Your Guide To Green

According to an old Irish Proverb, “A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book.” But today, the doctors might be singing a different song…

I recently discovered something that absolutely shocked me.  Most pillows and mattresses are made from polyurethane, a petrochemical product that releases toxic gasses for many years, as well as being treated with toxic fire retardants.  This sent my mind reeling as I put together the fact that we spend up to one-third of our lives in bed.

I recently visited Organic Baby at Scottsdale Fashion Square where I discovered my different choices. Essentially there are three areas that we want to address when replacing bedding: mattresses, pillows and sheets. 

The new organic mattresses come in two styles, latex rubber and innerspring.  The latex rubber mattress contains only 100% natural rubber with a certified organic cotton and wool cover. 

The inner spring model offers more support with a wood frame and metal inner springs with a three-inch layer of natural rubber added on top. The piece is then covered with a certified organic cotton and wool cover.

Organic pillows are manufactured in very much the same way.  An organic cotton and wool cover is made and the same natural rubber used in the mattresses is shredded and placed inside the pillow.  This makes for a very nice place to rest your head all night.

One of the many exciting aspects of this is that the natural rubber is collected from the rubber tree (hevea brasiliensis).  The sap of the tree is tapped to harvest rubber much like how maple trees give us maple syrup.

Bedding choices include sheets made from organic cotton, silk and bamboo (which in my estimation is as soft as silk).  Also if you haven’t discovered bamboo for clothes im betting you’ll be hooked as bamboo is sooooo soft.  And best of all -- cotton, silk and bamboo are easily renewable.

And when replacing a conventional mattress is not an option, No-Chem Mattress Wraps are an affordable solution for off-gas prevention from mattresses.

If you want to delve into all the information on bedding the book "Toxic Bedrooms, Is your Mattress Making You Sick? by Walter Bader" is a great resource for more information.