We spend about a third of our lives sleeping, which begs the question, what are we sleeping on? Finding a mattress that not only feels fantastic, but is also kind to the planet, can seem like a daunting task.
Many companies claim to be sustainable, but at Naturalmat we truly walk the talk. Since 1999, we have consciously designed our mattresses to have the lowest impact on the planet and in 2020 our efforts were rewarded with a Queen’s Award for Sustainable Development.
We believe it is important to use our purchasing power as a force for good, so we have come up with a list of reasons why investing in a Naturalmat should be your next sustainable switch.
1. Made with nature
We’ve always prioritised sustainability in all of our sourcing decisions, ensuring that your mattress is only filled with materials that are safe for the environment and for you.
From Fairtrade and GOLS certified organic coconut fibre to latex from responsibly managed forests, we carefully hand-pick natural and renewable materials from suppliers we trust. We know that by choosing organic suppliers wherever possible we are consciously reducing our impact on the planet.
2. Circular design
Businesses are meant to solve problems, not create them. In the UK alone, an astonishing 5 million mattresses end up in the landfill each year, enough to fill Wembley stadium five times over, highlighting the pressing need for a circular and sustainable alternative.
Your Naturalmat has been meticulously designed to ensure that every component is either biodegradable, compostable or recyclable so when it reaches the end of its life, nothing goes to waste.
3. Mattress for Life
Remember when things were made to last? Cheap, low quality mattresses tend to have short lives and almost always turn out to be expensive in the long run. Investing in a high-quality mattress is ultimately the better choice for the Earth and for your pocket.
Our ‘Mattress for Life’ initiative has been developed to close the loop on the waste created by disposed mattresses. Once your Naturalmat reaches the end of it's life, you can choose between 3 innovative options : Recycle, Refurbish or Donate.
4. Powered by the sun
Here in the beautiful Devon countryside we love our sunny days, and we’ve decided to truly make the most of it. Every cut, stitch and cup of tea we make in our Devon based factory is powered by 100% renewable energy, with about 73% coming from the solar panels on the roof of our factory and the rest from a renewable energy supplier.
2022 Impact Report
Learn more about our sustainability strategy in our 2022 Impact Report.
Read The Report
5. Healthy sleep for all
Research by Buttle UK has revealed that thousands of children don't have a bed of their own to sleep in. This means they're forced to share beds or sleep on the sofa, leading to devastating effects on their heath.
To tackle bed poverty and make healthy sleep accessible to all, we’ve partnered with FRC (a charity working to end furniture poverty) to develop a service that will pick up your old mattresses, get them cleaned in the world’s first mattress washing machine and donate them to charities helping people in need.
6. Plastic-free deliveries
We went through a series of thoughtful, intentional improvements before we settled on plastic-free and planet-friendly packaging alternatives that we were truly proud of.
Our baby mattresses are wrapped in our certified home compostable potato starch packaging, a sustainable solution we pioneered back in 2006.
We deliver a majority of our adult mattresses in our newly developed reusable mattress bags and we’ve saved 1,600kg of plastic since their introduction. The remainder of our deliveries are wrapped in certified carbon neutral bio-plastic, a blend of sugarcane polyethylene and recycled plastic.
7. Sleep like a baby
We’ve spent over two decades perfecting the art of making 100% chemical-free, hypoallergenic and non-toxic mattresses, which are naturally fire retardant, to give you a product that benefits you as well as the Earth.
A Naturalmat provides the highest quality of luxurious comfort with little to no VOC emissions, or toxic off-gassing that is notoriously common in regular and memory foam mattresses. So you can sleep like a baby, safe and comfortably.
8. Made in Devon
We are proud to be based on the banks of the river Exe in Devon, a historical centre for the wool and textile industries. All our mattresses are lovingly handmade in our local workshop using only the highest quality of locally sourced natural and organic fibres. So when we say ‘Made in Devon’, we mean it.
We are a Living-Wage accredited company and intentionally recruit from within the local community resulting in 35 of our 50 team members being based in and around Topsham. We have also secured funding for 5 apprenticeship workshop roles to encourage young people to consider jobs in sustainable businesses.
9. Direct from farm
The green fields that surround us here in Devon are flocked with sheep and in 2010 we pioneered buying all of our wool directly from certified organic farmers located right on our doorstep.
By buying directly from local farmers, we are able to pay them a premium of at least 30% more than if they went through the standard market auctions. Since wool is a crucial part of most of our products, this also helps us maximise our positive impact by supporting local communities, reducing transport emissions and ensuring traceability.
10. Restoring the Earth
Local and sustainable sourcing is important and impactful but with the current pace of environmental degradation we have realised it is no longer enough. We simply do not want to compromise when it comes to doing the right thing, so we decided to go above and beyond 'responsible sourcing'.
We have recently started working with Farm Wilder, a sustainable farming consultancy, to support our local wool farmers to transition into regenerative farming practices, which are meant to rehabilitate the planet by improving biodiversity and soil health. These are better for the environment, for their wool production and ultimately for your mattress.
