Eco-Friendly Sleep

So many times the general public sees ‘being green’ as a compromise of some sort. Yes, I’m green but my clothes look shabby, or my car has no power or capability to travel long distances; being green is often seen as a sacrifice of either function or aesthetic. But not when it comes to beds and sleeping because going green in this arena is actually medically better for you and cost effective for both your pocketbook and the environment. There are two main reasons for this: the development of memory foam by the NASA scientists; the development of Bamboo as a sustainable material to replace cotton fabric and construction materials.

There are now many different methods of memory foam construction, including eco-friendly construction. Eco-friendly compounds are very good at creating the support that is necessary for remedial approaches to the issues that may be associated with quality of sleep, extended immobility or the recovery from or mitigation of physical ailments. It is a process whereby eco-friendly chemicals are used in the construction of the foam cells, and also the method by which the process is executed is far more environmentally friendly. Eco-friendly construction is non-toxic, is anti-allergenic, and is resistant to dust mite infection, unlike standard innerspring construction.

Bamboo construction methods have moved from simple floor and furniture construction to the creation of materiel. Bamboo fabrics are naturally anti-microbial; stay cool in hot weather, feels much softer than cotton and resists the growth of mildew or mold because it dries very rapidly.

It takes far less land to grow bamboo than it does cotton and needs very little water to create a sustainable crop. It the oxygen production during its growth cycle is significantly more than cotton or wood. Bamboo is easy to grow, needing no technology or growth enhancing products, and it grows naturally in countries that need the cash from sustainable crop incomes to grow their economy and their infrastructure.

Wrapping an eco-friendly mattress and pillows in bamboo fabric and then placing it in a bamboo frame makes sound ecological and fiscal sense, it also makes more sense from a physiological perspective to sleep on a memory foam mattress than a standard innerspring design, because it is designed to support as needed and degenerate very, very slowly.

The relief of chronic illnesses and problems that are either created by or made worse by poor bed construction (or beds that are worn out) is critical to good health. Sleep is very important to anyone for medical reasons and just simply aids in the quality of life, but to be able to solve this issue with green technology fantastic and is what this author would argue business should be doing on a much grander scale. This development using the combinations of research is a beacon to show what is possible, and we should take it as a template for success. Being green is not a rejection of technology; it is the embracing of it with success being defined not just in financial terms but also in sustainable terms. Being green does not mean compromise when it comes to sleep.