How To Choose An Organic Mattress
There are some things in life that should only happen every so often. Buying a house. Purchasing a car. Looking for the best life insurance quotes and deciding on a broker. And, of course, replacing your mattress. Mattresses should actually be replaced every decade or so, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a time-consuming, rather tedious task. Shopping around, trying out, and selecting the best mattress can be rough. But if you’re going to switch things up, consider going for an organic mattress instead of a standard one. They’re popular, durable choices that can help you attain better sleep. Here are a few tips for selecting an organic mattress the next time you go shopping for one.
Developed For Sleep
Although it can certainly look nice with your room’s overall design scheme, mattresses aren’t really built for their looks. They should be built and developed for sleep. In short, that just means they should feature materials that allow for support and restful sleep. These might be as simple as rows of support coils instead of springs. Sometimes it’s the firmness of the mattress. At other points, it might be the size of the mattress (twin, full, queen, or king). Pillow tops are magnificent, too. They’re comfortable and supportive, supplying an additional layer that can help you sleep well. Ultimately, a mattress should feel as if it were developed for someone to sleep in (which is its entire purpose, right?) instead of being just another uncomfortable piece of furniture taking up the majority of a room.
Made With Sustainable Materials
In the modern, eco-conscious world being sustainable and having a low carbon footprint is ideal. Manufacturing the things we use every day from sustainable and renewable materials is the key to keeping the environment viable for future generations. Sustainable materials can readily be defined as any material that can be mass-produced without depleting resources. Growing cotton or using wool from sheep and goats are classic examples of sustainable materials. Whether it’s a biodegradable textile grown by scientists or using plants like cork and bamboo, sustainable materials are the best path forward into the future. When choosing a new mattress, be sure to look out for mattresses made with sustainable materials like latex, wool, kapok, and certified organic cotton.
No VOCs (or Other Dangerous Compounds)
It should go without saying that an organic mattress worth its salt shouldn’t contain dangerous compounds, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs sound more terrifying than they actually are. It’s entirely possible that our body heat actually causes some of the volatile organic compounds to be released when we sleep (or just lay in bed). Now, it’s not a huge amount of the gas, but the chemicals used in flame retardants, plastics, and polyurethane foam are dangerous in high quantities. Studies conducted on several polyurethane mattresses in 2019 indicated that body heat does cause more VOCs to emit from the mattress. However, the amount of VOCs released is not significantly harmful and below any levels which could cause deleterious effects. It’s still kind of a concern, though. Would you feel comfortable sleeping on a mattress that might release VOCs while you sleep? Natural mattresses offer a workaround here because their materials are all-natural and do not contain VOCs at all.
Organic Options
When shopping for a new mattress, think about your different options. Are you going to go for a pillow-top mattress or something that requires a box spring? How about a mattress that has memory foam in it or is it adjustable? Mattresses these days offer a great deal of variety in their design, filling, and construction. So, the idea of purchasing a natural or organic mattress shouldn’t be that far-fetched. In fact, a natural mattress is probably a better investment than any other kind. Natural materials like wool, cotton, and latex make up the typical structure of one of these mattresses. There are made sustainably and can be produced without polluting the earth. Less water is used in their growing and harvesting and no animals are killed to get the wool.
For those who wish to have a mattress completely free of any animal materials, latex comes from trees. There truly is something for everybody with an organic or natural mattress. They are long-lasting, affordable, and eco-friendly—perfect for a world where resources are limited and require conservation. To find the best organic mattress, check out companies like California-based Avocado Mattress and talk to mattress manufacturers to find the right organic mattress for you.
Recyclable
Speaking of conservation and limited resources, have you ever considered what happens to a mattress after you discard it? Traditional mattresses are made for materials that are not biodegradable or easily recycled. Polyurethane foam might make for a decent mattress material, but it sure isn’t environmentally friendly. Most mattresses end up on the side of the road somewhere, somewhere in the woods, or just taking up space in a landfill. It’s a sad existence for the discarded mattress and a detriment to the planet’s environment. So what can you do about it? Well, the answer lies in recycling things as much as you can. If you can reuse part of that old traditional mattress and something then do so. Dispose of it properly and professionally so that there’s less of an opportunity for it to contribute to the environmental problems with which we’re already dealing. Ultimately, going with an organic or natural mattress will be the best way to give back to the planet. Natural mattresses are made from natural materials, meaning they will return to the Earth and can be recycled or reused when their effective life cycle has ended.
