Sleeping Soundly – Environmentally Friendly Mattresses

An old dig through the archives at Springwise reminded me of how companies can not only reduce environmental impact through products themsleves, but also by designing and developing alternative ways of actually delivering products to your door.

Keetsa, for example, who were featured in April last year produce mattresses and bedding from sustainable and recyclable components such as unbleached cotton, bamboo fabrics and recycled steel. But the company also have found ways to safely compress the matresses down into smaller recycled card boxes that make it easier and greener to transport them around to shops and distributors.

Bio-Posture also compress their memory foam mattresses before shipping, and even run a longer day but a shorter working week at factories, so employees commuting emissions are reduced! The foam is plant-based, making it more eco-friendly and breathable than those of TempurPedic, for example.

From the looks of things Keetsa nd Bio-Posture are only available outside the UK, but there are some other options if you are looking for a new mattress that minimses environmental impact:

Manchester-based Dojo hand-make a range of mattresses with organic materials such a wool and natural latex. Materials are sourced with sustainability and locality in mind, and the local business is even “fuelled by Ecotricity and Fairtrade coffee” demonstrating the owners and employees all really buy in to the ethos of what they are creating.

Ecocentric also supply a sprung mattress in the UK made from organic Welsh wool and which is free from toxins. The materials are certified to the Soil Association organic standard and also provide either a standard or firm option.

How do these compare with a standard mattress?

Product	Standard Double Mattress	Dojo Firm/Springy Double Mattress	EcoCentric Double Organic Pocket-Srung Mattress
Price	c.£406 inc. delivery (based on mid-range pocket-sprung mattress from Additions)	c.£525 inc. delivery	c.£850 inc. delivery
Materials	Visco-elastic polyurethane foam – polyurethane with additional chemicals that increase its viscosity	Organic cotton fabric, wool, coconut fibre and natural latex (94+ per cent).	Organic cotton and wool. (Springs unknown)
Other Factors	Delivery via usual means, with mattress at full size	Delivery via biodiesel van in the Manchester area, or via TNT for all other areas	Delivery via usual means, with mattress at full size

Do you know any another options for environmentally friendly mattresses? Perhaps you’ve slept on one of those mentioned above? Let us know!