Why Are Organic Mattresses More Expensive?

organic mattresses more expensive

organic mattresses more expensive

Being blunt but honest, few people would call Naturepedic organic mattresses inexpensive. While we would put the quality and comfort of our hand-assembled mattresses against luxury brands that retail in excess of $20,000 (and we’re nowhere close to that), we nonetheless acknowledge you can drop into a mattress outlet today and walk out with a Queen size adult mattress for $400 or so. Shopping by price alone, you wouldn’t go for an organic mattress.

So, why choose organic over that $400 bed? What do you get for the extra money?

The truth is, you get a lot, and probably more than you might realize.

Cleaner Materials

Naturepedic uses organic cotton, latex, and wool, and not surprisingly these materials cost more. Organic cotton, for example, only makes up a little more than 1% of the entire global cotton production (according to trade organization Textile Exchange), so the supply and demand for organic cotton increases costs.

Additionally, we only use third-party certified organic cotton, latex, or wool, and we don’t blend them with cheaper non-organic supplies. We don’t ask you to take our word either. Our entire mattresses are certified organic and non-toxic to the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS). Certifications cost money, but they’re important. They ensure you’re actually getting the good stuff, and not just an empty claim.

American Pride

Naturepedic doesn’t offset costs by cutting corners and shipping construction outside of the country. Our mattresses are built in Ohio, relying on the formidable skills of our talented Amish workforce. When possible, we source right here in America. For example, our organic cotton fill is grown in Texas on USDA certified organic farms. For materials unavailable here, such as natural latex made from rubber trees or luxury organic fabric, we import materials from global quality centers, only purchasing from certified vendors to ensure quality and fair labor practices.

Caring for the Planet

By certifying our mattresses to the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) and using latex certified to the Global Organic Latex Standard (GOLS), we give you healthier materials, but we also take make sure your product helps make the world a better place. In addition to the stringent organic and non-toxic standards of GOTS, the standard also ensures that the welfare of workers are protected throughout the entire supply chain. This is especially important because GOTS prohibits child labor and forced labor. Sadly, these unacceptable conditions are widely found in the world, particularly in the cotton industry.

What’s more, certified organic cotton offers a large number of planetary benefits, from reduced water usage to healthier soil that helps sequester and reduce global CO2 emissions. Naturepedic’s use of wool and product design instead of chemicals to pass federal flammability standards means persistent and harmful chemicals stay out of the waterways. Even the use of sugarcane-based polyethylene, used to waterproof our crib mattresses, means a shift away from fossil fuels to renewable resources. Your purchase of a Naturepedic product is something you can feel great about, because it’s contributing to an overall cleaner, fairer, kinder planet.

You Get the World You Want

Naturepedic does the right thing for consumers, workers, and the planet. You can buy a $400 mattress, but that mattress has hidden costs for you and the planet. We don’t believe in hiding costs. Our philosophy is there is a right way to do things, and that’s not something we will compromise. That, we believe, is true value.

Speaking of Costs…

When we’re talking costs, of course, we’re looking at how much you actually pay for the product, and nothing else. But there’s a problem in looking only at how much a product costs. Food is a good example. If you buy groceries only based on a price criteria and nothing else, you probably won’t get the variety, freshness or nourishment your body needs. In other words, a cost exists to you for what you eat beyond price – eat nothing but refined flour and sugar and there is a health cost not factored into the cost paid at the register.

There are planetary and social costs to pollution - costs that might not be reflected in the price tag. The point is, someone pays them, even us, although not directly. Everything has a cost. At Naturepedic, we consider these costs and address them, rather than pass them off for somebody else to eventually handle. Child labor, toxic pesticide run-off into streams, and a need for increased irrigation are very real costs associated with conventional cotton farming, and ones we as a company don’t accept. Maybe a person buying a $3 t-shirt doesn’t pay for such costs directly, but everyone does indirectly. Those are called deferred costs.

More than a Price Tag

Now you understand a little more about what goes into a Naturepedic organic mattress to explain the price difference between a certified organic product and its conventional counterpart. When it comes to organic, especially a Naturepedic, you get what you pay for. We think it’s worth it, don’t you?


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