We use only the finest grade A natural rubber for the support core at the center of the Green Sleep mattress. Natural rubber is an ideal choice: it is flexible, yet stable, for superior comfort. And, like our organic cotton and wool, the rubber is absorbent and resilient, contributing to excellent heat and moisture regulation.

Rubber is harvested by tapping the milk (sap) of Hevea brasiliensis (the common rubber tree). The trees grow in North Malaysian plantations especially selected for their high-quality product. No herbicides are used in these operations, because sheep graze the plantations and control growth.

We also arrange for the Hevea milk to be processed close to the plantations because the raw product destabilizes when kept too long. Other manufacturers avoid the problem by adding chemicals. Our pledge to bring you the purest products possible means that the rubber milk harvested in the morning is molded into sheets by mid-afternoon and is soon shipped to our Canadian mattress plant. By having our rubber manufactured where the trees' milk is harvested, we also help to sustain the local economy. Jobs are created without depleting the natural resources of the country--a kindness to ourselves and the planet.

An injection system produces the purest natural product--for mattress cores that will keep their shape. Only air, natural soap, and natural vulcanization agents are used. At the end of the mattress life cycle, the rubber breaks down, because it is a natural, biodegradable substance.

All Green Sleep mattresses are made with wool batting that is 100 percent pure. Our wool is processed without chemicals, dyes, or oils, meaning that it contains no residues from the processing--just time-honored warmth and absorbency.

The wool comes from a small island in Texel, Netherlands, where a family-run business takes exceptional pride in its organic production methods. The sheep are carefully bred and live a stress-free life. During the summer months, the animals graze on land that has never been used for agriculture, guaranteeing that it is free from contaminants such as pesticides, herbicides, and synthetic fertilizers. In winter, a well-ventilated, climate-controlled barn with clean floors is stocked daily with fresh bedding and a non-rationed organic food supply. The animals are also checked daily for continued health. The resulting fleeces--shorn from live animals, carefully sorted, and washed with only hot water and vegetable-based soaps (no detergents, chemicals, or chlorine bleach)--contain wool fibers that are strong and springy. The fleeces are then processed without the use of oils or bonding agents into wool that retains between 4 percent and 6 percent lanolin, a natural dust-mite repellent.

We want to offer you a fresh-air sleep experience. Neither you nor your loved ones should be breathing any harsh chemicals during sleep. Therefore, all the wool used in our batting is certified to the Oko-Tex 100 standard (www.seamegypt.com/Manuals/ecolabell/App1-3.PDF) through the Öko-Tex GmbH certification organization in Germany. Moreover, we do not permit the use of plastic, baling twine, or mothballs during shipment of our wool.

In our carefully constructed Green Sleep mattresses, we start with organically grown and harvested pure cotton. Absolutely no green cotton is used in our mattresses. Chemical-free and certified to the highest standards available today, our products allow you to sleep and to breathe naturally.

Cotton grown in industrialized countries is commonly saturated with pesticides and herbicides. The plant also absorbs all the chemicals that modern fertilizers deposit in the soil. In addition, machine-picked cotton is often full of impurities, oil, leaves, and dirt.

If all the cotton in the world were grown organically, the use of insecticides would be reduced by 25 percent. Working toward that end, we buy only hand-picked and chemical-free cotton. The crop is cultivated in a centuries-old traditional cooperative manner in the Cañete and Chincha valleys high in the Peruvian Andes. No defoliants, herbicides, pesticides, or synthetic fertilizers are used to control plant growth, fight pests, or fertilize the crop. No synthetic chemicals are used to strip the leaves in preparation for the harvest or during the manufacturing process. Hand-picking ensures that the resulting cotton fiber is the cleanest, purest, most resilient available. The fiber is then woven in Germany and Switzerland (again, to the highest standards) into the fine, soft fabrics that we used in all our products.

KRAV Stamp of Approval

Europe's oldest and most prestigious certification agency, KRAV of Sweden (www.krav.se/sprak/english.htm), has certified the organic cotton. Their stamp of approval is not only a guarantee of organic standards, but also that the social rights of cotton producers are respected.

All of the cotton used in Green sleep mattress batting, filling, and fabric is the cleanest, most pure organic product available today.

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