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We spend a lot of time sleeping on them, but many people may be clueless to the fact that most conventional mattresses are constructed of man-made, petrochemical-derived materials that are nonrenewable and may have potential health effects, too. Choosing a mattress made of natural latex, organic cotton, or organic wool reduces the demand for conventional petrochemical-derived materials, decreases the use of pesticides and other chemicals associated with non-organically produced cotton or wool, and may give you a better night's sleep.

Find it! Eco-friendly mattresses

Although not as easy to come by as natural bedding, finding an eco-friendly mattress requires a lot less effort than it once did. Even if you can't find a local vendor, you may be able to order an eco-sleeper online.

Before you buy

• Conventional mattresses are treated with chemical fire retardants to pass federal flammability standards. Many green mattresses contain wool which is naturally fire retardant and can pass these regulations without adding such chemicals. If you choose an organic cotton mattress (which will not be treated with chemicals) you'll need to have a written note from your doctor stating that you need a chemical-free mattress because you have chemical sensitivities. Some manufacturers get around this by wrapping the organic cotton layer with an outside layer of organic wool.
• Don't expect bargain basement prices. Eco-friendly mattresses typically cost what you would pay for a mid- to high-end standard mattress.

Choosing an eco-friendly mattress helps you go green because...

• It reduces demand for standard mattresses that use petrochemical-based, nonrenewable resources.
• You are helping to support sustainable industries of the organic cotton farmer, natural latex producer, and organic sheep farmer, which do not use synthetic pesticides or synthetic hormones.
• Organic farming combats global warming through carbon sequestration.

In the US, 33,000,000 mattresses are produced annually and most of these are conventional mattresses that contain man-made materials.[1] They‘re derived from petrochemicals and from natural gas, which are nonrenewable resources. Additionally, most mattresses are sprayed with toxic fungicides, pesticides, and flame-retardants, water and stain repellants. If they contain recycled steel springs there may also be heavy metals present, and other contaminants from the steel-recycling process.

A number of these mattresses contain cotton as well. When conventional cotton is grown, large amounts of toxic synthetic chemicals are used, which includes pesticides, dyes, fertilizers, and fixers. Cotton farming uses only about 3 percent of the farmland around the world, but it consumes 25 percent of all chemical pesticides and fertilizers.[2]

Eco-friendly mattress materials

Although still somewhat of a novelty, eco-friendly mattresses are becoming more common in the average person's bedroom. Environmentally preferable choices are made of varying combinations of organic cotton, organic wool, and natural latex. Some have innersprings, some contain latex instead of innersprings and others combine innersprings with latex. So depending on your sleep preference, you should be able to spy something suitable for your nighttime slumber.

Natural Latex

Natural rubber is harvested by tapping the milk (sap) of Hevea brasiliensis (the common rubber tree), which grow in Indonesia and Malaysia. The latex foam is made by whipping up the rubber tree sap. The sap can be collected for up to half of the year and the tree heals within an hour each time, making natural latex a genuinely sustainable resource. In a mattress, natural latex is body-conforming and feels denser than a mattress with innersprings.

Organic cotton

Organic cotton is grown and processed without insecticides, herbicides or fungicides with control of crop pests, weeds, and diseases achieved mainly through physical, mechanical, and biological controls. A 2006 survey of US organic cotton farmers done by the Organic Trade Association showed a 14 percent increase in planted acreage from 2004 to 2005 but those numbers remain well below what was grown in 1995, organic cotton's peak production year in the US.[3]

Organic farming may also be key in fighting global climate change. A study of conventional versus organic farming methods by the Rodale Institute discovered that organic farming combats global warming through carbon sequestration. In agricultural applications, the more organic matter that is retained in the soil, the more carbon is sequestered. While conventional farming depletes organic matter through the use of chemical fertilizers, organic farming uses animal manure and cover crops, which actually build soil organic matter.

Organic farming further reduces atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) by using 37 percent fewer fossil fuels than conventional farming.[4] The Rodale Institute estimates that if all 160 million acres of corn and soybean farmland in the US were switched to organic farming methods, it would be equivalent to removing 58.7 million cars from the road, and would satisfy 73 percent of the proposed US Kyoto targets for CO₂ reduction.[5]

Organic wool

Wool is a sustainable resource because the wool is shorn each year and the sheep live on. Unlike conventional wool production which involves the use of pesticides on pastures and chemicals in the sheep's feed, organic wool is produced without using hormones or pesticides in the animal or its food. Pure wool is naturally fire resistant so fire retardant chemicals are not required on wool mattresses. Wool's natural fibers are breathable and regulate moisture, helping to keep you warm when it is cold and cool when it is warm. This moisture-wicking quality also may make wool mattresses less susceptible to dust mites, which like moist places.

Related health issues

American adults spend on average of almost seven hours a night sleeping, being exposed to the chemical contents of mattresses and bedding, inhaling and absorbing them through the skin.[6] Chemical fabric treatments, pesticides, artificial colors and dyes, and toxic flame retardants may have all kinds of detrimental health effects, from headaches to serious allergic reactions.

What's more, synthetic materials have poor air circulation and trap moisture, an ideal environment for dust mites and microbial growth. This is a problem for people with allergies.

Controversies

Many individuals and organizations, such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), take issue with how wool-producing sheep are treated—even those subject to a pesticide-free, environmentally sound production process. A particular act of sheep mutilation that has caught the attention of animal rights supporters is the “mulesing” of Australian Merino sheep. Merinos are bred to have wrinkly skin that, in turn, results in higher yields of wool. These characteristic wrinkles attract flies that lay eggs in the folds of skin, resulting in fatal maggot infestations. To prevent this, ranchers perform mulesing—the sheep are restrained without painkillers and chunks of flesh are removed from the area around the tail, resulting in smooth skin that discourages fly egg-laying.

Mutilation aside, another environmental danger of the wool industry is enteric fermentation—or livestock belching and flatulence—a major contributor to global climate change. In New Zealand, for example, 90 percent of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions (methane, in particular) result from enteric fermentation, primarily from sheep.[7]

Glossary

• carbon sequestration: The process by which carbon is captured (in the form of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas) from the atmosphere and incorporated into soil, ocean, and plant matter.

External links

• Green Home - About Mattresses and Futons
• The Center for Children's Health and the Environment
• The Green Guide - Mattresses and Box Springs
• Lifekind - Why an Organic Mattress? Compare the purity and environmental impact of an organic mattress to a mainstream, or “chemical,” mattress
• National Organic Program - Organic Handling and Production Standards
• Organic.org - Introduction to Organic Fibers
• People for Clean Beds.org - US Consumer Products Safety commission open public comment period on new law, Closes March 14, 2005
• US Consumer Product Safety Commission