Green Camping Essentials: 4 Simple Ways to Enjoy Nature and Minimize Your Footprint

August 8, 2012 by Leave a Comment

As busy as our lives are these days, even something as simple as planning a vacation in the great outdoors can become a source of stress. This goes double if you’re trying to incorporate the green living techniques you use at home while you’re miles away from civilization. Here are four simple ways to minimize your footprint and keep it green any time you go camping.

1. Plug the Energy Drains at Home

One of the easiest things to overlook when preparing to go on any type of vacation is the state your home will be in while you’re away. This is especially important during the summer months when you tend to use air-conditioning and/or watering systems to feed your lawns and gardens on a consistent basis.

Start by unplugging all electronics and appliances that won’t be in use or needed while you’re away. Plugged-in electronics can continue to use energy even when turned off so the only way to stop these energy vampires is to unplug them completely. Ideally, the only things that you should keep powered on are lights to deter burglars, but instead of running them 24/7, put them on a timer so that they only run at night.

Turn your air conditioner off and set your thermostat to 80 or 85 F. This sounds a little hot but you would be amazed how much energy is saved with every 3-5 degrees you turn up the thermostat in the summer. Check the extended forecast to see if there will be any rain or cooling trends and adjust or reduce your timed lawn or garden sprinklers accordingly, to save water.

2. Pack Light, Pack Smart

There’s no getting around it: the more stuff you bring with you when you go camping, the more stuff you’ll either have to leave behind or haul back. Remember, the whole point of camping is to enjoy the outdoors not drag all the creature comforts of home along with you! Try to limit what you bring to the things you know you will really need.

One way to camp in comfort without over-packing is to bring equipment that is either multi-purpose or reusable. For example, a bottle of multi-purpose soap that can clean your dishes, clothes, and skin is a lot easier to carry than a bunch of bottles of shower gel, shampoo, and detergent. Bring along something like Wilderness Wash that’s biodegradable and free of fragrance and other harsh chemicals.

Your silverware and dishes should be reusable, ideally made of aluminum, stainless steel, or BPA-free plastic. Ditch disposable plates and plastic utensils because they create a tremendous amount of waste.

3. Respect the Outdoors

When you camp, be sure to show your love and respect for nature by not causing unnecessary damage to your environment. When you shower or wash your dishes, do so at least 200 feet away from any natural sources of water to prevent the chance of contamination (even when using biodegradable soap). Instead of burying your trash, take it with you and ensure that it is properly disposed of. Stick to well-worn paths and trails when you hike, even if it means taking the long way to your destination –creating shortcuts can cause permanent damage to an area.

Be respectful of animals you encounter along the way, after all, it’s their home you are visiting. If you’re camping in bear country make sure you take the proper steps to conceal your foods because hell hath no wrath like that of a hungry bear! See this site BackCountryAttitude.com for more information on how to bear-proof your campsite.

4. Leave Your Campsite the Way You Found It

“Leave No Trace” is one of the cornerstones of eco-friendly camping. When it’s time to leave, your campgrounds or camping area should look just the way they did when you arrived if not better. It can be tempting to a leave a mark that shows you were there, like a carving in a tree or scratching your name on a rock. These types of activities can cause long-term damage and increase the chance that others will add their mark too –further scarring the land.

Resist the temptation to take home souvenirs. Leave stones, feathers, artifacts, shells, petrified wood, etc. so that others may enjoy them. Take pictures of them instead and use your pictures as mementos of your trip.

If you are not camping in a designated campground, then take your trash (and any trash that other people may have left behind) with you.

Copyright 2009-2012 Dropwise Essentials

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Donya Fahmy, is a green business owner and the creator of Dropwise Essentials’ spa-quality aromatherapy body products that help you safely relieve stress, increase vitality, improve confidence, or simply manage your emotional state any time or place without popping a pill. For more free tips and valuable information visit www.dropwise.com and subscribe to the Dropwise Health & Beauty News Ezine or blog feed.

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Sweet Turned Sour? The Environmental Cost of Our Appetite for Sugar

July 2, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Looking for another reason to lower the amount of sugar in your diet? I can give you two more. Consider this: according to the World Wildlife Fund, sugar does more damage to biodiversity and the environment than any other crop. In a report titled “Sugar and the Environment,” the WWF estimates that over 150 million tons of sugar are produced each year by 121 countries all over the world. Sugar production and harvesting impact ecosystems in many different ways.

Biodiversity

Consumer demand for sugar grows each year, and the amount of land dedicated to sugar production increases with it. Unfortunately, this land doesn’t come ready-made to support sugar cane production –substantial clearing is required to make land available for sugar growth. Sugar production destroys a variety of different habitats, and this loss of habitat leads to a loss of species.

Water pollution and consumption

It probably won’t surprise you to hear that sugar requires water to grow. But the numbers are truly staggering –it takes 88 gallons of water to produce a five-pound bag of sugar. That’s twice as much water per pound, as fruit production, and four times as much as it takes to produce vegetables. Besides requiring massive amounts of water to grow the sugar, it also takes a lot to process it. Factories use large amounts of water to clean the soil off of roots during harvest.

Some of the water that is used in sugar cultivation turns into runoff, spilling out of the farm’s boundaries to flow into natural waterways and aquatic habitats, polluting existing sources of water with toxic chemicals and pesticides.

Though these effects listed above are the most damaging results of sugar production, they are far from the only ones. Sugar production also leads to lesser soil quality in many areas from repeated use, and air pollution from crop burning and factory emissions.

As a consumer, you can’t necessarily control the actions of politicians and big industry when it comes to reducing the impact of sugar production on the environment. You can still do your part by reducing your consumption of sugar cane. There are many natural sweeteners that you can use as substitutes that won’t harm you or the environment. Though you may not enjoy your coffee as much without sugar, a cleaner planet for everyone is a pretty sweet treat.

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Greening Your Travel: Why Packing One Bag is the Best Way to Go

August 23, 2011 by Leave a Comment

luggageI’ve been on a little bit of a break from blogging and writing this summer so I apologize for not getting this out sooner but I’m back now and wanted to share some of this information with you because, while the specifics will vary, the principles apply no matter what time of the year you travel.

As I mentioned in my last post, packing only one bag for your trip not only has tremendous practical advantages, but is probably the single most important thing you can do to green your travel. Why? Because it really forces you to think carefully about what to take on a trip, and that process in turn, helps you select items and outfits that serve multiple purposes –taking up less space in your luggage and lightening your load.

So pack with an eye towards picking items and clothing that can do double duty so to speak. If an item can perform more than one function, it allows room and capacity for other items that may not be as versatile but you feel you must have with you when you travel. Think of the Swiss Army Knife concept only upgraded for post 9/11 travel.

For example, rather than packing a moisturizer and a sunscreen you can pack a moisturizer with a built-in sunscreen and now you’ve covered two bases with one item. Or you can invest in a pair of convertible pants –ones that can be converted into shorts simply by zipping off the legs– and an item like this can often carry you from day into night without requiring a change of clothes. In many cases, packing layers of clothing means you won’t have to pack a heavy jacket or coat which can take up a lot of room in your luggage and add considerable weight.

The goal is to have one bag that is light enough to tote around with you wherever you go. That way you can easily get around using public transportation, bicycles, or even walking –all of which are either carbon neutral or less carbon intensive than driving or riding around town in cabs. Packing re-usable items like a stainless steel water bottle or bamboo utensils means you won’t leave a trail of waste that will likely wind up in a landfill! And using refillable bottles for your toiletries means if you run out sooner than expected, you can purchase more along the way to refill them. For short trips, I like to pack sample packets of toiletries that I’ve collected from different places. These are usually single-use items but they are lightweight and flat so they won’t take up a lot of room.

And now with the advent of smart phones and other digital gadgets you can really lighten your load while still having access to many things that in the past, would have required packing a lot more. Tune into my next post where I’ll offer additional suggestions for what specific double-duty items to pack if you’re only taking one bag.

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Summer’s Here and the Time is Right: 5 Tips for Greening Your Travel

June 23, 2011 by Leave a Comment

These days you probably hear the catch phrases “eco-friendly travel,” “green travel,” and “eco-tourism” quite a bit as early adopters in the travel arena try to set the ground rules for how the rest of us will eventually “green” this aspect of our lives too.

While the term “eco-tourism” tends to conjure up images of what some refer to as “volunteer vacations” where you might be involved in a beach clean up project or wildlife preservation program, you really don’t have to sacrifice comfort or go for an adventure in the wild to do it. There are as many different ways to green your travel, as there are ways to travel. It’s all a matter of degree and commitment.

The truth is that while these terms actually mean different things they all follow the same guiding principle: be mindful of your impact on the natural habitats and cultural environments that you visit. In other words, leave no footprint behind, respect the local cultures and customs, and wherever possible, make a positive contribution to the local communities.

If you want to green your travel then always keep this core principle close to your heart. And practice the 3 Rs inherent in any greening activities: Reduce, Re-use and Recycle. So what does that exactly mean when it comes to travel? Here are 5 tips to help you get started.

1. Maintain Carbon Neutrality. While you can purchase carbon offsets for a nominal price to assuage your guilt, one the best ways to minimize your impact is to take fewer plane, train, and car rides to get to your destination (i.e. fly non-stop as much as possible and map out the most efficient routes for road travel).

For shorter trips take the train instead of a plane. This works out well if you’re traveling in Europe where the train system is extensive, fast, and reasonably priced. If you must rent a car, try to rent a hybrid, electric car, or most fuel-efficient model available.

2. Use Public Transportation. Once you arrive at your destination, make a point of using the local or regional public transportation systems to get around as much as you can. Better yet ride a bicycle or walk. This also helps maintain carbon neutrality.

3. Reduce Energy Consumption. At home and on the go, there are numerous ways to lower your energy consumption. For example, at the hotel where you stay turn off lights, air conditioning, and appliances whenever you are out or not using them. Tell them that you would like re-use towels and sheets. Most larger hotels now enable you to let them know when you want or need the linens changed. At home unplug all unused appliances and keep critical systems like lights and sprinklers on timers for a minimal amount of time each day.

4. Think Global, Eat Local. While many of us are tempted to bring snacks and food from home along on our travels, try to get in the habit of leaving that stuff behind and enjoying local foods of the areas you are visiting. Become a traveling locavore –eat only foods that have been grown or produced within 100 miles of wherever you are on your travels. Choose regional foods, preferably organic and grown on a family farm or produced by a local business. This may take a little extra research up front to ensure you can find enough of a selection to suit your dietary needs and preferences. If you’re traveling to more exotic locales you might want to watch a few episodes of Anthony Bourdain’s TV show “No Reservations” for some ideas of where to go and what to try. Check your local listings for the Travel Channel.

5. Pack Light. There are many good reasons for packing just one bag chief among them is your increased mobility and flexibility on the ground, greater ability to walk or take public transportation, and lightening the overall load on a plane. Not only will this save jet fuel it will save you money in baggage check fees, excess weight fees and countless tips for all the porters and door people who handle your bags for you at every step of your journey.

Even travel connoisseur Rick Steves recommends you limit yourself to one carry-on bag no more than 20 lbs, and optimally one that fits under your plane seat as competition for those overhead bins just keeps getting stiffer all the time. His considerations are more practically motivated but ultimately have the same desired end-result.

Stay tuned for my follow up blog post on why this one thing alone can make a huge difference in helping you green your travel and some helpful tips on how to do it.

In the meantime, you can consult the Independent Traveler web site Green Travel Resources for ways to offset your carbon emissions and some choices for eco-friendly lodging.

 

Copyright 2011 Dropwise Essentials

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Donya Fahmy, is a green business owner and the creator of Dropwise Essentials’ spa-quality aromatherapy body products that help you safely relieve stress, increase vitality, improve confidence, or simply manage your emotional state any time or place without popping a pill. For more free tips and valuable information visit www.dropwise.com and subscribe to the Dropwise Health & Beauty News Ezine or blog feed.

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Kitchen Table Wisdom: Use Natural Green Cleaning Supplies in Your Home Part 2

July 20, 2010 by 1 Comment

As I promised in my last post, here are the other 3 of 6 suggestions for using commonly found ingredients in your kitchen to create your own green and natural cleaning products and solutions. These were excerpted from an article in the April 2009 issue of Real Simple magazine. Be sure to check out some of the books in the resource section at the end, including a room-by-room guide from Real Simple and continue to share your real-life experiences with these solutions, if you’ve used any of them.

Borax
A water softener that when added to laundry, makes detergents more effective. It’s also alkaline so it’s effective at killing mold and fungus. Pour it into your toilet bowl, swish it around then let it sit overnight before flushing. Add it to dishwater to soak and clean your china (including hand painted china), and sprinkle it on the bottom of your dishwasher and let it sit overnight to deodorize it.

Vinegar
Because of its acidity, this common kitchen ingredient can wipe out tarnish, soap scum, mineral deposits as well as dirt and grease. Pour equal parts vinegar and water and run it through the brew cycle in your coffee machine. Halfway through turn the power off for about an hour then resume. When done, run several cycles with clean water. Use it straight to clean drains (flush afterwards with cold water). Spray it directly onto walls to kill mold (rinse after 15 minutes and let dry). Use a 50/50 mixture with water to clean mineral deposits in your steam iron. Add a 1/4 cup to a bucket of warm water to clean almost any type of floor (except marble and wood). Mix 1/4 cup with 2 cups of water and a squirt of castile soap in a spray bottle and use as a window or glass cleaner (for best results wipe off with newspaper).

Baking & Washing Soda
Sodium Bicarbonate (baking soda) and its cousin Sodium Carbonate (washing soda) are hardworking cleaners that effortlessly cut through grease and grime. Washing soda is stronger and can’t be ingested. Use washing soda for tough jobs like cleaning barbecue utensils, stove burners, and even removing tough stains from garage floors or other concrete surfaces. You can sprinkle the washing soda directly onto the concrete and sprinkle a little water to form a paste then let it stand overnight, scrub and hose down or wipe clean. For stove burners, soak them overnight in a mixture of 1/2 cup washing soda and 1 gallon of warm water, then clean as usual. For stained tea cups and coffee mugs use a mixture of 1 part baking soda to 2 parts water and soak for 30 minutes before washing them.

Some additional resources for more information and recommendations:

Better Basics for the Home, Annie Bond

Green Clean, Linda Mason Hunter

Naturally Clean, Jeffrey Hollender

The Naturally Clean Home, Karyn Siegel-Maier

What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained, Robert L. Wolke

To access a wealth of natural cleaning tips, visit www.realsimple.com and do a search on ‘Natural Cleaning Guide.’

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Kitchen Table Wisdom: Use Natural Green Cleaning Supplies in Your Home Part 1

July 18, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Sometimes I wonder if the effort it takes to find a good green cleaner or variety of cleaners is worth the investment of time and money when there are so many safe and natural ingredients that are probably already in your kitchen (or certainly widely available for a low cost) you could use to make your own green cleaning solutions. Below 3 of 6 suggestions taken from an article in the April 2009 issue of Real Simple magazine. Check back in a few days for the other three as well as additional resources.

Lemons
The acid in lemon juice removes dirt and rust stains and works especially well as a scouring paste when mixed with table salt. Use it to clean stainless steel countertops by dipping a lemon half in baking soda and running it across the surface (then wiping clean); increase the grease-cutting power of your dishwashing liquid by adding a teaspoon of lemon juice to it; deodorize your garbage disposer by cutting a lemon in half and running it through the disposer; clean stains out of grout by adding a little juice to a teaspoon of cream of tartar to make a paste and use a toothbrush to scrub it out; or brighten your laundry whites when you add a 1/2 cup of lemon juice to the rinse cycle.

Liquid Castile Soap
This gentle, plant-based liquid soap is great as a natural body wash and because of it’s ability to loosen grime and dirt from surfaces, it can do double duty as an effective floor and surface cleaner too. Combine 1/4 cup (i.e. 2 oz) of liquid castile with a gallon of warm water and use it to wash your car, or mop your floors (if the floors are greasy you can add 1/4 cup of distilled white vinegar and a couple of drops of orange essential oil to the mix). You can also use it to clean leather upholstery (add two drops of soap to a quart of warm water). Combine 1 tablespoon of soap with 1/3 cup of baking soda and go to town on your sinks, showers, tubs, and ceramic tiles.

Cooking/Vegetable Oils
You probably never considered that the same oils you cook with can be used as furniture or even shoe polish! Plant-based oils like olive and safflower dislodge dirt, diminish scratches and bring new life and luster to wood that has aged or dried out from exposure to the sun. Make your own polish by mixing 2 cups olive or vegetable oil with the juice of 1 lemon. Use it to keep rattan and wicker furniture from drying or cracking. You can even use it to clean cast iron cookware by making a paste with vegetable oil and a teaspoon of coarse salt to remove cooked-on debris. And a little vegetable oil can help remove paint or stubborn glue from your hands (Jojoba oil is especially good for this, though a lot more expensive).

Have you tried any of these solutions? If yes, then share your experiences with us by commenting below.

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The Safest Green Cleaning Option: Homemade Solutions

July 16, 2010 by Leave a Comment

If you want to take your all natural, earth friendly cleaning a step further, you can easily make your own green cleaning supplies at home. This way, you can also lessen the environmental impact on your local landfill by leaving the plastic containers at the store and not in your garbage can.

If you happen to own an LCD television or a computer monitor, you’ve probably discovered that cleaners like Windex are useless for getting your screen streak free. However, did you know that a simple solution of one part white vinegar and one part water will get your screen looking as good as new? If you add in one part rubbing alcohol to that solution, then you have a safe and effective cleaner for your windows and mirrors. Not only does this solution work just as well as chemical-based cleaners, it’s simple to make and costs a fraction of store-bought cleaners.

You’ve probably wondered what chemicals are hiding in that bottle of Drano or Liquid Plummer but didn’t think there were any other options for unclogging your drains. If you were one of those kids who made a volcano at home for a class project or a science fair, you may want to try this experiment. Simply pour two tablespoons of baking soda into your drain and then add vinegar and stand back. Wait a few moments, add some warm water to see if the clog is removed.

Furniture polish is another one of those items that many of us can’t imagine living without. What looks better than a freshly dusted and polished table? There is an all natural alternative to those nasty aerosol wax polishes. Start with one part olive oil, one part vinegar and then add in a teaspoon or two of lemon juice. Transfer this mixture to a spray bottle and you have the cheapest and most effective furniture polish ever. Liquid wax jojoba is also a good choice (though pricey for cleaning -I personally would save that for your skin care needs). All natural lemon oil may also be an excellent solution to the problem.

Selecting green cleaning products for your home often comes down to simple common sense and questioning the beliefs you may have come to accept as truths handed down to us from generations of advertising and marketing campaigns. These campaigns have set the standard for cleanliness in our minds based on the notion that harsh detergents and chemicals are the only way to effectively get the job done. Try a kinder, gentler approach and see for yourself.

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The Nose Knows the Truth About Common Cleaning Supplies

July 14, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Consider some of the most widely used cleaning products like all-purpose glass and surface cleaners, bath and tile cleaners, mold and mildew removers, floor waxes, laundry detergents, and even oven cleaners. If you use any of these, then you’re probably well aware of the strong and sometimes sickening chemical smells these products often have. Over the years, we’ve come to erroneously equate these smells with strength and effectiveness. Remember the old ad slogan for Ajax? “Stronger than Dirt” made up an entire campaign for this company that helped shape beliefs about other cleaners. In other words, if it doesn’t have a strong chemical smell then it must not be doing the job.

The truth is that the chemicals that give these products their noxious smells are not only toxic to inhale but in some cases can even kill you. Take a common and widely used product like Windex for example. This is a product people have used for generations, but did you know that it contains ammonia? Ammonia is a dangerous chemical that can easily make you pass out if you breath too much of it and potentially lethal when combined with something like bleach. This seems like a steep price to pay for clean mirrors and windows and yet most of us apply it or similar products liberally and frequently without a second thought.

Everyone knows how dangerous and even toxic a mold or mildew infestation can be, so it only seems natural that we would buy a simple spray to prevent it from happening. However, a spray like Tilex may be even worse for you to breathe in than the mildew it is eradicating. That’s because it contains concentrated bleach, which means it can stain anything that isn’t white, will burn your lungs if you don’t cover your nose and mouth while you spray it, and can be quite harsh if it comes in contact with your skin too.

Speaking of cleaners that stink up your entire home, oven cleaners are notorious for making your eyes water and your skin sting. Products like Easy Off contain ingredients like Diethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether, sodium hydroxide and other chemicals that cause kidney damage in humans, create chemical burns, and can even cause blindness in some cases.

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Two Common Product Label Claims That Might Indicate Greenwashing

June 25, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Here’s a summary of some of the claims you should look out for when evaluating a product that is packaged in a way that makes it appear to be either “Natural” “Eco-Friendly” or “Green”:

  • Natural Claims

    This is the most common and the most nebulous of claims on personal care products. Since there are no regulatory standards here, you have to educate yourself as much as possible on the difference between natural and not-so-natural ingredients to decipher the claims. The main things to consider are a company or brand’s track record, and hidden trade-offs with respect to the product’s ingredients.

    The Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep database enables you to see how both companies and their individual products rank in terms of health and safety. Products with higher rankings (i.e. 7-10) generally contain a higher amount of potentially toxic chemicals and questionable ingredients. Companies whose products rank in the middle to high range should be scrutinized more carefully. Their claims of being “natural” likely involve trade-offs –meaning they may contain natural ingredients but they also contain harmful ingredients. Keep in mind that the term “natural” does not speak directly to the environmental benefits of the product or the manufacturer’s environmental practices.

  • Free From Claims

    Beware of “free from” claims –ones that tend to emphasize what’s not in the product at the expense of what is. These can be highly misleading because they either imply that the free from ingredient is in some way undesirable when that may not be the case, or worse, the free from ingredient is one that has no relevance to either the safety of the product or its environmental impact. These types of claims can also be another way of re-directing attention from the hidden trade-offs mentioned earlier. And oftentimes, there’s no way to verify the legitimacy of the claim.

    For example, a company that makes scented products using “fragrance” may put a “free from phthalates” claim on its label. Since the term “fragrance” is not regulated, how can you know that this claim is true? What proof is being offered to validate the claim either on the label or elsewhere? In this example the only way you can judge is if the product is still scented with “fragrance” as opposed to pure essential oils. At the end of the day, you have to know how to read and understand ingredient panels to determine if there are in fact hidden trade-offs that are being masked by the more prominent claims or so-called seals on the product labels.

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For a Better Night’s Rest Green Your Sleep Routine

April 22, 2010 by 1 Comment

green earthHappy Earth Day! It’s hard to believe that it’s been 40 years since the first one … we’ve come a long way since then but in many ways we still have much progress to make. In honor of the occasion and in keeping with this month’s theme of insomnia, I thought I’d write a post about greening your sleep routine (yes, it’s possible to do this now too!).

I’ve been thinking about buying a new mattress for the past couple of years (the one I’m sleeping on now is probably about 22 years old!). A friend of mine suggested I get one of those memory foam mattress toppers instead of shelling out a small fortune for a new mattress. I took her advice and it’s given my mattress a new life! But the more I read about the toxins in traditional mattresses and memory foam products the more I feel like it might be time to just take the leap and get a green and clean mattress. So I’ve started doing some research to find out what options are available and thought I’d share what I’ve learned so far with you.

It seems that most traditional mattresses are made with metal coils that are coated in some type of toxic chemical to keep them from rusting and degrading over time. On top of that, mattresses are filled with polyurethane foam and other flame retardant materials, and/or cotton that is loaded with pesticides. Then there are the chemicals added to the outer layer of the mattress to make them water and stain resistant. Add all that together and you’ve got a veritable soup of chemicals that slowly leach out (or outgas as the case may be) while you spend close to a third of your life lounging around on them! Phew!

You may be wondering what all this has to do with insomnia. Well it turns out that sleeping on an foam or synthetic fiber mattress retains your body heat and acts like an oven. This in turn raises the body temperature making you sleep lighter. As your body temperature rises you tend to kick off the covers to cool off. Then, during the night, you get colder and get up to grab the covers. This disturbs the pre- R.E.M. (Rapid Eye Movement) sleeping pattern. When you sleep on natural fibers, moisture gets wicked away, which will help keep the body at a more even temperature. This also helps you get a better night’s rest and stay in the R.E.M. (the deep) sleep cycle longer. So optimal sleeping conditions provide a breathable surface to the sleeper. Natural fibers are breathable. Synthetic fibers are basically not.

So what to choose? There’s natural latex (be sure not to get fooled into getting a mattress that is a mixture of natural and synthetic latex), organic cotton, or organic wool. Natural latex is recommended because it’s naturally anti-microbial, anti-bacterial, dust mite proof and relieves pressure points along the body. Natural rubber provides an almost motion-free sleeping experience, is exceptionally breathable and naturally hygienic, and will not house dust mites. In addition, infrared photography has shown that natural rubber reduces pressure-point pain up to 30% better than memory foam.

Wool has the ability to absorb large amounts of natural body moisture and then release it easily through evaporation. This attribute keeps you comfortable while you sleep by minimizing natural body-temperature fluctuations. Wool can also spring back to its original size and shape, and it discourages dust mites. Because of its high moisture content and the protein (keratin) that it contains, wool is also naturally flame resistant.

And last but not least, certified organic cotton mattresses. These can be rather hard but you can make them more comfy by adding a wool mattress topper. Apparently the wool in mattress toppers (and in mattresses) is well encased in cotton so if you’re allergic or sensitive to it there shouldn’t be a problem. If you can’t afford a new mattress then a pure wool or natural rubber topper is an option or you can swing for organic cotton barrier cloths or zippered encasings to protect your lungs from dust mite allergens and putt a little barrier between yourself the toxins being out gassed by your current mattress.

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