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Landfill impact of Mattresses | The Wool Bed Company

The mattresses are put in a hole and then compacted into the landfill.

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The Wool Bed Company has made a conscious effort to manufacture a Green Mattress and use sustainable materials in their products. They understand that every small step towards sustainability counts, and they are committed to reducing their impact on the environment. By choosing sustainable products like those offered by The Wool Bed Company, we can all do our part to reduce waste and preserve the planet for future generations. All of our materials used in the manufacturing are totally biodegradable which helps lower our footprint on the environment.

Traditional mattresses with foams,

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that each mattress takes up an average of 28 cubic feet of landfill space. Additionally, mattresses are 400% less compactable than typical garbage, which means they take up even more space than other waste items. This is a major problem because landfills are already overflowing with waste, and we need to find ways to reduce our waste footprint.

As the world becomes more aware of the impact of our daily activities on the environment, it’s important to consider the environmental impact of even the most mundane items, such as mattresses. In the United States alone, we discard a staggering 18.2 million mattresses in landfills every year, which equates to 509 million cubic feet or 42,400 1,500 sq ft homes, of landfill space used for mattresses per year. This is a massive amount of space that could be used for other purposes, and it poses a serious environmental threat.

One solution is to choose eco-friendly mattresses, like those offered by The Wool Bed Company. Their mattresses are made of 100% wool and organic cotton coverings, both of which are biodegradable. This means that when the mattress reaches the end of its life, it will break down naturally without harming the environment. In addition, The Wool Bed Company’s renewal process ensures that all of the wool in their mattresses is recycled, and only the cloth is discarded into landfills, taking up less than 1 cubic foot of space. This means that The Wool Bed Company’s mattresses have a much smaller impact on the environment than traditional mattresses and has fully biodegradable materials.

Whilst wool is fully biodegradable, this process takes time, depending on the external environment from 3 months to 2 years. This is a great advantage, as this ensures a slow and steady release of nitrogen (N) into the surrounding soil, especially considering wool contains on average 10 to 11% Nitrogen more than some commercially available composts. Wool offers a unique spectrum of trace elements. Studies have found high levels of potassium(K) and Iron(Fe). Some studies have found that it is also possible to use wool directly in container grown plants providing a nutrient source and growth medium, with roots growing directly and preferentially on wool fibers.

Laying down raw wool on your garden bed retains moisture and stops weeds from sprouting, two key components of traditional mulch. A central complaint when using straw mulch is that it breaks down too quickly, allowing for weeds to grow and leaving the soil exposed, while wool mulch traditionally lasts a minimum of two years. While not quite as effective as plastic to keep weeds at bay, you are using a 100% natural ingredient that simply biodegrades back into the earth once it’s served its mulching purpose.

Wool and Water

Everyone is looking for that magic thing that will allow them to go on vacation and come home to living, breathing plants. Wilde thinks wool might be the key. Ever heard of a Wilt Study? Basically Wilde did a Wilt Study which is seeing how long it takes a plant to begin to wilt and then eventually die, without the reintroduction of water. Wilde and his team conducted one study in 4” pots and this is what they found:

  • Traditional soil had wilting plants on days 1 and 2, and dead plants on days 5 and 6
  • Soil mixed with wool had wilting plants on days 7 and 8, and then dead plants on day 14

This is because wool can hold between 20-30x its own weight in water, and then release it slowly, it’s allowing these plants to continuously have access to water, without over watering them. Many materials can hold water next to the roots of a plant, but so far, wool is the clear leader for slowly releasing that water to each plant when it needs it. Traditionally you have to keep adding more and more water to keep plants healthy, but with wool, you can actually conserve water with better results for the plants. Mixing wool in with your plant’s soil can allow you to go seven days without having to worry about your plant starting to wilt and die.

In Conclusion one of the potential answers to reduction of mattresses placed in land fill is to utilize wool as the material of preference. So people can, either have their mattress Renewed at The Wool Bed Company or utilize the wool in your in compost or utilize it in your garden underground to add nutrients, and keep your plants in soil the has a better moisture control.

In conclusion, the environmental impact of mattresses being thrown into landfills cannot be ignored. By choosing biodegradable mattresses like those offered by The Wool Bed Company, we can reduce our impact on the environment and help preserve the planet for future generations. It’s time for us all to take responsibility for our actions and make sustainable choices that will benefit both the planet and ourselves.m