While the organic food movement was transitioning from obscure to mainstream, a popular expression was, “You are what you eat.” That still rings true, doesn’t it? Eating processed, nutrient-drained foods leaves your body feeling just the same. Fueled enough to keep going, maybe, but hardly vital and energized.
With green building and design movements swiftly catching on, more consumers are also becoming aware that all the materials that surround you—whatever you breathe in, absorb or touch—can potentially impact your health.
When it comes to chemical exposure, the cumulative total of what’s under, on or around you may have as powerful an effect on your wellbeing as your diet does.
Because scientists continue to raise the alarm about health risks from chronic, low-level chemical exposures, greater consumer awareness is a great development. It spurs more manufacturers to take health and safety more seriously. While innovation often leads to more healthful products, consumer demand is what really kicks up the change.
It Starts with Your Skin
Consider what’s absorbed by the skin—your largest organ. Thanks to better consumer education about chemicals in personal care products, health-savvy shoppers are more alert to what’s in the lotions, shampoos, or cosmetics they’ve slathered on over the years. More people now understand that using absorbable products means taking in regular micro-doses of whatever they contain—including many inadequately-tested chemicals.
The same is true for natural mattresses and organic bedding. When Savvy Rest first began manufacturing organic mattresses, many people asked, “Why is there even such a thing as an organic mattress?” But as information about the health risks—to humans and to the earth—of flame retardants, cotton pesticides, and the chemicals in synthetic bedding continues to spread, more people are experiencing a “green lightbulb moment.”
You Can’t Unring That Bell
It’s also hard to switch off the green lightbulb. Once you recognize that many products are made with off-gassing and/or hormone-altering chemicals that raise risks for many diseases, it’s hard not to think about what’s in practically everything.
Still, there’s positive news. You can choose to make a big difference in the rooms where you and your family spend a third of your lives, and often more—your bedrooms. Instead of chemical-saturated foams and synthetics, you can choose organic mattresses made with natural latex and casings of organic cotton and organic wool, with organic bedding on top.
Shhhhhhhh. Everyone is sleeping, touching only healthful, natural materials, and breathing in…only air.
Keep those green night-lights on!
