A Bristol businesswoman and environmentalist has been awarded Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the King's Birthday Honours List 2023.
Susie Hewson has been recognised for her services to women's health and the environment. As the founder of eco-sanitary product company Natracare Ms Hewson has striven for plastic free periods and an end to period poverty since 1989.
She founded the company in 1989 to create female healthcare products using organic cotton and bio-plastics made from plant starches.
A woman uses over 11,000 sanitary pads or tampons in a lifetime and most are made from 90 per cent plastic materials.
But Susie has spent the past three decades campaigning for alternatives that address the environmental issues caused by the products on the market.
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Natracare continues to grow, and in 2018, the company received the Queen’s Award for Enterprise for exports. Ms Hewson was also, in the same year, selected from thousands across the country as a finalist in the 2018 Natwest everywoman Awards.
She said: She said: "Back in 1989, I saw a documentary about the growing danger to human health and the environment of Dioxin pollution from pulping industries with the chlorine bleaching of paper products.
"What made me especially angry was the unconcerned response of the international menstrual care brands. I was so appalled that my immediate response was to research and develop an alternative that respected women’s bodies and our planet."
Natracare is based in Bristol where is drives change to benefit women's health and for a circular economy. In 2019 the company became the first period care product brand to join 1% for the Planet, where companies give 1% of their total sales to environmental organisations around the world each year.
Ms Hewson commented: “I was quite taken aback when informed that I had been recommended to His Majesty the King, in the Birthday 2023 Honours List, for an MBE in recognition for services to Women’s Health and to the Environment. The work I have been doing these past 33 years in raising awareness and making changes happen has not been an easy journey. It gives me confidence that the tasks I challenged have been recognised as of importance and value, so I am proud to accept the honour with good grace.”
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