The Specialty Sleep Association (SSA) "THE
FUTURE OF SLEEP™ is dedicated to providing
consumers with pertinent information to help
them make the best mattress and bedding
decisions for themselves and their loved
ones.
The SSA Environmental & Safety Program™ for
consumer education, retailer training and
truth in "green" marketing is the SSA's
premier consumer education program.
Public Comment
Period Open on Levels I, II, III and NEW
proposed level IV -- Click
here to view proposed changes.Click
here
to submit public comments.
In its January
2010
Environmental Claims Report, the
SSA's consumer research study found that 41%
of consumers worry about the "safety" of
mattresses in their homes and 15% of
consumers want "emissions-free" mattresses.
These two issues were consumers' top two
concerns. To help educate consumers, SSA
will be issuing a “Green” Consumer Buyer
Awareness Report in the summer of 2011 with
suggestions to help educate consumers about
the most appropriate environmental claims.
Seventy-nine percent (79%) of consumers
surveyed stated they would choose a mattress
with an environmentally friendly claim that
is understandable and trustworthy. In response to this
study and several other worldwide
indicators, the SSA developed its
Environmental & Safety Program™ to address
environmental truth in marketing.
Also, here on this website, consumers can
review products that have earned the SSA’s
Environmental & Safety Program Seal of
Approval and learn about the manufacturers
that are leading the way in the “green”
specialty bedding market through their
participation in the SSA’s program. Other
links on the SSA site show the diverse
spectrum of sleep products and the newest
innovations in sleep technology.
The SSA Environmental & Safety Program
provides a three-step seal and consumer
disclosure label (CDL) program that will
help consumers to understand the
environmental and safety attributes of
participating manufacturers’ products. The
seals and tags appear on mattresses from
manufacturers who join the program and serve
to inform the consumer about the minimum
environmental and safety compliance levels
the particular product adheres to, along
with a CDL that lists material content by
percentage for components in the mattress.
Click
here for a
sample CDL.
Disclose materials
used in construction and percentages of
natural/biobased and/or pre-consumer recycled content
if applicable
Achieve a minimum
of 20% of natural/biobased or
pre-consumer recycled content in
component categories of fabric and quilt
Participate in an
annual survey to identify carbon
footprint issues and commit to
continuous improvement
Meet all federal
safety flammability requirements
Meet all safety
requirements for children’s products if
applicable
Provide a warranty
for the product
For the Level II seal, a manufacturer
must meet all the requirements of the first
threshold and in addition, the products
must:
Disclose materials
used in construction and achieve a
minimum of 20% natural/biobased,
pre-consumer recycled content material,
and/or steel in component categories of
fabric and quilt and 10% for core
Certify
the top fabric (closest to consumer
during sleep) through either Oeko-Tex®
Standard 100 or Global Organic Textile
Standard
Flexible polyurethane foam products must achieve CertiPUR-US® certification
Latex foam
products must achieve Oeko-Tex® Standard
100 certification.
The Level III seal is the highest
that can be achieved. To meet the Level III
requirements, a manufacturer must comply
with the previous two levels’ requirements
and:
Disclose materials
used in construction and achieve a
minimum of 70% of natural/biobased
and/or pre-consumer recycled content
material in component categories of
fabric and quilt
Disclose materials
used in construction and achieve a
minimum of 50% natural/biobased,
pre-consumer recycled and/or steel for
core
Certify the final
mattress through Oeko-Tex®
Standard 100 or Global Organic Textile
Standard
SSA’s Green Initiative Board of Governors
regularly reviews the three tiers of the
program and seeks input from consumers,
retailers, manufacturers, and suppliers on
the effectiveness of the program, technology
advances, certification program changes, and
other proposals for updating the levels of
the program or adding new levels. Our goal
is to continue to advance the program and
ensure that it provides consumers with
meaningful information about approved
products’ environmental & safety attributes
while encouraging manufacturers to clearly
convey material content and substantiate
environmental claims.
If you would like to submit a general
comment or propose a change to the SSA’s
Environmental & Safety Program™, please use
the comment form
here. Comments will be
reviewed quarterly by the SSA’s Green
Initiative Board, staff, and leadership and
commenters will be informed of the timeline
for future updates to the overall program.
We highly value your input!
Evolution of the SSA Environmental &
Safety Program –
2011 & Beyond
SSA is excited about early adoption of its
Environmental & Safety Program™ and is
working diligently on increasing public
recognition of the program. Simultaneously,
we are looking ahead toward continuous
improvement.
Proposals are now being considered for a
Level IV of the program. Anyone wishing to
contribute input on the existing program or
a proposed Level IV should use the public
comment form. We look forward to hearing
from all interested parties.
Voting on proposed changes to the program
occurs at the SSA Green Initiative Board
level and is followed by overall approval of
the revised program by the SSA’s Board of
Directors. Membership on the Green
Initiative Board of Governors is provided to
those SSA members (manufacturers, retailers,
and suppliers) that contribute to support
the funding and administration of the
Program.
SSA is committed to increasing involvement
of the public and other interested parties
to keep the great ideas flowing. We
encourage you to let us know of your
interest in this ‘truth in green marketing
program’ by using the comment form
here.
We welcome public input on the program
through emails to info@sleepinformation.org
and proposals for changes or updates to the
Program can be made using the SSA’s Public
Comment/Proposal form available at
here.
Manufacturers wishing to qualify products
for the Program may download the Licensing
Agreement
here. For those interested in a
more in depth review of program
requirements, the compliance portion begins
on page 20 with the Sustainability Survey.
The Specialty Sleep Association
Environmental & Safety Program/Green
Initiative
Board of
Governors includes:
Mithra
Weerasinghe, Director Marketing,
Latex Green
SSA is also pleased to recognize the
following individuals and organizations that
supported the development of the
Environmental & Safety Program through
information sharing and
by providing additional resources. Special
thanks for the strong support from Dow in
support of consumer education.
To develop the program, SSA engaged noted
green consultant, Vicki Worden, President of
Worden Associates, Inc. to assist the
organization’s Environmental & Safety
Program/Green Initiative Governing Board and to support the
working committees. Worden facilitates and
supports the board in carrying out the
mission of the Green Initiative --- a
process designed to identify, define and
standardize how mattress manufacturers and
retailers label “green” and market natural
sleep products. Worden also supports
manufacturers during the application and
submittal process for the Environmental &
Safety Program.
Consumers, manufacturers, retailers or
interested parties are encouraged to
contact the SSA
directly for more information. Also,
reviewing the following links may be
helpful:
