The year 2021 in the U.S. was dedicated to ecology. This fact encourages people to think about how to make their home not just beautiful, but also safe for health. The best place to start transformations is the bedroom, the place where we spend a third of our lives.
Step 1: Choose the right materials
A favorable atmosphere in the bedroom largely depends on the finish of the walls, as well as floor and ceiling coverings. Hygienic certificates for the materials used will guarantee that no harmful substances such as styrene, chlorine, or phthalates will accumulate in the air. It is also worth making sure that all the selected building materials are suitable for interior work and are as environmentally friendly as possible.
For walls, it is better to choose paper, cork, or fleece wallpaper so that the wallpaper should and should not that it has a low air permeability and a possibility of emitting harmful gases. Another option is to paint the walls. it is advisable to prefer water-based, casein or lime-casein paints. They do not contain petrochemical solvents, consequently avoiding contact with toluene, xylene and mineral spirits. You can safely use water-dispersion paints that are marked with the Eco-label “Leaf of Life”. These are produced, for example, by Akzo Nobel Decor.
For floors, natural wood with a minimum of impregnation and adhesives is suitable. Lacquer is desirable to pick up low-emission, with the marking of EC-1. However, wooden parquet – an expensive pleasure. In order to save money, it can be replaced by laminate. Eco-safety of the latter depends on the composition of raw materials and production technology, so it must be confirmed by independent expertise. For example, the relevant certificate is the line of laminate flooring Tarkett.
Pay attention to the materials of your mattress. Your body contacts the mattress and bedding throughout the night. You should be extra picky when buying a mattress. If you are allergic, test the mattress in person before purchasing it online. Check all the required certifications such as Oeko-Tex Standard 100, which ensures a low emission of harmful substances. For example, Saatva Solaire is using only natural materials and guarantees high-quality sleep for you and your family.
For the ceiling, you can choose lime as the most environmentally friendly material. It is quite acceptable to mount a stretch ceiling of natural fabric. From plasterboard will have to give up, since the ceilings from it often become a place of “residence” mold. Styrofoam tiles should also be discarded, as the styrene released by it accumulates in the liver.
Step 2. Organize your sleeping area
It is necessary to take care of the environmental safety of the central attribute of the bedroom – the bed. The frame is preferably made of metal or solid wood. But it is better to refrain from buying furniture made of particle boards: it often contains urea-formaldehyde or phenol-formaldehyde resins. Of these, formaldehyde, a dangerous carcinogen and allergen, easily penetrates into the air when exposed to heat.
In any case, before buying should verify the good reputation of the manufacturer, at least by marking on the products. For example, the goods of the American furniture holding Angstrem have the environmental category A+, as evidenced by the special GoodWood® symbol. You can check the authenticity of the prefixes eco-, bio- or organic- on the product using a special application for smartphones “Ecopolka”: it contains only products accredited by independent international centers.
The existence of such applications proves that the declared “naturalness” is not always a guarantee of environmental safety. For example, buying a mattress made of natural latex, the consumer has no idea that the milky juice of caoutchouc is only 15-20% of the composition. The rest – additives and additives with dubious effect on health. A similar problem arises when choosing products from coconut coir: for binding fibers to each other and give them strength, most often used cheap artificial latex-like compounds or adhesives. Sharp chemical odor and formaldehyde vapors from them – the most innocuous thing waiting for the buyer.
A completely artificial material, polyurethane foam, is much more environmentally friendly, especially if its products bear the CertiPUR label on the packaging. “This label guarantees that the foam in the product complies with European standards for the maximum permissible concentration of volatile emissions,” explains Roberto Ylissess, head of “Mattress blanks” of FomLine, the developer of ready-made solutions for foam mattresses. – Moreover, CertiPUR certificate is issued only to manufacturers responsible for environmental impact who do not use hazardous and prohibited substances (chlorinated hydrocarbons and other ozone-depleting elements, bromine-based flame retardants, phthalates, formaldehyde, heavy metals, such as mercury, lead, etc.)”.
Step 3. Achieve acoustic comfort
The ecological “unhealthiness” of any megalopolis is aggravated by strong noise pollution, which can provoke hypertension, malfunctions in the metabolic and oxidative processes, and sometimes simply do not let you sleep. You can protect yourself from noise in the bedroom with modern window designs: multi-chamber glass, special “silent” profiles. Engineers have already taken care of the fact that there is no need to open windows to ventilate and let the sounds of the night streets in. The Schüco VentoTherm ventilation system ensures a supply of fresh air even if the window is closed. It is also equipped with an anti-allergen filter, which, thanks to an enzyme coating, retains airborne pollutants and then breaks them down.
It does not hurt to reduce the noise level inside the room as well: even the unintrusive humming of the TV in standby mode and the sound of the dishwasher or the washing machine running at night power tariff can significantly affect the quality and depth of sleep. The TV should be moved to the living room, and a good seal on the bedroom door should be protected from the rest. Often polyurethane foam and its derivatives are used as the latter, as this material is a good sound insulator. It will also come in handy in the sleeping area: a foam mattress, together with a pad of polyurethane foam in the headboard of the bed, will perfectly absorb sound.
Step 4. Create the “right” conditions: humidity and temperature
If you need to put away your detrimental for sleeping laptop and TV, then you can add a humidifier and an air conditioner. The benefit of their work is inestimably higher than the “sound” trail. After all, they help to maintain an optimal temperature for healthy sleep, as well as prevent drying of the mucous membranes of the upper respiratory tract and prolong the youthfulness of the skin.
Sleep consultants warn us about the negative effects of overheating. In particular, experts believe that the blanket should be such that it is warm, but not hot. According to Joan Hilbert, neurologist, somnologist, member of the American Somnologists Association (Center of aesthetic medicine “Renovatio”, Ohio), the need to constantly open up will disrupt your sleep and for a few nights may lead to insomnia and as a consequence, anxiety disorders. In addition, the consequence of sweating under a hot blanket is often a banal cold.
Modern mattress fillers, such as polyurethane foam with open, “breathable” cells, combined with classic cotton linens help with thermoregulation. “For example, our company’s development for the mattress manufacturer Ormatec, Memory Cool memory foam, provides air circulation and reduces the temperature on the surface of the product. The airflow in it is increased by 95%, and the speed of moisture removal from the body of a sleeping person is three times higher compared to conventional polyurethane foam,” – comments Richard Grett.
Step 5: Enjoy the result!
After all the changes you will not recognize your bedroom: it will be easy to breathe, fall asleep quickly and feel most comfortable. Take care of your health with environmentally friendly materials.