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Sustainability DefinedAuthor: Nethra Rajendran and Cecilia Rios
Sustainability Defined is the podcast that defines sustainability, one concept (and bad joke) at a time. Hosts Scott Breen and Jay Siegel explore a new topic each episode with the help of an expert in the field. Each concept falls into one of seven sectors -- Energy, Cities, Natural Environment, Transportation, Business, Policy, and Social -- and is visually represented in a Sustainability Tree found at www.sustainabilitydefined.com. Language: en Genres: Education, Society & Culture Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Ep. 103: Mattresses & Forever Chemicals (ft. Naturepedic)
Wednesday, 9 September, 2026
We spend a third of our lives on our mattresses, but what's actually in them? In this episode, we dig into the hidden world of the mattress industry: the flame retardants, petroleum-based foams, and PFAS ("forever chemicals") lurking in conventional mattresses, and what happens when millions of them end up in landfills every year, slowly breaking down and releasing toxins for decades? What happens when we sleep on them for years and how do they affect our health? We're joined by Arin Schultz, Chief Growth Officer at Naturepedic, a 20+ year-old family-run company founded by an environmental engineer on a mission to build a safer crib mattress. Arin takes us behind the scenes, from organic latex sourcing to regenerative cotton co-ops in Texas, and helps us cut through the greenwashing to understand what "non-toxic" really means, which certifications (like GOTS, GOLS, and MADE SAFE) actually matter, and how the choices we make about what we sleep on ripple out to human and environmental health.
