Essentia Practices Sustainable Eco Friendly Mattress Manufacturing
April 22 is Earth Day, a day that typically is heralded as the largest environmental movement across the world. This is when we evaluate all of our sustainability goals and come up with new ways to ensure the protection of the earth. In fact, the first Earth Day happened more than 50 years ago when Gaylord Nelson, a Wisconsin senator, was inspired by the anti-war movement to get the students talking about environmental justice and getting air and water pollution on the national agenda. Since its inception, one billion people in 200 different countries have participated in Earth Day related activities.
The theme of Earth Day 2024 is Planet vs Plastics, and this is something that we here at Essentia truly hold close in regards to our Beyond Organic standards. Plastic was created by the petrochemical industry, the same that produces the toxic chemicals still found today in traditional memory foam. Essentia's mission to eliminate toxic chemicals in the bedroom is why our patented Beyond Latex organic foam was created, but now we are taking additional steps to ensure that petrochemicals and plastics are eliminated from every step of the process, including shipping! We are on a mission to not only clean up our sleep environment but also the environment and world around us.
“The word environment means what surrounds you. In the case of plastics we have become the product itself – it flows through our blood stream, adheres to our internal organs, and carries with it heavy metals known to cause cancer and disease. Now this once-thought amazing and useful product has become something else, and our health and that of all other living creatures hangs in the balance. The Planet vs. Plastics campaign is a call to arms, a demand that we act now to end the scourge of plastics and safeguard the health of every living being upon our planet.”
Kathleen Rogers, President of EARTHDAY.ORG
Essentia is the First and Only Mattress Company Eliminating Plastic in the Shipping Process
We were very surprised to learn that the theme of Earth Day this year is Planet vs Plastics, as we have been working on a huge change to the way we ship mattresses that conveniently eliminates the need for any plastic wrap. Essentia is proud to announce that we are the first and only mattress company converting our compress pack packaging from plastic to craft paper, a huge change that is perfectly aligned with Essentia’s values and mission.
Our new craft wrap is completely biodegradable and compostable, or recyclable! Craft paper is made from natural wood pulp, making it biodegradable and compostable under the right conditions. This contrasts sharply with plastic wraps, which can take hundreds of years to decompose and can release harmful microplastics into the environment. Paper is also one of the most recyclable materials, with established collection and processing systems in most regions. This facilitates the circular use of materials and reduces the need for virgin paper production.
Our commitment is also in the supply chain as we only source from sustainably managed forests, also, the production of craft paper has a lower carbon footprint compared to plastic production, especially when renewable energy sources are used in manufacturing and when the paper is sourced from nearby forests to reduce transportation emissions.
For us, this is more than just highlighting a brand image, using craft paper wrap aligns with our environmental values, but be aware that as this technology continues to develop, greenwashers are already hard at work and the development of blended craft with plastic is already out there as a low-cost alternative. The blended craft is not biodegradable nor is it recyclable, so while companies are opting for this just for the eco-optics, they are actually worse for the environment than straight-out recyclable plastic.
On a technical side, craft paper wraps have a high tensile strength, providing a durable protection layer for our mattresses during storage and transportation. This can help prevent tears or damage that might occur with thinner plastic wraps.
Unlike plastic, craft paper allows the mattress to breathe, which is essential for preventing the buildup of moisture. This can help reduce the risk of mold and mildew, especially during long-term storage or in humid climates.
Essentia is on track to have all mattresses shipping in this new craft paper wrap by the Fall of 2024.
Essentia Beyond Organic Sustainability Efforts: Earth Day & Every Day!
Here at Essentia, we believe that we need to practice Earth Day every day! This is why our Beyond Organic Standard is so important. Beyond Organic is a self-managed initiative that is at the core of all our product design and processes. Our mattresses at Essentia are and always have been far beyond organic. The products and components are thoughtfully designed and sourced for clean, ethical, and life-replenishing sleep. Being true to our Beyond Organic values, Essentia products are always Vegan and Cruelty-Free, our old-world methodologies are not easy but they are the right way to ensure the purest possible outcome to preserve clean and healthy indoor air quality while achieving the highest recovery performance and sleep benefits ever.
INGREDIENT SOURCING
Of utmost importance to Essentia is sourcing the right ingredients to make our organic mattresses and Beyond Latex™ organic foam mattresses, but also being transparent and following with our Beyond Organic® standard. Some of these ingredients include GOTS Certified Organic Cotton, natural plant extracts and Hevea Milk, which is the milky white "sap" of the Rubber tree, collected much like Maple tree sap. The hevea milk used at Essentia is sourced from GOLS certified organic plantations where acceptable working conditions are maintained and there is no practice of child labor. Hevea milk is the main ingredient in our Beyond Latex™ organic foam.
SUSTAINABLE SHIPPING
We put a lot of stock into the environment and our impact on it, which is why it was extremely important for us to find the best solution to ship Essentia mattresses. It takes special machinery to compress, roll and pack mattresses as dense and heavy as Essentia, something that hadn’t been done on a product this dense.
We roll pack our mattresses for not only your convince, but it’s a huge win for the environment as well. Roll packing allows us to use 75% less space in a truck and 75% less packaging. Using less is always better but using boxes made from 100% recycled paper is just extra gravy. *(99% post-consumer, 1% post-industrial). Now, Essentia is taking sustainability while shipping one step further by eliminating the use of plastic wrap when compressing mattresses for shipping, converting to a craft paper wrap that is completely biodegradable, compostable, or recyclable.
BIODEGRADABLE
When you’ve decided it’s time to upgrade your Essentia mattress, you won’t be worried about your old Essentia living in a landfill. We make our mattresses from nature, and it only makes sense that they can then return to nature. If an Essentia mattress is left fully exposed to the elements (wind, sun, rail) it will biodegrade in just 3 years. This is just a fail safe in the event that you can't find a mattress recycler in your area.
ZERO-WASTE FACILITY
In our GOLS (Global Organic Latex Standard) and GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) certified organic factory, we recycle all latex and memory foam offcuts and excess for use in other products like pillows, achieving zero waste.
VEGAN & ANIMAL FRIENDLY
Sleep soundly knowing every mattress and pillow we produce is Vegan and 100% Cruelty-Free. We also never test on animals… although we know they’d love a nap on Essentia.
