For an item to reach the end user as a healthy, chemical-free product, we have to know where it is coming from. This starts with the seed…literally. The advent of modern agriculture has had remarkable environmental consequences. The attempt to increase crop yield and decrease labor costs has encouraged Genetic Modification for pesticide and herbicide tolerance. We have some awareness of the immediate consequences of chemical pesticides, fertilizers and herbicides on the surrounding environment, but have little understanding of the long term effects on either the farmer or the end user. We support Organic and chemical free farming for the health of the farmer, the environment and the consumer.

Many products are made from materials that not farmed but harvested from natural environments. Wood, for example, is a renewable resource if properly harvested and maintained. A tree can be selectively removed without damaging it’s surrounding environment, and a new tree can be planted in it’s place. Organizations like the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) are one of several third-party groups that promote proper management of forests. Crops such as bamboo and rubber are popular in the making of many items from textiles to floors to furniture to mattresses. As withanything, there is a range of quality and process. Bamboo has gained popularity as a ‘Green’ product because it grows much more rapidly than a tree. This is terrific, but often we find that bamboo is coming from areas where native forests and being clear-cut or burned to grow bamboo as a crop, changing a diverse ecosystem into a monoculture. This is a practice that we choose not to endorse and there are is an increasing demand for bamboo coming from FSC certified sources.

Rubber is another naturally grown material that is derived from the sap of the Rubber Tree. As such it is a great natural resource, but again, management of the trees can be done in many ways. Although there is not technically any Organic Certification for rubber trees, we make sure that all of our Rubber Latex products come from sources that do not spray their trees with chemicals.