Naturepedic 2016 Sustainability Report

When you work around big bales of fluffy organic cotton like I do, you’re definitely in tune with Naturepedic’s connection to the environment and sustainability. Many people see only the final product, however. Our yearly Sustainability Report, then, is our way of showing everyone the greenery, so to speak, happening before that mattress is made.

All of our mattresses are made at a single manufacturing facility in Ohio, and since we own the building, we control the processes. That means no pesticides on our lawn, environmentally friendly cleaning products, energy efficient lighting. If we see something to be improved, we improve it. Nonetheless, we don’t grow our own cotton, harvest our own rubber tree milk for our certified organic latex, weave our own certified organic fabrics, or raise our own happy sheep for wool (although we do make our own encased coils).

For the materials like these, we find suppliers who care as much about the environment as we do. We’re demanding of our suppliers, who all must, at a minimum, meet the strict requirements of the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), or, with latex, the Global Organic Latex Standard (GOLS). That, however, is only the beginning.

Most of our vendors hold multiple sustainability certifications, which include Oeko-Tex, FairTrade and FSC, among others. If a material is going into our mattress, than not only must that material be pure, but the company we get it from should be working to contribute to the greater good.

Beyond that, we are always looking to find, and develop, improvements in our supply chain. For example, as this blog posts we are in the final stages of helping a local lumber distributor and woodshop get certified by Rainforest Alliance to FSC standards. Why? Because we like working with small, local businesses, and by helping this small operation earn this certification, we can then support local businesses, which we like.

Before getting to the Sustainability Report, there is one special change I want to call attention out, and one we’ve worked hard to accomplish. Through a collaborative effort with our vendors, the food grade polyethylene used for the waterproofing and lightweight cores in our crib mattresses now comes from renewable resources. Naturepedic is the first U.S. mattress maker to used food grade polyethylene made from sugar cane in its crib mattresses. That’s a spoiler for the Sustainability Report, but it is simply too good to not mention.

Now onto the 2016 Naturepedic Sustainability Report!