As a longtime wellness writer, it should come as no surprise to you that I’m very passionate about sleep. I try to get the seven to nine hours of sleep a night—the number recommended by the National Sleep Foundation—and I do all sorts of things during the day and before bed to help make that happen. I skip out on afternoon coffee and put my phone to bed on the other side of the room, to name a few.
That’s why I was understandably intrigued when I heard about Avocado Green Mattress, a new company that sells eco-friendly mattresses that are actually affordable. Green mattresses have been around for a while, of course, but I hadn’t ever really zeroed in on them, because I knew they were wildly expensive—we’re talking up to $10,000 expensive—so I didn’t even want to tempt myself. But once I heard that Avocado sells their mattresses for about $1,600 on average, and is the highest rated mattress on Consumer Reports? And also that they're members of 1% for the Planet, which means with each purchase they donate 1% of all revenues back to environmental non-profits? Oh, it was on.
I sat down with Avocado’s co-founder Jay Decker to get the full scoop on the company, and I’ve gotta say, I’m impressed. Here’s everything I learned—including why you may want to consider snagging an Avocado Mattress for yourself.
First things first: Avocado mattresses are made from totally different materials than the regular kind.
Unlike many traditional mattresses, these eco-friendly mattresses aren’t made with certain materials or compounds like memory foams, polyurethane foams, gel, chemical flame retardants, or chemical adhesives. Instead, they’re handmade in California from natural and organic materials like 100% natural Dunlop latex, New Zealand wool, and organic cotton. This may be appealing to anyone who’s particularly concerned about off-gassing, which is when items in our home emit volatile organic compounds (known as VOCs) in the air. Of course, other household items emit VOCs, too—think of a chair upholstered with lacquer—but minimizing your exposure can be a good thing.
Unlike traditional mattress companies, Avocado only sells two types of mattresses—but both are on the firmer side.
You know those mattresses where you sink in and basically form a hole in your bed? Yeah, those are so not the Avocado kind. They sell a standard version and a pillowtop version, but both of them are on the firmer side. “It’s our philosophy that sleeping on a firmer surface will help you with spinal alignment and can provide you with a better night’s rest,” Decker says. It’s a philosophy supported by experts, too. Family wellness chiropractor Vic Manzo, DC, says he recommends Avocado Mattresses to most of his patients not only because of the all-natural materials, but also because of the firmness level. “In general, the harder your bed is, the better it tends to be for your back, because it allows your body to decompress,” he explains. “Side sleepers tend to need a little more give, but fortunately, Avocado mattresses have springs that make it easy for them to adapt,” says Manzo.
The reason Avocado mattresses are so affordable is that they use organic materials, but they aren’t certified organic.
“We make sure that most of our materials we’re using are organic, and then we get the whole mattress certified with a third party to be sure there’s no harmful off-gassing,” explains Decker. That third-party is UL Environment and all Avocado Mattresses are certified GREENGUARD Gold, meaning they meet some of the most rigorous tests out there. Not everything they use is certified organic, though—but that’s okay. In fact, it’s sort of the point. “The latex we use is not certified organic, for example, but it comes from a farm in Vietnam where they are practicing organic techniques,” Decker says. Overall, sidestepping the certified organic label whenever possible makes the whole mattress significantly more affordable.
“We do it so that we can operate a healthy business without price gouging. We would rather sell more mattresses to more people than more expensive mattresses to a select group,” he says. After chatting with Decker, I can confirm wholeheartedly that I am certainly here for that policy.
