Most of us who enjoy and believe in an organic lifestyle try to incorporate our beliefs into every aspect of our daily lives. Making educated choices in food, cleaning products, furniture, and clothing are just a few ways we can do that. But buying organic usually comes with a price….literally.

Everyday organic item pricing is almost always higher than non-organic. With the increase of popularity in the organic industry, however, companies are coming out with low-cost options. This is even creeping its way into the fashion world.

Clothes are not only necessary, they’re what separate and individualize us, whether we realize it or not. For me, what I wear is a chance to express myself. Moods, seasons, personality, and priorities are all reflected in our choice of dress and represent us in the minds of others. A person is more likely to remember someone’s clothes than the color of their eyes.

If we put that much thought into our image, why aren’t we putting even more into what our clothes are made of?

As the public learns more about the benefits of living organically and demand increases, companies are coming out with organic clothing lines for a lower budget. But price isn’t all that matters! When looking into where products are sourced from, I found it troubling that even if the tag says “organic,” it might still come from a sweatshop, have been imported, or have been fumigated. (Yikes!)

Such issues are increasingly becoming public knowledge. In response, popular brands are unveiling organic lines. Some, like H&M, REI, and Jonano, are meeting the demand for organic choices while keeping prices reasonable. Levi Strauss offers choices that include organic cotton and recycled zippers and buttons, as well as natural indigo dyes. Products from popular t-shirt company American Apparel are made in the U.S. and are sweatshop-free. They’re a great place to find inexpensive basics like leggings, t-shirts, and hoodies. Their cotton products are made with 20% organic fiber, and they’re hoping to bump that up to 80% in the near future. They also recycle over a million pounds of scrap fabric per year and have solar panels on the roof of their LA headquarters. Talk about moving toward greener living!

So next time you’re picking out a new pair of jeans or strolling around the mall thinking about buying that lovely blouse, remember that there are choices in mainstream fashion. Don’t compromise your way of living just because the majority of the retail world does. You can focus on honoring the companies out there who are thinking organically, just like you!

Rubber trees are not bouncy. I know; I was disappointed to find this out as well. As a child growing up on the philosophies of Dr. Seuss, I assumed that rubber trees grew in giant, jungle gym forests just outside of Whoville. They don’t, for the record, and if you ever find yourself in a rubber tree forest, trying to bounce from tree to tree is not advisable.

Rubber trees actually grow on large plantations, mostly in warm, tropical climates in countries like Malaysia and South Africa. Natural rubber is a sap, and is tapped from the tree much like maple syrup. It’s very sustainable; one tree can be tapped for 40 years without harming the growth of the tree. As a person who always casts her vote for sustainability, I am obviously all for this type of production, and loving the fact that natural rubber is rising rapidly in demand. As a person who works in an industry dependent on natural rubber, I am not so thrilled to find that demand is rising faster than production. This combination always seems to end in price increases.

With more demand from other industries looking for a natural alternative to synthetic rubber in their products, natural rubber is the “it-girl” of the latex industry. Factor in rising demand from rapidly developing countries such as China, and natural rubber is becoming more and more sought after. Unfortunately, unlike synthetic substances, we have to wait years for a rubber tree to mature before it is able to produce sap that can be used to make products.

And so this story ends with higher mattress prices. The cost of natural rubber went up 20% in just the past year, and unfortunately we can’t absorb that much of a price increase and still stay in business, although we wish we could. However, when put into perspective, a Lifekind mattress will last at least 20 years…which is 7,305 nights (including leap years)…which is 58,440 hours of restful, organic sleep. That’s a lot of sleep for your buck.

Imagine seeing an advertisement in the paper for a new Corvette, at the cost of a generic sedan. Pretty exciting, right? Like most people, you’d probably be tempted to go check it out. When you arrive at the car lot, however, the salesperson shows you what actually appears to be a shiny new Honda Civic. While there’s nothing wrong with a Civic, it certainly isn’t comparable to a Corvette. This particular Civic has Corvette brake lights, and is therefore being advertised as “Corvette Certified.” You, my disappointed friend, have just been a victim of carwashing.

Ok, I made that term up. Greenwashing, however, a similar concept that’s frighteningly popular in the mattress world, is very real.

As a Product Specialist, part of my job is to research and be informed about our competition so I can better assist customers who have questions about those companies and how they compare with Lifekind. I can tell you with absolute certainty that there is no one else who does what Lifekind does. There are imitators and companies that come close, along with those who blatantly lie to make themselves look like they come close, but I wouldn’t want to trust “close imitation” or “blatant lies” with my sleep.

As a consumer, it can be daunting to sift through the marketing baloney and find the real thing. There are “organic” mattress companies who post logos of trusted certifiers on their website because one of the many ingredients they use might pass that standard, even though the final product does not. Others display logos of “certifiers” that in fact do no such thing, but are merely membership organizations. (I’ve seen, for instance, companies claiming to be “National Geographic Certified,” even though National Geographic is merely the parent company for The Green Guide, a consumer organization that doesn’t certify materials, finished products, or anything else.)

I’m personally vexed by companies that make what I like to call “natural-lite” products, such as the “20% natural-core” mattress I saw advertised the other day. While it’s commendable that someone is making a product with 20% natural ingredients, what exactly is the other 80% made of?

Be cautious and ask questions. I have seen companies use a GOTS logo to infer that their manufacturing plants and products are GOTS certified, when in fact just one raw material component is able to boast GOTS certification. GOTS certification for a facility is not obtained easily; they are very, very strict about their standards, and they conduct random inspections, so there is virtually no room for error. We conduct business in accordance with their standards because we want to be able to show that we make the purest mattress, not that it’s just our opinion that we make the purest mattress.

Many companies claim to support American industry, but outsource the production of anywhere from one to all of their raw materials to other countries. This not only takes away potential green American jobs, but also risks contamination of the raw materials by fumigation when they are imported to the U.S. Add this to the uncertainty about organic standards from country to country, and there is ample room for doubt in exactly how pure outsourced materials really are.

On a similar note, beware of companies that use words like “Organic” or “Natural” in their company names to make them seem purer than they actually are. Without certification to back up the name, it’s simply the name of a company, like Bob’s Mattress Factory.

The moral of this story is to look before you leap into that new bed. Ask the tough questions of companies who want your business. Ask where their raw materials come from, who certifies them, and what has been added. Ask about their manufacturing processes and who certifies the final product.

Ask as many questions as you can, because an educated consumer base is the best defense against greenwashing.

The reviews are in, and it’s official: Customers love our new Shasta mattress!

We created the Shasta so we could offer our customers a more affordable twin-size all-natural-rubber mattress made from the same certified materials we use in all our mattresses. It’s designed specifically for young children transitioning to their first adult-size mattress, and you’ll see it in our catalog offered in the twin size only.

The Shasta is filled with shredded 100%-natural rubber, utilizing remnants shaved from larger mattress cores and shredded into small pieces, helping us achieve our goal of making our Eco-Factory a waste-free facility. The shredded-rubber core is surrounded by our Naturally Safer wool, then hand-tufted with U.S.-grown certified organic cotton.

The Shasta has a feel that’s unlike anything we’ve ever made – soft yet supportive, springy and buoyant, comforting, classic, timeless.

You’ll love it too! 

If you are looking to make space for your new mattress, consider a few creative solutions of disposing your old one. According to Greenyour.com over 33,000,000 mattresses are produced each year and 20,000,000 are thrown away. Twenty million!! A mattress is a wealth of resources that can be used for other things. My rule of thumb, which I learned from studying Permaculture, is everything can be used more then once, or in at least two different ways. Why throw away something that still has a function? Below are suggestions for ways to recycle mattresses.

- If the mattress is not soiled then Craigslist.com is a great place to sell or give it away. You could even include the metal bed frame and bedding in the price.

- Put an ad in the paper stating the mattress is free for the taking. Many people are in need and would be ecstatic to take it off your hands.

- If you are not partial to having strangers come to your house, call your local fire department or news station when there was a natural disaster in your area. They would know of families in need who may have lost everything, and your donation may be just what they needed.

- If you live in the SF Bay Area, check out http://www.BayAreaRecycle.com

- Carefully deconstruct the mattress. The wood can be broken down into wood chips, cotton and wool is great for the compost bin or as a covering for flower beds. The springs make for a great art project or can be melted down into steel.

- Ecohaul.com is a company that strives to do what they can to keep materials they pick up out of landfills. See if they are in your area!

The possibilities are endless. Be creative and if you think of any other ways to creatively reuse a mattress, let us know!

Sara, Product Specialist

I was in San Francisco and did some shopping this weekend. I stumbled upon a store that sold mostly organic cotton shirts, skirts, and dresses. What caught my eye and separated this company from most others were their labels. In bold letters they read, “Cotton is GOTS certified organic.” It is in my nature to trust people. If someone tells me something is organic, I tend to believe them. And yet, there was something comforting about these labels. I didn’t need to ask the sales associate where the shirts were made or what kind of material they were. The company had nothing to hide and I was not secretly wondering if they were being truthful about the details of the product line because they were certified by a third party.

Third-party certifications on  material items can turn you into a responsible shopper without having to do much work. Truthfully, I was going to buy a skirt no matter what. The GOTS certification was the tipping point, as I now want to revisit the company because the clothing is high quality, fits well, and is made from sustainable materials. I can have my cake and eat it too, and the store benefits because I’ll certainly patronize this store again and again.

-Sara, Product Specialist

Before working at Lifekind^® I was an Outdoor Science teacher. After settling in as a Product Specialist, I realized my job title may have changed, but my responsibilities are similar. As a science teacher I educated my students about where their food comes from, how it is processed, and the difference between conventional and organic produce. You would be surprised how many of the children had never seen a piece of food growing in a garden.

Living in America, we are blessed with the ability to make many of our own decisions. I encouraged my students to teach their families what they learned and to aid in the decision making process about what ingredients they put in their bodies.

Here at Lifekind^®, I am still teaching the public about environmental issues and the importance of making educated decisions. Families have the choice whether to support corrupt chemical-laden industry or to purchase U.S.-made products that use organic and natural ingredients.

It is great that more families are conscious about eating healthfully. Now let’s teach children to support healthy practices around the home as well. It takes a lot of time and energy to educate yourself about chemicals and processes in the mattress industry. At Lifekind^®, we’ve done the work for you. Our Product Specialists are extremely knowledgeable, and will assist you in making good decisions.

We would love to hear from you!

Sara, Product Specialist

Just 20 years ago, anyone who was into an organic lifestyle was likely to be considered a little odd. Organic choices were limited back then; nowadays they’re everywhere. Now that being “green” is a trend, even major chain stores like Wal-Mart and Target are carrying organic food and bedding.

But what does it mean to truly be organic? The roots of the organic movement stemmed from the early 1900s, when synthetic fertilizers were introduced in the early days of industrial farming. Even after WWI, with more pressure being applied to farmers to use chemical fertilizers and pesticides for a larger yield, ecological farmers, though a minority, stood firm in their beliefs. Pioneers like Rachel Carson helped shed light on the dangers of these newly introduced chemicals. By the 70s and 80s, certification standards for organic food came into effect, thanks to various farming and consumer groups demanding more government regulation.

With organic certification, consumers should feel confident that the goods they desire are truly organic. However, there is an absence of government regulation in the production of non-food items. With the sprawling popularity of organic finished goods, many large corporations are cashing into the “green” market by using some organic materials, yet compromising purity to achieve a lower price. 

In a competitive marketplace where businesses want your money, it can be tough to read between the lines. If you look in the right direction, however, the writing is on the wall: Without government regulation, consumers must rely on third-party scrutiny to assure that finished goods, not just raw materials, are truly organic. Certifying organizations such as Oregon Tilth (OTCO) guarantee that products meet the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) and other regulations to ensure that you are getting a truly organic product.   

It’s the only type of assurance that actually means anything. And at Lifekind^®, it’s all we do.

Rowena, Product Specialist

We think it’s important to support American organic farmers and manufacturers – so we do! Lifekind® is dedicated to supporting America’s organics industry and to keeping jobs here in America.

We make our own mattresses right here in the U.S. Our GOTS-certified mattress Eco-Factory™ is located in Yuba City, California – the only mattress facility in North America to be awarded true third-party organic certification.

Our organic raw materials come from sources as close to home as possible. The Naturally Safer® wool and certified organic cotton we use in our mattresses and bedding are U.S. grown, and the natural rubber latex we use in our mattress cores and pillows is also manufactured here in the U.S.

Your commitment to purchasing organic products and supporting America’s environmentally-conscious farmers and businesses helps to ensure the continuing growth of the organics industry in the U.S. Also, you contribute to the reduction of your carbon footprint when you buy products made closer to home.

We are proud to support American organic farmers and to be your “go-to” company for “Made in the USA” items.

Carol Bader, Co-Founder

While on the phone with customers, occasionally we’ll hear a comment such as “Lifekind — that’s a nice name. What does it mean?” We explain that our name refers to the necessity we feel to be kind to all life in the work we do, the products we offer, and the way in which the materials in those products are obtained. We explain that in part it’s a fun spin on the word “mankind,” offering a larger, more compassionate and all-inclusive meaning.

When I think about our name, the first thing that comes to mind is the Northern California wool we use in our mattresses, pillow tops, and other products. It comes from sheep that graze freely on organic pastureland and are sheared using methods that minimize anxiety and discomfort. No traumatic “sheep dipping” takes place, and sheep dogs are used to keep predators away, rather than deadly poisons.

It’s a total commitment to ethical ranching that we feel passionate about. If it’s important to you, too, you’ve come to the right place.

Sylvia, Sales Supervisor