Hospeco, a pioneer and leader in the feminine hygiene dispensing category and a leading manufacturer of cleaning and protection products serving the “away from home” marketplace, has played an integral part in new legislation signed this week in New York City. Mayor Bill de Blasio today signed a package of legislation guaranteeing access to free feminine hygiene products to a wide-ranging group of women and girls who are generally unable to easily afford or obtain these products. The group includes Department of Correction inmates, persons residing in a city shelter, youth under the care of certain children’s services facilities and public school students.

The signing of this legislation comes as a result of continued efforts by officials including New York City Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras-Copeland as part of an initiative to make free feminine hygiene products more widely available across the city. “I am proud to lead the nation towards menstrual equity by guaranteeing access to pads and tampons to hundreds of thousands of women and girls,” said Ferreras-Copeland.

“These laws recognize that feminine hygiene products are a necessity—not a luxury,” says Mayor Bill de Blasio. “I am proud to sign these bills into law.”

In June, New York City Council unanimously voted to pass this legislation, which will affect, among other institutions, 800 public schools, requiring them to install the free feminine hygiene dispensers in all girls’ bathrooms.

Ferreras-Copeland has recognized Hospeco repeatedly for their part in this initiative, which included the design and distribution of the first dispenser for sanitary napkins and tampons on a complimentary basis. That dispenser was installed last year in Corona (Queens), New York’s High School for the Arts and Business, as part of the only government initiative of its kind in the nation, in partnership with Ferreras-Copeland and the New York City Department of Education. Efforts to expand this initiative rapidly gained more attention, and this new legislation is as a direct result of those efforts.

Hospeco is pleased to be a key player in the movement to “End Bathroom Inequality.” The company believes that woman’s health and hygiene products are akin to toilet paper, toilet seat covers, soap, and hand dryers, and thus their access should be greatly expanded. And, when possible, provide the products at the same cost as other washroom amenities, which is completely free.

The company’s unique dispenser features an easier-to-use, ADA-compliant, push-button dispensing mechanism. Front-loaded on the door, the dispenser is easy to restock, and features an adjustable channel to accommodate different strengths of products—both super and regular tampons, for example—instead of all one kind. There is also a sensor that lights up when the machine is empty removing the mystery that’s prevented many women from using such dispensers before now.

But the most important option is that the facility owner has the option of offering the machine’s products on a complimentary basis. Hospeco believes that providing the option for free tampons and pads can help a facility enhance its brand.

A traditional, for-profit option of the new dispenser is also available, with the same advantages and features, including greater choice of product types and ease of use.