A few weeks ago I visited the factory where the mattresses are made for both Lifekind and our sister company, OMI (Organic Mattresses Incorporated). I felt like Charlie going to the Chocolate Factory. I have to admit that the enthusiasm Walt has for the company he has built from the ground up is reminiscent of Willie Wonka. However, I would like to continue to be employed at Lifekind, and will therefore stop comparing my boss to a slightly deranged, socially awkward candy fanatic.

As a recent college graduate with a degree in marketing, I came into the workforce with a jaded view of the way business is done in the world. I’ve studied companies and business practices that would make the average consumer ill. I’ll never forget being told by a reputable professor of finance that financial calculations are “more of an art than a science,” then watching the financial collapse of companies “too big to fail” caused by their “artistic” financial practices; learning that perceived value is more important than actual value; that it pays to outsource labor to make a cheaper product. Please don’t get me wrong; I feel proud to hold a business degree because of the broadened horizons and knowledge it has given me. I also feel fortunate to work for a company that has gone against such misguided principles and been extremely successful because of it.

I thought about all I had learned about how to run a business and as I watched Walt explain each aspect of his immaculately clean factory and machinery, encouraging us to notice the purity of the raw materials and the quality of the stitching in the fabric. Walt was also a marketing professor for 13 years, and has run successful businesses for 40 years, so he’s no stranger to the principles of marketing; he’s just trying to run a business in accordance with his personal principles as well.

The resulting companies, Lifekind and OMI, are run in a way that limits our impact on the environment. In the entire factory there is only one traditionally sized trash can. Almost all waste from production is recycled. This was incredibly impressive to me. We also make a product that makes absolutely no compromise on quality or purity. Any cotton or wool that falls on the floor is not used, even though the floor is so clean it would put my kitchen counters to shame. Employees don’t smoke or wear fragrance and, even more importantly, they’re happy and respected.

Long story short, I came back from the factory wanting to purchase everything Lifekind has ever offered, because I have absolute faith that it’s the best available, and that makes me feel good about recommending those products to my customers.

It’s officially spring, and I’ve officially started my first vegetable garden. I started small last spring, with a pot of herbs that I lovingly planted and watered, then left at my parents’ house and forgot about. Not knowing exactly what I was doing, I had planted far too many seeds. I figured that variety would win out over my incompetance and, hopefully, I’d have one or two survivor plants to clip off of and throw in a salad once in a while.

I returned a few weeks later to find a forest of mint, basil, thyme, and a few mystery plants that I wasn’t quite sure about. Instead of natural selection, apparently my little ecosystem had opted for a more free-living approach. The mass abundance was causing the little herbs to crowd up and out, spilling over the edge of the pot and making it look like nature’s answer to one of those party-favor poppers everyone brings out at New Year’s.

This year I’m doing it right. Bolstered by experience and a bit of confidence from last year’s adventure, I planted little decomposable starter pots with heirloom tomatoes, spaghetti squash, zucchini, cucumber, peppers, and an array of other delicacies. I carefully labeled them to avoid the random mystery plant later in the season, gave them plenty of water, and set them in the sun. I then planted myself in a chair on the porch with an iced tea and watched them as if they would magically grow a vegetable the next time I blinked. I was very, very proud of my newfound connection with nature. I made up my mind to take it one step further.

I started a compost pile. My roommates came home that evening to a clean fridge, a raked yard, and a large heap of smelliness back behind the house. I believe this must have been something of a bittersweet moment for them, but I was completely elated. I was the ultimate recycler and green goddess. I was going to save the world!

I’ve come down off my enviro-pedestal somewhat over the past 24 hours. Maybe I won’t save the world with my compost and my tomato plants, but I have taken a step towards a greener lifestyle, and that’s all anyone can really expect in a day’s work, right?

Yoga is an integral part of health for a rapidly growing number of people, mainly because of the (hopefully permanent) trend toward naturally healthy living.

For most people, I think, yoga comes about as a result of a desire to live healthfully. For me it was the opposite. I fell in love with yoga, and the awareness my practice brought to me of the connection between my body, my surrounding environment and myself brought about a resulting fascination with organics, nutrition and eco-friendly living. I suppose it could be said that yoga brought me to a place where I am working here at Lifekind, for an obsessively organic company, writing a blog about yoga.

To say that I love yoga would be a gross understatement. “Obsession” would be more accurate. I practice Bikram yoga which, for those not familiar with it, is 90 minutes of yoga practiced in a room heated between 95 and 105 degrees. The practice has taught me so much about my health and my body, as well as better ways to handle stress and angst in my life. I know, for instance, that I feel nauseous and dizzy during class if I’ve eaten non-organic or unhealthy food, or haven’t had enough water or sleep that day. It also helped me to discover that I’m lactose intolerant, which I may never have found out without help from accute reactions during yoga classes after eating dairy.

I learned to center myself and focus on my breath whenever emotional or physical stress abides in my life, and to remind myself that my only requirement is to keep breathing — that if I do that, I can make it through anything. I learned to control my body movements, making me less of a klutz in everyday life (emphasis on the “less.” I am still very much a klutz). I learned to bend over backwards until I can see the backs of my knees, which I have to admit I think is pretty neat.

Recently, while taking a yoga class, I got to thinking about my yoga gear. I realize that this is not the sort of Zen thought that should be going through my head during meditation, but it’s harder to control the brain than the body. I thought about my bright blue, synthetic latex mat; my pretty yoga outfit which, although cotton, was grown in who-knows-what conditions somewhere in China; and my bright white towels that were washed in detergent containing bleach, optical brighteners and, that one term I’ve come to dread on labels, “fragrance.” (“Fragrance” is a term used in labeling products that can mean any combination of 600 chemicals, a vast majority of which haven’t been tested for toxic or carcinogenic properties. This is one of many valuable blips of information I’ve picked up in my short time working at Lifekind.) What’s worse, I had forgotten to bring my trusted Kleen Kanteen to class, and was drinking bottled water. What? Not only was this bad for the environment, but I was in a heated room, drinking from a plastic container. There was no way that could be good for me.

All of these revelations running through my mind began to make my head spin. Why was I allowing such hazards to my health during, of all times, a yoga class?

And so I’ve embarked on a mission to organify my yoga experience. It’s only logical that this should be my next step in living a more organic lifestyle. As a recent college graduate who hasn’t yet gained her fortune, I don’t have the means to overhaul my entire collection of yoga ensambles on a whim. Therefore, I am approaching this as I am approaching building an organic bed: starting with those items that are in immediate contact with my skin and working my way down. So far I’ve purchased an organic, American-grown sports bra, and I think that’s a pretty good start. I wear my sports bra proudly and know that I am one tiny step closer to doing something great for myself.

Kristen, Product Specialist

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

In a recent act of bravery, I launched into yet another “home improvement” project, which we all know usually turns out to be much more expensive and time consuming than first imagined. My friends joke that I’m becoming like the Winchester Mystery House woman who kept adding on to her home
(http://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com). Of course, I’m not quite that extreme, although I do have a deep-seated need to continually improve my surroundings. This time it entailed enclosing the front porch.

For over 10 years I have patiently endured winters with a front porch that provides little refuge from pelting rain, winds, and severe snowstorms. With my old dog, Bella, growing older, and concerned for her comfort, I decided it was now or never to enclose the porch. When I began pricing materials for the project it quickly became clear that I was going to have to shop around to find the best prices. I spent countless hours researching efficient porch designs and price-matching everything from French doors to concrete sealant. I phoned multiple hardware & lumber stores, asking every question I could imagine. After weeks of preparation and research I mentioned to a friend my concern that the prices were much higher than I’d anticipated, and he recommended I check out our local Habitat For Humanity “ReStore.” The next day, equipped with measuring tape, clipboard and my old dog, who loves to ride along, I arrived at the ReStore not really knowing what to expect. I was overjoyed when I found almost all the materials I was searching for to complete my dream porch, available at bargain prices!

Habitat ReStores offer quality used and surplus building materials at a fraction of normal prices while helping to fund Habitat for Humanity house construction. They are outlets that accept donated goods for resale. While every ReStore is a little different, most focus on home-improvement goods—furniture, home accessories, building materials, and appliances. These donated goods are sold to the general public at a fraction of retail price to help local affiliates fund construction of Habitat homes within their communities.

Materials sold by Habitat ReStores are usually donated by local retailers, contractors, and individuals. ReStores provide an environmentally and socially responsible way to keep good, reusable materials out of the waste stream and simultaneously provide funding for Habitat’s community-improvement work.

For more information about Habitat For Humanity, go to http://www.habitat.org.

To find a Habitat For Humanity ReStore in your area, or if you or your company has materials to donate, go to http://www.habitat.org/cd/env/restore.aspx.

Wondering about the economic viability of purchasing an organic mattress? The federal government may be able to help.

H.R. 3382, The Home Improvements Revitalize the Economy Act of 2009 — or HIRE for short — was introduced on July 29 by Rep. Henry Johnson (D-Ga.). If passed into law, it will allow a tax credit of up to $500 and deductions of up to $2K through the year 2011 for the purchase of residential building products and furnishings (up to $4K for products that meet approved environmental standards – yay Rep. Johnson! .

The bill, which is reportedly enjoying bipartisan support, is making its way through the House Ways and Means Committee. To track its progress or for more information, go to govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-3382.

After planting the first organic garden on While House property, the Obamas are making history again with the possibility of making the White House green. No, they are not painting it, but instead are looking toward earning LEED certification for the building through the U.S. Green Building Council. The end result would be a more energy efficient White House with efficient water usage and cleaner indoor air quality that is virtually free of VOCs.

For more information, click on :

http://www.sierraclubgreenhome.com/green-news/the-greenest-white-house/

-Rowena, Product Specialist

I took a trip with a friend last month to the Central California towns of Monterey and Salinas to attend the 29th annual Steinbeck Festival. Afterward, we drove 100 miles down the Salinas Valley, mostly on old River Road – the original El Camino Real – to visit the Paso Robles wine country.

Born in Salinas in 1902, John Steinbeck set some of his best-known stories along the massively fertile valley. During college breaks he lived and labored alongside migratory workers in the sugar-beet fields near Soledad, and their experiences inspired The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men – tales of fierce compassion for agricultural workers living on society’s margins, struggling to overcome exploitation and brutality. Steinbeck was accused of being a communist agitator and “un-American” in the 1930s for daring to suggest that the dispossessed be treated with dignity; Grapes was burned in front of the Salinas public library. It wasn’t until the 1960s that public opinion began to catch up with his thinking. In 1969, the year after he died, the same library was renamed after him.

Steinbeck loved the rugged, undeveloped beauty of the Santa Lucia coast range and its valleys. He traveled the River Road countless times. As we drove, we talked about what he might think of his home turf today. Some things haven’t changed much: the green fields in neat rows sweeping up to the foothills, the looming mountains, the old barns and adobes and frame houses. He might be surprised to see winery tasting rooms springing up in former lettuce fields or to hear Highway 101 buzzing in the distance, but for the most part we guessed he’d feel right at home.

Near the Soledad mission we were jarred from our reverie by the sight of leafy greens growing along the highway, a bilingual skull-and-crossbones sign at the end of each row reading DANGER – POISON. According to the EPA, this particular sign is reserved for pesticides with “acute toxicity,” including some that can kill humans through skin contact or inhalation. Someone down the line is going to eat that kale or spinach or radicchio, I thought, with no clue about its past. The heaviest exposure would be experienced by the workers who applied the poisons. (When another sign came along later that read “Organic Farm — Do Not Spray” it was comforting, though gale-force winds made me hope that neighbors weren’t applying anything with acute toxicity that day.)

As in Steinbeck’s time, those most affected by unethical agricultural practices are the men and women who work long hours for less-than-subsistence wages planting and tending and harvesting crops. While conditions may have improved overall since the Great Depression, we’re moving in the wrong direction when it comes to toxic exposure. Pesticides put workers’ lives at risk, and when exposure leads to illness, basic health benefits are usually lacking.

Synthetic pesticides were just starting to be developed when Steinbeck wrote The Grapes of Wrath. Since then they’ve become big business, but their stranglehold can be broken. When consumers buy organic – including products containing cotton, the most heavily pesticide-treated crop – it reduces demand for the toxins that compromise the health of our land and its people.

When we as a society stop purchasing conventionally-grown products, the market for agricultural toxins will dry up and blow away like a tumbleweed along the River Road.

What could be more American than that?

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To take a stand against agricultural poisons, visit panna.org. To learn more about farm working conditions, go to ufw.org.

-Sylvia, Sales Supervisor

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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