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Living a healthy lifestyle is more than just eating organic foods; it’s also important to avoid toxins in your every day life. So are there toxins in your mattress? Odds are, yes. Here’s what you need to know about mattresses and off gassing + the safe, nontoxic, affordable mattresses our family chose.

I once had a friend describe healthy living as swimming upstream against a strong current. I can’t say I disagree. Healthy living in today’s toxic world isn’t easy. In fact, it’s downright hard. And expensive.

When I found out how toxic mattresses are, I was anxious to replace the ones our family slept on every night. However, when I began researching nontoxic mattresses, I realized that replacing all of our family’s mattresses would be no small feat.

I found that some of the most popular nontoxic mattress brands could cost upwards of $4000 for a king size! Talk about sticker shock. And frustration at feeling like replacing our family’s toxic mattresses was out of reach.

Thankfully, I didn’t stop my search there. I was determined to find affordable, safe mattresses for our family. After all, we spend a third of our lives bed; my babies deserve to sleep on a safe mattress!

Are you worried about toxins in your mattress? Read on and I’ll tell you about the affordable mattresses I found and chose for my family.

Toxins in your mattress?

It’s true. Conventional mattresses are full of toxins that can harm your health.

Not only are mattresses doused in dangerous chemicals (more on that below), but they’re also made from toxic materials like industrial rubbers and petroleum products, adhesives, and unnatural fabrics.

All of these chemicals and synthetic components result in off gassing.

What is off gassing in a mattress?

Off gassing occurs when new products are purchased and removed from their package. You’ll notice it with just about any product you purchase: new cookware, car seats, a new car, and, yes, mattresses.

Depending on the level of toxicity and amount of chemicals used, a product may have off gassing for a short period of time, or a long period of time. This off gassing is responsible for the strong smell you’ll notice for a while after a mattress comes out of the package, but even after the smell is gone, off gassing continues. Mattresses can off gas even after 10 years!

Mattresses, like car seats, are required by law to pass flame resistance tests. Manufacturers typically accomplish this by dousing the mattresses in flame retardant chemicals, which are effective for reducing flammability, but pose huge health hazards to consumers.

Unlike other products that you use for short periods of time, we sleep on mattresses for a third of our life! For kids, it may be even more. Imagine, just snuggling up to those chemicals, rolling around in them, and absorbing them as you snooze.

Those synthetic materials conventional mattresses are made from also contribute to off gassing.

Are flame retardants toxic?

In a word? Absolutely.

The chemicals used in flame retardants (antimony trioxide, which is labeled toxic by the EPA, decabromodiphenyl oxide, aka DECA, a chemical similar to the banned PDBE, melamine, which is easily absorbed by the skin, & vinylidene chloride, which is commonly used in mattresses, can be brought to the surface through wetting, and has been listed as a possible carcinogen that can cause nervous system damage) may be associated with adverse health effects in animals and humans, including:

Endocrine and thyroid disruption (aka hormonal imbalances)
Immune system damage
Reproductive toxicity
Cancer
Negative impact on fetal and child development
Diminished neurologic function

Clearly the toxins in your mattress are nothing to sneeze at! I know it’s difficult to navigate the toxic world we live in, but there are companies working to change that.

My favorite affordable, non-toxic mattress solution

I was so excited when I came across My Green Mattress. Not only do they make a mean natural mattress, but the mattresses are actually affordable. For the first time, I felt like a natural mattress, free of off gassing chemicals, was within my reach!

My Green Mattress offers mattresses made from organic cotton, wool, and natural latex. Best of all, their manufacturing process and materials make the mattresses naturally flame-resistant, which means no toxic, off gassing chemicals! (Wool is a natural flame retardant that was once used in firemen’s coats- how cool it that?!)

My Green Mattress features:

natural New Zealand wool, minimally and gently processed
GOTS certified organic cotton
natural latex, derived from the sap of the rubber tree, that conforms to your body and alleviates pressure to offer extraordinary orthopedic support
free shipping
10 year warranty and 120 night comfort guarantee

Read more about their manufacturing process and materials used in their FAQ here.

Honey the doodle says “no” to toxic mattresses!
Every family member approves of our My Green Mattress mattresses. Read why below.

Why our family chose (and loves!) My Green Mattress

I’ve already given you the rundown about how wonderful MGM mattresses are from a manufacturing standpoint. I’ve told you they’re more affordable than similar mattresses (hello budget-friendly!), but are they really all they’re cracked up to be?

Yes! They really are.

Full disclosure- the kind folks at My Green Mattress did give me a discount on my mattresses, which led me to replace all of them at once. However, if I hadn’t been offered the discount, I would’ve still chosen My Green Mattress, as I had already made the choice to purchase them. I just probably would’ve replaced one or two mattresses at a time, starting with the most sensitive family members’ mattresses.

The REAL question, though? Are the mattresses comfortable? Again, yes!

Here’s what our family got:

For Mr. Incredible and myself, I chose the Natural Escape, the more luxurious version, which features three inches of organic latex over the pocketed coil innerspring. (More cushion for us grown ups.) See the Natural Escape here.

For the kids, I went with the lesser-priced, slightly-firmer Pure Echo. Still a great mattress, without the added cushion. (Personally, I believe it’s healthier to sleep on a firmer surface anyway.) Check out the Pure Echo here.

If you really like a softer sleep surface, you can add a natural latex mattress topper, which can provide additional comfort. See the options for mattress toppers here.

You can also give the helpful folks at MGM a call and they’ll help you pick the right mattress and accessories for your family.

Kid- and puppy-approved!

“At the end of the day, your feet should be dirty, your hair should be messy and your eyes sparkling.” -Shanti

Bottom line

Bottom line- our family has been super happy with our mattresses. The kids have slept great on them and the Mister and I haven’t had any back troubles since making the switch. In fact, he was just telling me yesterday how pleased he’s been with our purchase and how high-quality the mattresses are.

Because the mattresses are handcrafted in a family-owned factory, the attention to quality and detail is far above what you would see from a mass-produced mattress company. The fabric is soft and cozy (though you do want to take care to protect and take care of it- check out the mattress protectors here), and it smells nice and fresh vs. like chemicals.

Look at that quality and craftsmanship!

My Green Mattress is a company I’m proud to support and work with because they care about people and the environment, and they’re working hard to make non toxic living affordable for everyone.

Menstrual cups are a popular choice for today’s conscientious woman: they’re eco-friendly and non-toxic. But are they safe? Below, we’ll share the menstrual cup dangers we’ve come across so you can see why they might not be a good fit for you and your period.

Living a healthy and non-toxic lifestyle encompasses every area of your life. First you clean up your diet, then your cleaning and beauty supplies… and then you realize: what should I do about my period?

From organic cotton menstrual products to mama cloth, alternative choices abound. But how is a girl to choose? (For a really good rundown of your options, check out The Soft Landing’s Complete Guide to Non-toxic Period Products.)

You may be (rightly) concerned with exposing your most delicate of tissues to chlorine and other hormone-disrupting chemicals. It’s a good reason to give natural period products a try.

The first and simplest thing to try is organic tampons, since most of us are used to conventional tampons. They’re convenient, safer, and comfortable, but, of course, you’ll have to make a trip to the store every month and, heaven forbid, you’ll occasionally run out! (Paging your husband: please make your way to aisle 13; your wife’s on her period. Cue dying of embarrassment.)

You can also try mama cloth (aka reusable, washable pads). Mama cloth is eco-friendly (nothing to dispose of!), convenient (nothing to buy more of- it’s always there!), and inexpensive (buy once & done), but many women find it gross and uncomfortable, and hate having to wash it.

If you’ve been interested in trying a menstrual cup, you may be interested in some surprising (or not so surprising) menstrual cup dangers so you can decide if a menstrual cup is for you.

Menstrual cup dangers

1. Blood is terrifying.

You may have read about menstrual cups and thought they sounded great, except this: at some point, you’ll probably encounter horror stories of women in public bathrooms, blood covering their hands like a scene straight out of Shakespeare. How embarrassing! How gross! Plus, blood is terrifying.

Who wants to actually touch a bodily fluid? Shouldn’t those types of things be kept under wraps? Everyone knows women menstruate, but we shouldn’t talk about it, right?

Truth: even if you’re a private person, we shouldn’t be so afraid to talk about a natural occurrence for billions of women, that women miss out on solutions that might make their lives better.

Reality: it’s a little gross, but definitely no more gross than dealing with mama cloth, and not much different than dealing with tampons. Yeah, you might have to get to know your good ol’ bod a little more intimately, but that can be a good thing. Bonus: it’s kind of cool to be able to SEE how much blood you’re losing. You can’t really do that with any other period product, as the others absorb the fluid.

2. You may enjoy your menstrual cup so much, you forget you’re on your period.

What’s that? My period…? I think it was last week. Wait… did I ever take my cup out?

One of the major menstrual cup dangers is forgetting you’re wearing one. So comfortable, so conforming to your body, menstrual cups can easily be forgotten and left for days or weeks!

Reality: you’re not likely to forget about your menstrual cup… except at night when you can comfortably sleep without worrying about leaks… or running errands without making a pit stop.

3. The disposable menstrual product industry will suffer.

This may be the greatest menstrual cup danger of all. What will the disposable menstrual product industry do if women start learning they don’t have to run out for pads or tampons every month???

And what about all the poor landfills that will be missing literally TONS of products each year?

It’s estimated that approximately 20 billion pads, tampons and applicators are being sent to North American landfills annually. On an individual level, each of the approximately 73 million menstruating people in North America will throw away 16,800 disposable pads or tampons in their lifetime. These products require hundreds of years to biodegrade, particularly if wrapped in the plastic bag commonly provided for this purpose as part of their packaging. In fact, every piece of plastic ever made, still exists to this day. (source)

Wait… almost 17,000 disposable pads or tampons? PER PERSON?

Those poor, poor landfills to miss out on nearly 17,000 disposable products per woman who switches to a menstrual cup.

Reality: the ease of pulling out a menstrual cup when your flow arrives and safely tucking it back away til next month is much easier (and more cost effective) than having to buy and dispose of period products month after month.

Benefits of using a menstrual cup

For many women, there isn’t actually a downside to giving a menstrual cup a try. Yes, there’s a learning curve, but you’ll get the hang of it. Then you can experience tons of benefits, including:

cost-effectiveness- You can buy one, inexpensive cup and then not have to buy anything else. The cup will last for years before you even have to think about another purchase.
comfort- while the initial insertion can be a little messy, once done, menstrual cups can be much cleaner and more comfortable than mama cloth, as well as the disposable products you may have used in the past.
safety- because menstrual cups are made of food-grade silicone, you don’t have to worry about toxic chemicals in your reproductive organs. No more worries about chlorine and pesticides!

Are menstrual cups comfortable? In a word: yes- once you get the hang of them. It’s important to choose the right one for your body, based on your flow and body size (hint: not all companies base size on whether or not you’ve had a baby!).

If you’re having trouble with getting your menstrual cup set just right, you are not alone.

This guide is an excellent resource to help you choose the right style, size, and fold for you.

Our suggestion

Don’t have time to read a long, drawn-out guide? We like the Lena cup, which comes in two sizes.

The company bases sizing on more than just whether or not you’ve had a baby. If you’re petite, you may worry that choosing based on the fact that you’ve had vaginal birth(s) might leave you with too large a cup.

The small Lena cup may be perfect because it’s designed for first-time users and those with lighter flows.

Check out the Lena cup here.

Be brave.

Trying a menstrual cup can be so scary, it may take years to work up the nerve to try it! Don’t be so worried- be brave and choose a better way to deal with your period.

Those menstrual cup dangers? They’re all in your head. Give it a try and experience period freedom.

Oh- and be sure to share by pinning the above image or using one of our links so friends can be brave too!

Could There Toxins in Your Mattress? The Truth About Off Gassing