Perhaps you’re as concerned about the environment as we are. It’s really difficult not to be. The ice is melting, Australia is on fire and we, human beings, are finally realising that we are not invincible; our planet is fragile and there are so many of us that we need to be really sensible about what it can cope with. We all know that we can’t carry on using single use plastics and driving cars that pillage our natural resources.
But the pressure isn’t only on us to make a change, it’s on big companies, too. Because humans need things to survive; clothes, furniture, food and water, and we rely on the companies we purchase from to be eco-conscious. We lead busy lives and often we don’t have the time to do our research. Unfortunately, this can sometimes mean we are contributing to the problem.
At Ely Mattresses, we take our responsibility as guardians of the planet very seriously and that is why our mattresses are eco-friendly. If you buy from us, you’re buying a product that we’ve painstakingly designed to cause as little damage to the environment as possible. Here’s how.
We live in the days of cheap, fast fashion and produce. Want something for next to nothing? These days, it’s sometimes cheaper to buy something we desire online and fly it halfway across the world than it is to buy something that was made around the corner. That’s because in the UK we pay our staff fairly and take care of their human rights, and we tend to trade fairly, which means that materials and labour cost money when they might not if they’re made elsewhere.
Our mattresses are sourced and made in the UK, which means the carbon footprint of each mattress is significantly lower than if you were to buy one that was made somewhere less employee conscious. Sure, you can probably find them a little cheaper if you look, but you can’t put a price on environmental stability or human rights, and that’s something we’re learning more and more.
A biodegradable material is a material that is capable of being decomposed by bacteria or organisms. Many man-made materials are not biodegradable. That means that it takes a really, really long time for them to disintegrate. Sometimes hundreds, if not thousands, of years.
Perhaps that doesn’t seem like too big of a problem to you, but there are 7.53 billion people on the planet. If everybody drank one bottle of water from a plastic bottle every day for a year, we’d have…. Well, a lot of plastic bottles floating around. The problem is that water bottles are not the only things we use with plastic in them; toothbrushes, teabags and tampons all come with plastic attached to them and are not biodegradable.
We use plastic in almost everything, including bedding and mattresses. If you buy mattresses that are not biodegradable, they will most likely end up in landfills, and they’ll stay there for a long time after you’re gone. It’s a legacy of the worst kind.
Whether the mattresses you buy are biodegradable or not, they’ll likely end up in landfills. If you’re changing your mattress every couple of years because it’s low quality, you’re using up an awful lot of space. That’s why we recommend that you buy a mattress that will last you a long time. When we buy less, we throw away less, and the planet lets out a little sigh of relief.
Ely Mattresses come with a ten year warranty. We provide that level of reassurance because we have absolute confidence that our mattresses are high quality enough to last you at least that long.
If you want to make sure you’re buying high quality, long lasting products, look for companies who are prepared to put their money where their mouth is.
Ely mattresses are made from recyclable materials including wool, horse hair, and cotton. That means that when you’re done with them, they can be fully recycled.
In fact, we’re so committed to the environment that we’ll even recycle your old mattress through the Furniture Recycling Group.
The environment doesn’t need a few people doing everything perfectly, it needs lots of people doing little things imperfectly. The best way to make a real difference is to make informed, conscious choices about the things we buy and use. This extends beyond the little things and extends to the big things you purchase, as well.
If you’re interested in learning more about how you can make a difference for the environment, there are lots of helpful guides and articles online.
For more information about Ely Mattresses, please don’t hesitate to contact us.