Issues > January/February 2007 (#118) > The Eco-nomical Bedroom

The Eco-nomical Bedroom

by Emily Main

Checklist

• Natural-fill, untreated mattress or pillow topper

• FSC-certified box spring frame

• Untreated, organic-cotton bedding

• Natural-material pillow and/or pillow encasement

• Ethically sourced, VOC-free furniture (second-hand furniture, antiques, formaldehyde-free pressed wood, etc.)

• FSC-certified solid or pressed woods natural-material window treatments (blinds and curtains)

• Low- or no-VOC wall paints

• Natural-material area rugs and/or carpeting (installed with VOC-free adhesives)

• Efficient use of appliances:

• Window a/c unit with properly cleaned filter, if necessary

• Electronics turned off each night before bed

• Properly cleaned humidifier, used only when absolutely necessary

Take Action

HAVE A HEART, HELP END CHILD SLAVERY

Though banned in most countries, slavery continues today in many forms around the world. In the Ivory Coast alone, 12,000 children were trafficked for labor in 2002. In Asia, tens of thousands of children are sold into sexual slavery, servitude and labor. And up to 100,000 children are forced to fight in armed conflicts in Africa.

Even after an agreement by the U.S. chocolate industry to end slavery by July 2005, children still work in West African cocoa fields.

What You Can Do

*Send letters to the four major chocolate companies urging them to ensure no forced labor is used on their cocoa farms; see www.antislavery.org.

*Request that the Russian Federation ratify the Child Soldier's Protocol to end the use of children in conflicts, see www.amnesty.org.

*Buy Rugmark-labeled carpets and fair trade chocolate, clothing, and other products. For brands, see www.thegreenguide.com.

Photo: The Eco-nomical Bedroom

Last fall, when I moved into a bigger apartment, I sold my old stuff to a friend and applied the proceeds to an eco-friendly bedroom upgrade--on a budget. While I couldn't afford to go all-organic, I did find some ways to sleep more lightly on the planet. Following are my greener, if not greenest, choices--along with some items I've put on my wish list for my next eco upgrade.

Mattresses

Conventional mattresses are often made of petroleum-based polyester, nylon and polyurethane (PU) foam that, especially when new, may give off harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs) associated with upper respiratory problems. Some mattresses are also pretreated with formaldehyde-emitting stain- and water-repellants whose manufacture releases perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a likely human carcinogen according to an EPA advisory panel.

On the up side, there's been a phaseout of the most worrisome fire retardants in the class of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), linked to developmental harm in animal studies and found in high levels in American women's breast milk. "The companies are telling us, unilaterally, they are not making penta [BDE] and octa [BDE], and to the best of my knowledge, they aren't," says Carol Kraege, P.E., persistent bioaccumulative toxins manager at the Washington State Department of Ecology.

A new U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission standard, effective July 1, 2007, requires that mattresses resist ignition when exposed to open flames, in addition to lit cigarettes. "I am unaware of any mattress producer that is using any type of flame-retardant foam to meet the new standard," says Ryan Trainer, executive vice president of the International Sleep Products Association, a non-profit industry group. Instead, "they are using a variety of barrier materials...made from synthetic and natural fibers," he adds. Unfortunately, conventional mattress companies called by The Green Guide would not reveal the exact composition of these fiber barriers, claiming trade secrets. This raises concerns. For instance, melamine, one less-toxic material used for fire retardancy, may be mixed in mattresses with a chemical that emits formaldehyde during its application, according to the Leopold Center for Sustainable Development in Massachusetts.

PAGE 1 | 2 | 3 | 4  NEXT 

Filed under: Bedding, Mattresses, PBDEs, Green homes, Carpets and Rugs

Green Guide 118 | January/February 2007 | For Your Home