Pillows
What to Look For
We spend as much as a third of our lives sleeping, but the National Sleep Foundation has found that almost 75 percent of American adults have problems getting a good night's sleep. Whether that's due to noise, light pollution or any number of other factors, you may help rectify uneasy sleep with a better pillow, especially on that won't contribute to health problems like allergies and sinusitis.
Below is a breakdown of the natural and organic alternatives to problematic conventional materials, and when you're shopping, choose pillows with organic cotton shells, when available. One company, White Lotus, sells more affordable versions of its pillows in "green" (conventionally grown but chemically untreated) cotton.
Buckwheat
Asian cultures have used buckwheat pillows for centuries. The body-conforming hulls allow your head to lie naturally, which relieves tension, and they provide room for air to circulate, keeping you cool.
The environmental impact of buckwheat, from which the hulls are taken, is very low. Even when grown conventionally, it's a pesticide-free crop and requires very little fertilizer. It's even a natural weed killer because nothing can grow underneath it, and it's inherently pest-resistant, making it an ideal choice for sufferers of dust-mite allergies. As a final bonus, buckwheat grows very abundantly in the U.S. and Canada, supporting local farmers and local economies.
Wool
Naturally fire retardant, untreated wool wicks moisture away from your body while you sleep, and it dries quickly, making it unappealing to dust mites, which thrive in warm, moist surroundings. It is also resistant to mold spores and mildew.
Opt for wool products that are chemically untreated and harvested from organically raised sheep or those that bear the "Pure Grow Wool" label, which represents wool from humanely raised sheep raised on pesticide-free land.
Kapok
Kapok-filled pillows provide a non-allergenic, humane alternative to down. The pillows are stuffed with fibers from seed pods of the tropical kapok, or Ceiba, tree that grows in South American rain forests, Africa, Indonesia and other parts of Asia. Seed pods fall to the ground, where they are gathered by local residents. The collection of fibers is done with little harm to the environment, and it provides work and economic support for the communities surrounding the rain forests.
Organic Cotton
Organic cotton doesn't necessarily resist dust mites, but the pillows provide a natural material alternative to people with allergies to wool, buckwheat and latex.
Natural Latex
Natural latex is tapped from rubber trees and is a replenishable rainforest resource. While not as widely available as the other natural alternatives, it offers the same support benefits as polyurethane pillows. Some natural latex pillows are thick pieces of foam and others contain shredded latex, which provides more spring.
