About us
Hi 👋
We’re Bloody Good Bins, and we’re on a mission to de-stigmatise periods and menstrual health with our beautiful and euphemism-free sanitary bins period bins.
We think that the conventional dull and uninspiring sanitary bin perpetuates a harmful stereotype that periods should be hidden in the corner, attracting as little attention as possible.
We also think that every time companies use language like ‘feminine hygiene’ or ‘sanitary disposal’, Australians are told that periods are too shameful to talk about, and that menstruation in general is unhygienic or unsanitary, which simply isn’t true. Not to mention that a lot of this language isn’t inclusive to trans and non-binary individuals.
The traditional period bin business model (which is effectively a subscription fee to have the bins cleaned on a regular basis) is also great for generating a consistent and reliable source of funding for charitable programs, which is why we donate 50% of our profits to charities that empower people who menstruate.
You might have quite a few questions about our business model, our impact, or how to organise bins for your own workplace. If that’s the case, check out our FAQ here or get in touch via our contact form.
Otherwise, read on to learn a bit more about our origins and what we’ve done so far.
❤️
The journey so far
The team in November 2019. We used to meet at Maddie and Rach’s place to set big ambitious goals and throw around crazy ideas. The cylinder bin pictured here was one of our early prototypes.
Origins
Back in 2019, we founded Bloody Good Bins with the goal of turning the boring ‘sanitary bin’ into something that could generate money for charity.
The idea was simple: if businesses are paying for dull and uninspiring bins already, wouldn’t they instead prefer to pay for a product that donates part of its profits to a good cause (and looks bloody fantastic in the process)?
So, fresh out of university, we enlisted the help of some friends and started a company out of our bedrooms with big dreams to revolutionise an industry.
First, we prototyped.
We found some quirky designs at a gift store in St Kilda, and the legends there were kind enough to let us use their designs on the first iteration of the product. We DIY’d a wrap for our bins using wrapping paper, book laminate, and sticky tape, and started thinking about how to test whether people would like our idea.
Our warehouse (AKA Maddie’s bedroom) in January 2020.
Landing the first customer
From here, we went door-knocking. We had a minimum viable product (startup lingo for a very early version of a product that’s pulled together at minimal cost but is just good enough to show customers what you’re selling) and it was time to see if any businesses thought a Bloody Good Bin was something worth paying for.
Matt was living in North Melbourne at the time, so we walked up Errol Street, bins in hand, and asked to speak to the manager at any venue we could find. To our absolute shock, two legendary cafes named Auction Rooms and Affinity on Errol agreed to trial the bins. From there, we were off. We’d been given the confidence to speak to more and more businesses around Melbourne, and sure enough new customers started to come on board.
Auction Rooms cafe on Errol Street in North Melbourne. These guys are one of the most popular cafes in Melbourne, so needless to say we were pretty gobsmacked when they said yes to a trial. Better yet, we’ve still got bins at Auction Rooms today!
To the moon!
Since those first few businesses said yes, Bloody Good Bins has been quietly testing, iterating, and growing. We’ve currently got bins at roughly 20 venues around inner Melbourne, and we’ve just launched our new branding and designs.
We’ve still got a long way to go on our mission to get a Bloody Good Bin in every commercial loo in metropolitan Australia, but we’re off to a great start and can’t wait to see what the next few years have in store.
Sincerely,
Matt Cohen & Maddie Ossovani (Co-Founders)
Our new range. Designs by @mariah_bn