The 4 best organic mattresses to buy in time for Earth Day 2023
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There’s nothing like slinking under the covers after a long day, closing your eyes, and nodding off to a deep and dream-filled sleep. There are so many factors that play into getting good quality rest, one of which is having a great mattress. But a good mattress is about more than just the firmness, comfort and ability to conform beautifully to your body. It’s also about how it’s made.
Earth Day 2023 is April 22, and today, we're taking a look at the best organic mattresses on the market. Organic mattresses are popular for numerous reasons: they're made with non-toxic, organic materials, and often have natural anti-microbial properties. Eco-friendly mattresses tend to be more expensive than traditional mattresses, but it’s worth it for the environmental and potential health benefits.
We've tested plenty of mattresses over the years, including numerous green ones. In celebration of Earth Day 2023, here are the four best organic mattresses you can shop right now.
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1. The Awara Organic Natural Hybrid Mattress
Our mattress tester said the Awara Organic Luxury Hybrid Mattress “blew her away,” not only thanks to its wonderful support with just enough cushioning along with supportive edges, but also because it delivers in these departments while arriving in a compact mattress in a box format.
Made of Dunlop latex and organic wool, you get nine-inch pocketed coils with four inches of latex foam on top, complete with a layer of wool encased in a cotton-blend fabric. Awara says the wool is sourced from “happy” New Zealand sheep, while the latex is Rainforest Alliance-certified, sourced from real rubber trees and confirmed to meet “rigorous” conservation standards.
There’s no mercury, lead, or formaldehyde, or other potentially harmful materials in the foam, though Awara hasn’t acquired the certifications to confirm this. With every mattress sold, Awara also pledges to plant 10 trees, so you can really feel good that your purchase is helping the environment.
2. The Avocado Green Mattress
The green in the Avocado Green Mattress’ name doesn’t signify the color, it actually relates to the environmentally conscious and “healthy” organic nature of the product. Handmade in California with some materials that even come from the company’s own farms, this mattress (and others from Avocado) has received just about every certification possible for organic material use and manufacturing processes. This includes GreenGuard Gold certification, GOTS organic fabric, GOLS organic latex, and CertiPUR-US that confirms limited VOCs and no chemicals were used in manufacturing.
The latex rubber foam is made from sustainably harvested sources and the organic wool is ethically sourced from a farm that Avocado jointly owns in India. Rest assured that when you purchase this mattress, you’re getting a quality, organic product.
But how does it feel to sleep on? Our sleep specialist took some time to get used to the springiness, but after a few nights, she was in heaven. It didn’t retain her body heat so she woke up feeling cool and refreshed. The 700 to 1,400 steel coils combined with two layers of organic latex means it’s super-bouncy. She found it comfortable for most sleep positions, but recommends it for side and back sleepers.
3. The Serta iComfortECO Mattress
When you think “mattress,” one of the first brands that likely comes to mind, if not the first, is Serta. The Serta iComfortECO mattress, which was announced in early 2023, is made from 70% sustainable materials, which includes Terra Fusion memory foam made from 30% plant-based material. The coils, meanwhile, are made from 85% recycled steel. While the mattress doesn’t yet have any certifications, chances are that might be coming soon once the product has had some time on the market.
It purports to offer a CoolTemp Cover powered by Repreve that keeps it cool to the touch (plus, it’s made from recycled plastic bottles). If it’s anything like the technology in the Serta Arctic Mattress we reviewed and named the best cooling mattress we have ever tried, you’ll be pleased with the performance.
We haven’t yet put this mattress to the test since it’s so new, but there’s a foam, hybrid, and quilted hybrid configuration, the latter of which appears to be the most popular among early buyers. That one combines both coils and memory foam and reviewers say it offers good pressure relief, motion transfer, and, as noted, great cooling.
4. The Birch Natural Mattress
The birch wool used in the Birch Natural mattress is made from sheep in New Zealand, while organic cashmere comes from goats in Mongolia and the latex foam from rubber trees across southeast Asia. The cotton and steel hails from right here in the U.S. These aren’t just blind claims, though. Birch, a subsidiary of Helix Sleep, backs them up through a variety of certifications. This includes approval from the Global Organic Textile Standard and Oeko-Tex Standard, which confirms the organic nature of the material and that it’s free from chemicals.
The Birch Natural mattress is covered with organic cotton and underneath, wrapped in flame-retardant organic wool batting. Then there’s another layer of wool on the top section, which is designed to cradle your body and help regulate temperature. Finally, there’s a latex layer to relieve pressure while also providing support along with 8-inch steel cools to reinforce the edges and help isolate motion.
When we tested the Birch Hybrid Mattress in our labs, it indeed scored well on all the most important factors, including pressure relief, motion isolation and heat diffusion. It’s the Goldilocks mattress that isn’t too firm or too soft, but rather, just right. Even when we dropped a 150-pound weight on one side, the opposite side didn’t budge. So, don’t worry about your partner waking you up when they slunk into bed hours after you are already deep in a state of REM.
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Prices were accurate at the time this article was published but may change over time.
This article originally appeared on Reviewed: The 4 best organic mattresses: Avocado, Awara, Birch
