Set sprinklers to water the lawn or garden only - not the street or sidewalk.
Use the microwave to cook small meals. (It uses less power than an oven.)
Purchase "Green Power" for your home's electricity. (Contact your power supplier to see where and if it is available.)
Scrape, rather than rinse, dishes before loading into the dishwasher; wash only full loads.
Cut back on air conditioning and heating use if you can.
Turn off appliances and lights when you leave the room.
NORFOLK – Mattresses by the hundreds end up at the landfill each day. They pile up because they’re not made of materials that break down.
Cheryl Hahn’s company, Organic Comfort Zone, produces and sells organic mattresses and bedding.
"All your natural materials have a natural enzyme to go with it so they can break down naturally in the environment when their time is ready. Your petroleum products do not have that," she explains.
Her Ocean View business is one of only a handful of facilities in the U.S. that even try to recycle conventional mattresses.
All the materials in these “green” bedding and pillows come from Kapok to organic cotton and wool. They’re completely renewable and sustainable.
Hahn says you’ll like sleeping on these organic mattresses.
"It's very breathable. All natural materials breathe. We lose a pint of moisture every night when we sleep. Where does that go -- into your spongy mattress. All of this breathes. It keeps your bed very dry and healthy, resistant to dust mites, mold and mildew. There's no chemicals, no hazardous PBDEs and you're not taking that in your lungs or your pores at night so it's a very healthy sleep system as well," she notes.
It’s hoped that over the next 30 to 40 years when these mattresses lifespan is complete, there will be processes to recycle the material if they're separated.
The wool, the organic cotton, and the rubber from the rubber trees can be broken down so the mattress won't take up landfill space.
