Sleep Organic with Happsy

PSA: I reached out to Happsy to work together on this post and received complimentary product for my collaboration in writing a review. However, my opinions remain my own, and if you've been a reader for a while, you know I'm pretty picky and do very few sponsored posts.

Alright ya'll. Little story for you, but I'll try to make it short.

A few years ago, I noticed my eyes becoming a little more sensitive to light (read: I wanted to wear sunglasses ALL the time). I've also long been irritated by strong chemical smells from that of cleaning products, cheap cologne ;), gas fumes, and all that other stuff that is a part of daily living.

Anyways, long story short, after some testing with my favorite Naturopath, we discovered I have Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MSC).

MCS in short means that you're more sensitive to things in your environment than the average person. While most people can handle some amount of chemicals in their furniture, additives in their food, strong fragrances, a somewhat moldy environment, someone with MCS is more likely to react and have negative symptoms from the same exposure.

In other worlds, people with MCS have to be more careful about creating a safe environment, because in a sense they're a "canary in a coal mine."

This discovery started a little wave of change at my household to say the least.

I mean, there's the basics — clean air, clean water, organic food, and then the "other stuff" that fills your home environment (my detox your home email series covers most of this stuff). But I was still ignoring a few larger items...

So, I got rid of all carpet in my house, started working on improving air quality (especially in my bedroom), and most recently, overhauled my sleep environment.

I was sleeping on a mattress that was probably close to 15 years old and let's just say mattress guidelines surrounding human health have changed over the years...

It was time to #sleeporganic.

Why Sleep Organic?

The average person spends about 8 hours a day sleeping (but I'm totally guilty of going above and beyond that number).

That's about 26 years of your life you spend sleeping (if you trust my math), or roughly 33% of your life (average lifespan in the U.S. is about 78.7 years). [1]

So, if you're spending those passive, and hopefully blissful sleep years sleeping on a sea of unknown chemicals, you're probably not doing yourself any favors.

Especially if you're one of the special sensitive people like me 😉

You see, the mattress and bedding industry isn't very clean. The following are pretty important to know about, so you can avoid them in your mattress:

Chemical flame retardants: mattresses are required to pass flammability testing, and well, chemical flame retardants are the quick + inexpensive way to "pass the test." That doesn't however, mean that they are good for your health! Common flame retardants that have been used are — polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), boric acid, antimony trioxide, decabromodiphenyl oxide, melamine, vinylidene chloride and PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers). Most of these have been proven harmful to human health and some of these have already been banned or phased out due to health and toxicity hazards.
Petroleum-based chemicals: polyurethane foam, memory foam and synthetic latex are petroleum-based and big problem in the mattress industry. They are widely used because they are cheap and lightweight. As these chemical foams off gas, they release VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) into the air. These foams are also highly flammable, so they need even more chemical flame retardants to pass burn testing.
Other compounds to avoid: vinyl (makes mattresses waterproof + bacteria resistant), and formaldehyde (used as an adhesive/glue).

You see the problem here? Who wants to spend a third of their life sleeping on (and breathing in) chemicals when they can be avoided?

Instead, you want to look for things like organic latex, natural latex, organic cotton, organic wool (natural flame retardant), and organic rubber.

The organic seal is something you'll want to look for when mattress shopping, since the term "natural" is largely unregulated and therefore, pretty meaningless in the mattress industry.

Enter Happsy

I received a queen Happsy with a mattress topper, and organic pillows delivered straight to my door last month.

The boxes were a little heavy so I grabbed one of my favorite humans to help me out.

The mattress and topper come super compressed and rolled up in the box, so you just take it out, unroll, and let it sit for about 30 minutes or so — super easy!

Milo (pup) is THRILLED to have a bigger bed, so there's a higher probability for him to snag a spot 😉

Here's a few things I really liked about Happsy products:

Are GOTS, GOLS, and GREENGUARD GOLD certified (just to name a few). These are important to look for when you're shopping for an organic mattress.
Is never made with any harmful flame retardants or gules.
Is made of a 2" comfort layer, followed by an 8" support layer.
Is backed by a 20-year warranty and offers 120 night trial period (4 months to try it out ya'll!)
Supports 1% for the Planet, so you can feel good about buying from a company that gives back.
Delivered, roll-packed to your doorstep. Easy to get into your living space and to set up.
For a plusher night's sleep, add the Happsy topper to your mattress.

Happsy is also on the more reasonable side when it comes to organic mattress brands. Mattresses range from $899 for a twin up to $1,699 for a California King.

My final thoughts

Fair warning — I'm a bit of a picky sleeper and I have a shoulder injury, so I'm tough to please. I like a firmer mattress with a plush top and I was a tad worried that the Happsy mattress would be too soft...

When my mattress + topper arrived I tested out different sleep variations for a few nights — (1) mattress alone and (2) mattress with topper.

And here's what I thought:
1) Just mattress — feels like a soft(er) mattress when you climb on and off, but actually feels pretty firm when you are lying down and your weight is evenly distributed.
2) Mattress + topper — feels very plush on the surface, and really gives you that feeling of sleeping on a cloud or melting into your mattress and becoming one with your bed.

Both cozy — it just depends on your own preference!

Now I sleep confidently, knowing I'm not surrounding myself with chemicals for 8+ hours every night! It's great piece of mind.

And most importantly, it's paw approved too. ?

Ready to sleep organic with Happsy too?

Save $250 off your mattress purchase with code SAVE250 or 40% off your topper purchase with code TOP40 at checkout!

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References:

[1] https://fortune.com/2018/02/09/us-life-expectancy-dropped-again/
[2] https://www.doh.wa.gov/YouandYourFamily/HealthyHome/Contaminants/PBDEs
[3] https://happsy.com
[4] http://sleeplily.com/mattress-materials-toxic-chemicals/