Hi Emily! I recently purchased a Kingsdown mattress, a private label brand by Sleepy's that is hypoallergenic. The delivery system was a little horrendous, but I love the bed. Best I've ever had!

How about an organic, vegan-friendly mattress. Know any?  An organic, vegan-friendly memory foam mattress or topper would be even better.

Hi there,
In my endless search for the best type of paper to use (both as sketchpad paper and in the printing of books/brochures etc. in my design practise) , I've been told many conflicting reports on the danger of falling for the current spin on recycled paper. There seems to be 3 distinct 'opinion groups' on this.

Group 1:
100% in favour of recycled paper  - say its better than FSC certified virgin paper (wood sourced in sustainably-managed forests). Creating recycled paper saves forests, reduces water consumption, reduces energy consumption, saves native wildlife, reduces CO2 emissions.

Group 2:
These people say that recycled paper causes a huge amount of toxic waste - dioxins - to be created and, like nuclear waste, this waste must simply be 'stored' once its created eg in large lead-pits placed in the earth (to me - this sounds much worse than going for the FSC option). Recycled paper also doesn't last as long, as the fibres are shorter, so it's no good if you want a document to live longer than, say, 70 years+. This group, therefore,  chooses FSC paper over recycled.

Group 3:
The third group recommend steering clear of both of these and choosing a paper which is made from an entirely different fibre eg Sugar Cane, Hemp, Organic Cotton (which has the highest archival quality). There has been some evidence, however, that making paper from these materials may require greater water and energy consumption. Like recycled paper, however, it does save more trees from being cut down.

I'm simply at the stage where I don't know what the most ethical and environmentally-friendly solution is to the problem.

Is it better to start off by choosing an option which is preferably 'home grown' thereby reducing transport and CO2 emissions? Then going for Recycled - FSC certified - alternative fibre in that order?

I'd be hugely grateful if you could shed some light on this issue!

Cheers,

Sinéad

Hello:

Just wanted to let you know that you should click on the "send Umbra" link at the bottom of the original article to ask her your question, rather than leave it as a comment in an unrelated article (I don't know if she reads all the comments or not).  I hope she does answer it, though - I'm curious!  I believe any dioxins made in the recycled-paper process would only happen if said paper was bleached in chlorine; that's why when you buy a brand of recycled paper product like Seventh Generation, it talks about using an alternate bleaching method (or none at all) to avoid making any dioxins.  Just the actual recycling part shouldn't make any dioxins that I'm aware of.  I would hope that if a company is recycling paper, than they expect their customers to be looking for eco-friendly options and would not use chlorine bleach; however, this may just be wishful thinking on my part if the label doesn't say what the paper was bleached with.  Likewise cotton, hemp, banana leaf, etc. could also potentially be bleached with chlorine, so I think the danger of that happening may be equal (unless said tree-free paper comes in its "natural" color, no bleaching at all).  I used to find spiral notebooks made of recycled paper that were not bleached at all, but I haven't seen those since the 90s.

Anywho... I hope your question gets answered! : )

I purchased a mattress from this company on Jan 22. My credit card was charged right away for the full amount of $1,999.00 and I was promised delivery in three weeks. After three weeks I was told that latex which came from Sri Lanka does not meet company standards and it would take another week. After a week of waiting I called and was told my mattress had not been made and they could not give me a shipping date. On Monday Feb 25 I called and sent email asking to cancel my order and refund my payment. After numerous calls to customer service I got phone call from accountant and was promised a refund on my credit card. I have to this date Mar 13th. not received a refund from this company. I believe them to be totally dishonest!!!

This is the latest response from Simply Organic Sleep when asked about my refund:

'What is pathetic sad and unreal is the way that retail customers think that they are the only ones in the world when they place an order. We pride ourselves in our product and customer service and I am frankly tired of your attitude. I may have misspoke about your credit I have hundreds of customers (99 percent of them satisfied by the way) and I am out of town at our distribution center and not in my office. I will check my records when I get home to see exactly what the status of your credit is. I hope this is satisfactory but it probably wont be. If you have any further questions, I will be happy to assist.'

Susan Gehant
Comptroller

Another example of the way this business feels about its customers!!!