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Group seeks to set "green" mattress standards

Specialty Sleep Assn. launches initiative

David Perry -- Furniture Today, March 11, 2009

FRIANT, Calif. — Aiming to end what it says is confusion in the marketplace surrounding "green" product claims, the Specialty Sleep Assn. is seeking to set standards for how mattress producers and retailers label green and natural sleep products.

The SSA, based here, is launching a green initiative that marks the first effort by a North American sleep products group to create uniform green standards, the group said.

"While we laud the overall movement toward environmentally friendly sleep products, we are aware that there is greenwashing taking place at retail, with every manufacturer and supplier using its own definitions of what is green, sustainable or natural," said Dale Read, SSA president. "This is causing a tremendous amount of confusion with consumers and we as an industry must take a leadership role in creating a uniform set of standards and definitions."

The SSA said its ultimate goal is to create a certification program based on "existing legitimate standards" and programs as well as sleep industry-specific terms and standards for mattresses and bedding. Among other challenges, the SSA will define terms such as "green," "natural," "all-natural" and "organic," it said.

The group is holding an industry-wide conference on its green initiative May 8 at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point in Bonita Springs, Fla. That conference is expected to identify and define a set of standards that could be ratified by this summer, SSA officials said.

The SSA event is set for the same hotel that Furniture/Today will be using at its fourth-annual Bedding Conference, and it is being held the day after the Bedding Conference ends. The SSA event is not a part of the Bedding Conference, but it is expected to draw some attendees from the ranks of those participating in the Bedding Conference.

The association is inviting all bedding industry retailers, manufacturers and suppliers to attend the May 8 conference.

Read said the green initiative is a natural one for the SSA.

"Since its inception as an advocacy group for innovative, technology-driven sleep systems, the SSA has always been a leader in promoting natural, healthier and safer sleep solutions for consumers," Read said. "Educating consumers, retailers, suppliers and manufacturers about existing standards, and defining new ‘green standards' for the mattress/bedding industry is the most important mission we could embrace in 2009."

The SSA's board voted unanimously in February to support the green initiative now, rather than wait for the government or a non-bedding group to define key green terms and set standards for them, the group said.

The SSA has joined the Sustainable Furnishings Council and said it will use the extensive information the council has developed for sustainable and green standards.

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Specialty Sleep Assn. plans to set 'green' standards

Mar 16, 2009

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