Sleep is recognized as an essential factor for psychological balance and physical and mental recovery.
However, according to a study conducted by Santé Publique France*, a good number of French people would be unfaithful to Morpheus and would have a sleep deficit. While the recommended sleep time is 7H17, the French sleep on average 6H45. Has sleep become the new luxury of our ultra-connected civilization? Even if our lifestyles have indeed changed the situation. However, according to a study conducted by Santé Publique France*, a good number of French people would be unfaithful to Morpheus and would have a sleep deficit. While the recommended sleep time is 7H17, the French sleep on average 6H45. Has sleep become the new luxury of our ultra-connected civilization? Even if our lifestyles have indeed changed the situation. Among many reasons, the bedroom environment and more particularly the choice of bedding are at the top of the list.
Finding a good mattress may seem easy. However, finding a good, environmentally friendly mattress in an affordable price range is another matter. Feat-y spoke to Larick Cartron, a committed designer and green mattressenthusiast, who has risen to this challenge with flying colors. Interview
Feat-y: How did the idea of creating the green mattress come about?
Larick Cartron: The idea came about in a fairly classic and logical way. I come from the bedding industry. I noticed a growing demand for ecological, natural materials with little environmental impact. The green mattress was therefore created to meet the demand of this environmentally conscious clientele. We have released a first mattress that has been very successful. And today there are 3 kinds of mattresses made of different materials. It is ultimately the demand that pushed the creation of these products.
Feat-y: Could you explain the differences in design between your mattresses and a classic mattress?
Larick Cartron: The mattress that we call traditional, is a mattress that will focus mainly on aesthetics with the use of braid (small bulge around the mattress that gives it this rectangular appearance). Regarding the green mattress, we chose a stretched cover woven with a zipper for 2 reasons: the rolled and compressed mattresses save space in transport and allow a lower environmental impact and also for a question of cost reduction. But the difference is really on the raw material of manufacture. As far as the green mattress is concerned, we have 3 materials: First of all, the foam, in which we have incorporated soybean oil, with a cover made from polyester soaked in a bath of aloe vera, therefore hypoallergenic, and also an anti-mite treatment with essential oils without any danger to health. For this synthetic mattress, we worked to make it as natural as possible and we can’t go any further from a technical point of view.
We also plant a tree with L’onf for each sale of our products in order to offset the carbon footprint of our manufacturing. This is the most sold product because we are very competitive in terms of price.
The second material is natural latex, made from hevea, so very healthy for the health, with a hemp cover, and finally for the last mattress we chose woolmade in France from an organic sheep farm and around which there is organic cotton. So the last one is a more upscale and traditional product that comes back to the taste of the day.
Feat-y: I imagine that the choice of Made in France was important for you, in fact, was the manufacturing in France easy to set up?
Larick Cartron: It’s complicated. What you need to know is that in bedding, it is impossible to do everything in one country. For example, if I want to focus on France, I could only have my mattress in wool, and even then the textile of this mattress does not come from France. This means that making a 100% French mattress would require small volumes. We are on an industrial manufacture, we sell several thousands of mattresses per month. With such volumes, we have to have a global strategy. As far as we are concerned, we have looked for factories in Europe. The mattresses are manufactured in our factory in Valenciennes, our main suppliers of raw materials are in Belgium. But it is very complicated to work in this way in bedding.
Feat-y: In terms of pricing, your mattresses are really affordable. How have you managed to stay within a price range that many people can afford? How did you manage to stay within a price range that many people can afford?
Larick Cartron: That’s really the challenge, to be able to compete. As I told you, I have been working in this field for a while. The ideal is to have products that sell themselves on the internet via the E-shop, and afterwards to be present to answer the questions of the customers. This is only possible with competitive prices. Therefore, we have calculated our prices by aligning ourselves as much as possible with the prices of the competition, even being more affordable. We know their margin, there is a kind of logic in bedding. So we thought we could afford to offer our mattresses at 30% off from time to time over short, well-defined periods.
Feat-y: The green mattress is also a partnership with the national office of forests and kokopelli, why this choice?
Larick Cartron: In L’ADN, the green mattress is a bit of a rebel brand. We are green and rock, just like you (laughs). Our emblem at the beginning was a very stylized rooster, which in the story telling explained that we had this slightly crazy idea to make a product with very little margin and on which we would not earn much money. But we knew that there was a big potential for volume and a good living behind it. As far as KokoPelli is concerned, as an informed consumer, I am a kokopelli customer. I’m anti hybrid seeds, I’m for the reproducibility of seeds, to grow our own seeds, our own gardens and that we can exchange the processes without being strangled by industrialists. We have a bit the same will to put a kick in the anthill. Kokopelli is constantly being attacked by big groups. On our side, after our passage at capital, the big industrialists of our sector were outraged by this emphasis. Kokopelli, just like us, wants to do quality and the team is really fun. For the national forestry office, it’s simple, I’m from Compiègne and I got in touch with them. This led to a partnership. I invested 10 000 euros to replant 1800 trees in the forest of Compiègne recently. We do this in the form of sponsorship with regular operations. We don’t have a huge budget but it’s part of our communication, to replant a tree for a mattress. We receive reports, photos of the progress of our plans and I think it’s great.
Feat-y:Because Feat-y is a Green’roll magazine, lying on one of your mattresses, what music, books or series would you recommend?
Larick Cartron: Right now I’m listening to an Australian girl who I love on guitar, her name is Tash Sultana. It’s the kind of break I love. Screens are not my cup of tea.
Feat-y: A brief word to conclude?
Larick Cartron: Every gesture counts. I’m not just talking about the trees. With this period, relationships are tense and people are a bit aggressive. It is important to smile even behind a mask. To see the eyes crinkle. A little smile. It always makes you happy. Smile!
By Atld
website: Le matelas vert
Sourcing *
http://beh.santepubliquefrance.fr/beh/2019/8-9/pdf/2019_8-9.pdf
Illustration Léa Boisson
