partners also strive to ensure that recipients receive training and education on how to use Saalt’s products.
At NumberBarn, we have a special affinity for products and companies that promote meaningful connections. Besides connecting women with desperately-needed period care, in a world of competition, Saalt also celebrates collaboration.
Saalt considers other companies in the same market as fellow contributors in a broader campaign to normalize sustainable period products. “I think that there are things that make Saalt stand out. But at the same time, the fact that we all get to do this together is incredible.”
What a refreshing perspective. Thanks Liz!
NumberBarn helps improve Saalt’s accessibility
“We actually own our new phone number? As in, it’s ours to keep?”
Liz was admittedly unfamiliar with all things related to number purchasing and porting when she found NumberBarn. Building on their commitment to accessibility, Saalt wanted to become even more reachable to their rapidly growing customer-base. So after doing “a ton of research and multiple free trials with other companies offering different kinds of phone related services,” someone referred them to NumberBarn, and the rest is history.
Following their purchase and port of 775-23-SAALT, Liz had a concerning realization that she had “stopped receiving invoices from NumberBarn.” Like most of us newbies to the vast and complex world of telecommunications, Liz confesses her justifiable confusion between forwarding, porting and leasing phone numbers.
“Yeah, I think it’s actually our phone number now!” her coworker affirmed, incredulous that their new vanity phone number now fully belonged to them and their company. They could port it to whatever carrier, or in their case, SMS platform they preferred.
Yes. It’s the rare, exhilarating truth. Once you’ve purchased a number* with NumberBarn, it’s legally yours to keep, port, park, or even consider reselling on our massive phone number marketplace. Like Saalt’s new number, after you’ve ported it to your preferred carrier, you won’t receive any additional billing from us. It’s unconditionally yours! Period. No strings attached.
Explore hassle-free, custom phone numbers for yourself or your business. Park your phone number for just $2 a month until you’re ready to port it away or activate it with a forwarding plan. Need a matching domain and professional email? We’ve got that too! Check out our sister company, DomainSpot to get your domain and website off the ground in no time!
*Restrictions apply to some Toll-Free numbers
