I’m sure you’re familiar with the adage, “Seeing is believing.”
When I first started at the International Sleep Products Association almost 10 years ago, I had never set foot on a mattress manufacturing floor — or any manufacturing floor, for that matter.
Visiting the Spring Air International plant in Greensboro, North Carolina, during my first year on the job gave me an education on creating mattresses. Watching all the pieces come together made everything that I already had learned make sense in a new way.
They say you don’t know what you don’t know. I didn’t know the details of how it worked until I saw it. The same could be true for mattress manufacturers and suppliers when it comes to mattress recycling.
I know not everyone can take a trip to see mattress recycling in action, so we’ve done the next best thing. First, take some time and read Julie A. Palm’s article, “Taking It All Apart.” Then visit the Mattress Recycling Council’s YouTube page and search for “The Challenge: Finding Uses for All Discarded Mattress Materials.” It gives you a fantastic overview of how mattresses are taken apart and what happens to the components.
This issue of BedTimes also spotlights Courtney Panther, material recovery manager for Sleep Number Corp. She’s found her sweet spot at the intersection of people and problem-solving. For her, that means working closely with the product development team to take a proactive approach to sustainability.
Machinery supplier C3 also has sustainability top of mind. “The ability to recycle is becoming more and more important to manufacturers,” says Joe Van de Hey, C3’s CEO, founder and owner. Read about all the ways C3 is supporting this environmental mindset.
While sustainability is about reducing, reusing and recycling material goods, being more efficient with our time is another form of sustainability. The article on helpful hacks is chock full of good information on ways we can be more productive and organized. I do some of these automatically (hello, morning to-do list) but there are a number of areas I can improve. I hope these tips are useful to you, as well.
As we look forward to celebrating Earth Day on April 22, I hope you will enjoy this issue and all of the many ways our industry is making the world a better place.
