The Eco-Friendly Latex Mattress

When you're shopping for a new mattress you're constantly bombarded with tons of different options. You need to choose between construction methods, materials, firmness, size, and so forth. But in today's environmentally conscious world you now have a new choice: eco-friendly or non eco-friendly. While this choice may mean nothing to you, there are plenty of other customers who will buy products only if they're labeled as being eco-friendly or "green."

At first glance it would seem that an eco-friendly mattress is one that was made with as little harm to the environment as possible. Truth be told, that was the original intent of the phrase when it was first developed back in the 1970s. Since then the meaning of eco-friendly has changed dramatically to mean many different things to many different people. The problem with using this designation as a product description lies in the fact that there's no clear standard as to what eco-friendly means.

Eco-Friendly Labeling for Mattresses

In the United States companies must be very careful about making ambiguous or deliberately inaccurate advertising claims. These regulations include product descriptions found on various items at your local store. Where mattresses are concerned, manufactures must be very careful in making claims of being eco-friendly, organic, or green. And because there are no standards set by the government or industry, it is very difficult to abide by the federal regulations if manufacturers want to use the term eco-friendly.

That said, assume that mattresses bearing the eco-friendly designation are made using natural processes that don't harm the environment. In terms of latex foam, that would probably imply natural latex as the main construction material. Latex foam is made using either the Dunlop or Talalay processes, both of which are considered environmentally friendly for the most part. The only exception might be ammonium that's added to foam during the Talalay process as a stabilizer.

Eco-Friendly Does Not Mean Green

An eco-friendly latex mattress is not necessarily a green mattress, depending on the definition of terms used. Typically eco-friendly refers to the manufacturing process while green refers to the finished product. While it is quite likely that an eco-friendly mattress will also be a green finished product, that's not always the case. Using the previous example of ammonium, the Talalay Dunlop mattress with ammonium added would not qualify as being green because upon breakdown the ammonium would pollute the environment.

The distinction between eco-friendly and green is probably slight enough that it doesn't make much of a difference. If you're purchasing eco-friendly you will, in all likelihood, also have a green product. And even if your latex mattress isn't fully green, it will still be much better for the environment than an inner spring mattress or a memory foam product. And it will certainly be more environmentally friendly than petroleum-based latex.

Eco-Friendly Does Not Mean Organic

Another bit of confusion with eco-friendly latex mattresses is the assumption that they're all organic. This certainly is not true, to the extent that it's even more important than the green argument. When a mattress is marketed as being organic its manufacturer is essentially saying that there were no synthetic materials or toxic chemicals used during the manufacturing process. The problem is, since there are no standards for determining what is organic and what is not, it is another term that can be used very loosely among mattress manufacturers.

Going back to the ammonium that's sometimes used in Talalay latex manufacturing, it is clear to see that such mattresses would not qualify as being truly organic. And depending on the compounds added in a particular Dunlop process, it may not even be possible to have a truly organic latex product. Nonetheless, eco-friendly latex mattresses are certainly more organic than anything else on the market. Just like the green designation, if you're concerned about organic, eco-friendly latex is a good option.

Eco-Friendly Does Mean Extra Cost

Unfortunately, an eco-friendly latex mattress will cost you more than one that's not eco-friendly. There are two reasons behind this. The first reason comes by way of a more expensive manufacturing process which is also more labor intense. Whenever production costs rise, retail prices rise right along with them. For all of their environmental benefits, eco-friendly manufacturing processes do drive up the cost of doing business.

The second factor adding to the cost lies in the simple concept of supply and demand. Going eco-friendly is a hot trend in the United States, in everything from latex mattresses to household cleaning products. And because it is now the latest fad, the demand for eco-friendly products is on the rise. All of this translates into higher prices for eco-friendly latex mattresses. Like it or not, if you're concerned about protecting the environment you will pay more for just about everything you buy - including your eco friendly latex mattress.