I bought a memory foam mattress topper (made a huge difference on my back) and I doubt that it is environmentally friendly. The thing REEKED of chemicals when we took it out of its packaging and we had to air it out for days. The whole upstairs of the house was intoxicating and unbearable to be in due to the smell. After it aired a while the smell went away. As for the sex question, that took a bit of getting used to. Not as much, ahem, "bounce."

As for natural alternatives, I know that in addition to organic latex, you can also get wool mattresses. Do a search on treehugger.com and you will get some options and discussions.

I am very interested in a mattress made with wool and cotton fibers. I know that are a few out there that cost upwards of $5,000 up to $70,000. I don't have the budget for that now. Any recommendations.

Canadian in Swedish Clothing: Thanks for the tip on treehugger.com, but I can't seem to find a search spot to search for mattress... Can you point in the right direction if I am not seeing it?

Anusha73,

We'd suggest that you check out http://www.vivetique.com/.

We're familiar with these mattresses -- especially the Organic Cotton & Wool. There's a lot of variation in mattress pricing, both because it is traditionally a very high margin business, and because mattresses are expensive to ship, so shop around.

I used a foam topper for awhile. Yes, it made the bed more comfortable in the winter, but once the warm weather came around, it became impractical. Foam retains heat, and that was the last thing I needed. The topper is now rolled up in a big plastic bag in my storage space (want it? seriously, if you're in NYC, it's yours for the asking). Now, I confess that I bought one of the cheap ones on Overstock.com, so maybe that was a factor. But given the heat experience, and the yucky outgassing when I first opened it, I would have to say that I'm over my foam curiosity.

the 'search' function on treehugger is in the top right hand corner. It's the white square. There isn't a button so just press enter. Whenever I have a question about the environment I usually search treehugger and come up with some interesting discussions. They also have pretty knowledgable commenters too, so it pays to read the comments as well as the articles.

jonathanb thanks for the tip. I will investigate them

canadian in swedish clothing - hmm okay I will do that. I looked to me like a google search engine and I did not want to search the whole web :-) thanks

Oooh, oooh! About one month ago I bought a 100% natural latex mattress. I've dated several guys with memory foam mattresses, and my new mattress feels is just as nice, if not better! I bought it because I was really worried about off-gassing from memory foam. My boyfriend's memory foam mattress has a chemical smell that won't go away, and I just can't imagine that's good, especially when I hear the name of some of the chemicals they use to make memory foam...

I got my mattress here:
http://www.habitatfutons.com/latex_mattress.html

it won't search the entire web- when you hit enter just scroll past the 2-3 ads and you will find all the articles...

I bought a memory foam mattress, and let it air for over a month. I have asthma and I was never able to use the mattress. It caused uncontrollable coughing.

I've used a regular poly. foam mattress (Carpenter Q Foam) for almost 40 years, and never had any problems. I was surprised at the pungency and gas coming off the memory foam, and I ultimately had to return it.

J-fer in DC - I've heard that there are issues with latex mattresses having a lasting smell, too. Did you find that to be true?

Beyond materials, there's also the question of where your foam mattress will end up. About four years ago I toured the recycling and garbage processing facilities of Edmonton Alberta, at the time one of the most sophisticated systems of its kind on the continent (for the sake of our environmental future I hope the trash schemes in many other cities now surpass Edmonton, still if you're ever there I highly recommend the tour). Their system relies heavily on composting whatever will disintegrate, at their dump site as well as at the compost facilities. At their dump site the only recognizable substance was foam. Mixed into the disintegrating, amorphous sludge were sofa pillows, mattresses, pieces of foam still shaped like car seats or pool toys. It was striking and a little scary seeing how it almost refused to break down.

Suggestion: If you are thinking of making a major purchase on a memory foam mattress, first buy a memory foam pillow and see how that works for you. I bought a pillow for about $30 (after my 20% off coupon from BB&B) and the smell was pretty strong for several weeks. I really like the pillow and the smell is bearable now but I can imagine that there is a stronger smell for a big mattress as opposed to a standard pillow. The pillow has helped me with my neck pain.

I understand that there is a difference of some sort between "memory foam" and 100% natural rubber foam. I think that there is even a difference drawn between latex foam and natural rubber foam. The difference is highlighted for people who have latex allergies... Mattresses of the memory foam ilk that claim to be greenish are sold at the natural sleep store: http://thenaturalsleepstore.com/natural-mattresses.html as well as other retailers who tout the eco consciousness and all naturalness of the mattresses being sold. For a time I was totally obsessed with the idea... I still am, but I am not in the financial position to buy such a mattress yet.

I'll jump in here with my experience. I've totally maxed out the safety and comfort of my bed:

organic cotton and wool futon with an inner natural latex core (awesome! no fire retardant and no doctor's slip due to the anti-flammable nature of wool)

organic cotton cover over the futon

natural wool topper (watch out for those fleece covers, they're sprayed w/ an anti-microbial spray and need to off-gas -- I don't know why when wool is naturally anti so many things like bacteria, mites and mold ???)

natural latex pillows -- which smell like PANCAKES!

organic cotton and silk bedding ... anyway it goes on and on and i'm constantly obsessing about more products to get.

Bottom line: this is a daily predictable pleasure. Period. Get the best you can afford and don't look back.

I've heard all memory foam is hot and sweaty.

For green searches, try the search engine "Green Maven" that was featured on AT previously.

http://tinyurl.com/3aej88

Memory foam is anti-green.

There is lots of information on the web. This is just a taste:

http://www.epa.gov/EPA-AIR/1998/October/Day-07/a25894.htm

http://www.foamorder.com/material_safety.php?page=memory

I agree with Lori. Natural Latex is the way to go. If you have chemical sensitivities or a latex allergy to natural latex, check out Furnature.com They sell latex mattresses and are geared towards helping chemcially sensitive people. My guess is they would know what to do if you are either one of the above so that you can buy a latex mattress (provided your doctor gives the okay). http://www.furnature.com/

Even if you do not have an issue with latex, you should check them out any way. I just went to their site and I think they are having a sale.

Also, I am glad Lori you brought up foamorder.com. Great resource. I am going to be ordering latex cushions from them if I ever finish my window seat covers... anna http://green-talk.com

I have to admit that when it comes to the health of my back I am very willing to be anti-green. I have a Dormia memory foam mattress and it is the most comfortable bed I have slept on in my entire life. I have ongoing problems with back, neck and shoulder pain and this mattress (plus yoga and a good chiropractor) has helped alleviate 90% of my pain and discomfort and I wouldn't trade it for all the organic earth-friendly mattresses in the world! As far as the off-gassing goes, mine had an odor for about 4-5 days only. I don't know how the different brands compare, but to me and my boyfriend, the odor from our Dormia was minimal and very acceptible.

BUT...If I had the money I would happily have one of those high-end organic mattresses that Anusha73 referred to, but only if they were as comfy and supportive as my memory foam! The Dormia cost close to $2K and that was at the top end of my budget right now.

P.S. We find that the memory foam is great for sex! I can see how the bounciness of a regular spring mattress would accentuate the velocity of certain "moves" ;-) but overall we are just as happy on the memory foam as we were on our previous inner-spring mattress.

J-fer in DC, which of the two mattresses that they offer did you go with? We've made an interim step of getting a wool mattress topper from http://www.thecleanbedroom.com and it's made a HUGE difference, but we are still looking at needing to replace our old mattress relatively soon.

And by the way, I can't recommend the Natura Wool Mattress Topper enough. It was comfortable in the summer and has been nice and cozy as the nights get chilly, in addition to putting an end to the mysterious aches and pains that we were having.

LauraII, Thanks for the info on that wool mattress pad...it look absolutely delicious!

I picked up a Summit mattress from a Canadian company called Natura two years ago. It is 100% natural latex and comes with a wool mattress pad. It's a wonderful bed and was very reasonably priced.

Just thought I would comment on the feedback everyone is leaving about the smell of the memory foam. Just like any other product there is high end and low end foam. The quality of the foam and the way it is made varies greatly. If you buy a memory foam pillow for $30 chances are the whole sale on the pillow is about $10. The distributor probably sold it for $5 and they probably put about $2 into making it. It also makes a huge difference which country the mattress comes from. If you buy a mattress made in China for instance they have almost no regulations on their manufacturing. But if you go to Spain or Switzerland where they have intense regulations you are going to get a much higher quality mattress. If you open up a tempurpedic mattress or pillow I guarantee they will have virtually no smell. There are other companies out there if anyone is interested that sell quality odorless foam products.

I consider myself a pretty savvy consumer, as well as an aware environmentalist. I sleep on my side usually and was looking to alleviate the problem, so I bought a memory foam contour pillow for myself and my wife. We aired them out for a few days outside on the hammock. My pillow was smelly but I used it anyway. My wife refused to use hers and hers was still off gassing. My neck and shoulders felt great for the four days that I used the pillow. Then I tried to get my wife to use it. She tried but the smell was too much so she gave it back. I then noticed the smell and I stopped using it for fear of the chemicals in the off-gassing. We looked at the tag and it read that if the pillow was on fire, the smoke could cause cancer. Putting two and two together, I love the pillow for its comfort but I will never use it due to the off-gassing of cancer causing chemicals. sigh

Can I just post a silly comments on how very unconfortable and un-natural the pose of the model on the bed is ?