I flush tampons and wrap my pads in the next pad wrapping! 

I always used to flush my tampons down the toilet and throw the applicator and paper in the trash. If I was at someone elses house I always wraped the tampon applicator and paper in toilet paper before putting it in the trash. I didn't care if someone saw it, it was more because if by chance while they were taking out the garbage it fell on the floor they would have had to pick it up with their hands which is too personal... (I think I'm probably the ONLY person who did this for this reason! I do realize now it is a bit weird). I would just wrap the pad in the plastic it came in and threw that in the garbage. I never wore pads in public but if I wore pantyliners, I would also wrap them in toilet paper before throwing them out because they did not usually come with plastic wrap.

I am a DivaCup/LunaPads Convert ALSO!

DITCH THE DISPOSABLES! Check out Lunapads.com!

Like Kristen, I also just used toilet paper for disposing of pads, or I used the plastic wrap that the next pad came in.  I'd even flush tampons if I knew for sure that the plumbing was sturdy enough, and the applicator went straight into the garbage.

I'm also a DivaCup/LunaPads convert.

 When I used disposables, I would wrap the rolled-up pad or used tampon in a little toilet paper and throw it in the trash. Less for the pad, more for the tampon to hide the mess better. I never flushed them because I really didn't want to deal with a clogged toilet, or worse, to cause someone else to have to deal with one that I clogged. Now I use a diva cup I ordered from Lunapads http://lunapads.com/divacup/diva-cup.html. It took some getting used to, but it is so much less trouble than disposables! I love that I don't end up with a full trash can, and I don't have to let other people know when I'm on my period - they'll never find a pad in their trash or see me stocking up at the grocery store. I no longer have a fear of visiting friends with bagless trash cans in their bathrooms, lol! I also feel good about not filling up landfills. I use the lunapads pantiliners for the last, lightest day of my period, and I've found them to be very comfortable. They don't end up with that weird smell disposable always have.