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As you curate or redesign your evening sanctuary, you may be wanting to limit your exposure to VOCs (volatile organic compounds) and other potentially toxic chemicals. The EPA reports that many VOCs are 2-5 times higher indoors than outdoors, and that these VOCs are widely used in household products, including furnishings. Thus the need for this guide to non-toxic bedroom furniture companies!

Why Non-Toxic Bedroom Furniture Matters

The EPA states that they “from an indoor health perspective”, they have “no authority to regulate household products”, which is concerning to say the least.

That said, the EPA does have the authority to regulate on certain chemical substances in the Toxic Substances Control Act which has protected us from chemicals like asbestos and lead-based paint.

And after California Air Resources Board issues requirements, the EPA released formaldehyde emissions standards for composite wood products, as formaldehyde is a known human carcinogen. (The standards lower the maximum formaldehyde emissions a composite wood product can have, but does not require the emissions to be zero.)

Many states have their own regulations around VOCs. I won’t bore you with the details, but you may want to search for your own state’s stance on VOCs.

All this to say, while there is some regulation around toxic chemicals in our products the standards still allow for many toxic chemicals in what we bring into our home, like furniture.

What is Sustainable and Non-Toxic Bedroom Furniture?

I know it can be overwhelming to find out that there is relatively little control over the chemicals that are allowed to enter our home. This is why it’s essential to advocate for better consumer products regulation that actually protect our health. And, if you’re looking for companies that are taking environmental and human safety seriously, there are several non-toxic bedroom furniture brands doing so.

Here is some of the criteria I looked for when making this list.

Solid Wood is a Safer Bet

Composite wood products must be stuck together, and that’s typically done with glue that contains formaldehyde. There are some companies making composite wood products with more sustainable alternatives, but I would recommend either sticking to solid wood or looking for an explicit explanation of the alternative glue being used. (Ideally the composite wood product would also be tested by a third party. More on that in a moment.)

In terms of sustainability, look for wood that is reclaimed or responsibly sourced from well-managed forests and at the very least, not coming from old-growth or endangered forests.

Unfinished or Low VOC Finishes

Most wood furniture is finished with some type of finish. These can be natural oil finishes like linseed oil or they may also be polyurethane (plastic material). Generally natural oils and water-based finishes are recognized as emitting lower levels of VOCs. And I’m always a fan of avoiding fossil-fuel products where I can.

Some of the brands on this list even have unfinished wood options, which would be the safest bet.

Natural (or Even Organic) Materials

Synthetic fibers make up 64% of global fiber production. In other words, the majority of fabrics we see today — whether in clothes, home textiles, or upholstered furniture — are either fully or partially synthetic.

Look for materials like natural latex, organic cotton, and linen in your non-toxic bedroom furniture. Even natural materials often are colored with synthetic dyes, but we’re doing the best we can!

Third Party Certifications

To be clear, no certification is going to be perfect but there are several certifying parties adding an extra layer of protection to non-toxic related claims.

GOTS: Global Organic Textile Standard

As is in the name, GOTS is a standard for organic textile processing and certifies the entire supply chain of a textile. It can be used to certify fiber products like fabrics, clothes and mattresses.

GOLS: Global Organic Latex Standard

This standard certifies products, like mattresses, that are made from organic natural rubber latex.

GREENGUARD Gold

This is a globally recognized certification from the Greenguard Environmental Institute that verifies products for low emissions of VOCs indoors.

FSC-Certified: Forest Stewardship Council

The FSC certifies wood and other forest products to ensure that they come from forests meeting certain environmental and social standards.

Where to Find Sustainable and Non-Toxic Bedroom Furniture

With those considerations top of mind, I’ve curated my top picks for sustainably-crafted furniture (and mattresses) for your bedroom.

1. Avocado

Categories: Mattresses, Crib Mattress, Kids Mattress, Beds, Bedding, Nightstands, Dressers

Highlights: GOTS and GOLS Certified USA Mattress Factory, FSC-Certified USA Woodshop, GREENGUARD Gold Certified Products

Avocado was first founded as a green mattress company, making GOTS-certified organic non-toxic mattresses that meet STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® standards. The brand has since expanded into bedding and furniture with the same high standards, using sustainably sourced wood, organic fabrics, and zero VOC finishes.

mid-century modern sustainable non-toxic bedroom furniture

2. Savvy Rest

Categories: Beds, Mattresses, Pillows

Highlights: Organic & Natural Materials, Zero VOC Finishes, Unfinished Option, USA-Made

Savvy Rest uses the best of the best when it comes to eco and non-toxic bedroom furniture and mattress materials. The beds are made from Appalachian wood in Virginia and finished with zero VOC linseed oil, zero-VOC stain or can be left unfinished.

The mattresses are made in a GOTS-certified facility with GOLS (Global Organic Latex Standard) certified natural latex, certified organic wool and certified organic cotton.

*Use code CONSCIOUSSTYLE20 for 20% off all products on Savvy Rest

Savvy Rest non-toxic bed frame with non-toxic mattress on the top of a mountain

3. Medley

Categories: Beds, Mattress, Dressers, Nightstands, Accent Chairs, Benches + Ottomans

Highlights: FSC-Certified Wood, GOLS-Certified Latex, USA-Made

Medley’s specialty is contemporary sustainable and non-toxic furniture. Their eco-friendly bedroom furniture is made with responsibly-sourced wood, organic natural latex, OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100-certified wool, and zero-VOC finishes. The brand also carries a mattress made in Illinois from 100% GOLS-certified latex.

Non-toxic bedroom featuring upholstered beige bed and wood nightstand

4. Birch

Categories: Mattresses, Kids Mattress, Beds, Bedding

Highlights: GOTS-Certified Factory, Fair Trade Certified Factory, GREENGUARD Gold-Certified Products

With “Best Organic Mattress” awards from outlets like CNN and Forbes, Birch’s popular mattress is made with quality natural materials like organic cotton, organic wool, and natural latex. Birch’s foundation is made with spruce hardwood and organic cotton; note that their bed frame’s upholstery option is polyester (plastic) fabric, so I would avoid that variant due to sustainability concerns.

Oak non-toxic mattress, bed and bedding from Birch

5. Cisco Home @ Urban Natural

Categories: Beds, Dressers, Nightstands, Accent Chairs + Sofas, Benches + Ottomans

Highlights: Sustainable Furnishing Council Founding Member, FSC-Certified Wood, Organic Material Options, USA Made,

Cisco Home’s “Inside Green” collection is your ticket to sustainable and non-toxic bedroom furniture. When you select this option on their products — from upholstered beds to benches — your selection will be made to order with FSC-certified wood, jute, hemp, organic latex, organic cotton and wool.

Light fabric upholstered non-toxic bed and ottoman

6. Healthier Homes

Categories: Accent Chairs, Lighting, Dressers + Nightstands, Storage + Shelving, Bedding, Rugs, Paint + Wallpaper

Highlights: Solid Hardwood Furniture, Natural Fabrics, Vets for Non-Toxic Materials

Founded by the “world’s first healthy home builders” Jenny and Rusty are on a mission to make non-toxic natural furnishings more easily accessible to their community. Healthier Homes is a destination for all things non-toxic home, including furniture, decor, home textiles, and even paint.

Mango wood non-toxic bedroom furniture

7. Thuma

Categories: Bed, Dresser, Shelving, Bedside Tables, Mattress, Bedding, Rugs

Highlights: Upcycled Solid Rubberwood, GREENGUARD Gold-Certified Products

Everything Thuma sells is thoughtfully designed with functionality top of mind. Thuma’s dresser is modular and adaptable to varying needs with 7 different configurations (including a bedside table). The bed’s pieces are also configurable — buy just a bed frame or add on a headboard and/or cushion knowing that everything is designed to work together seamlessly.

Dark wood non-toxic bedroom furniture from Thuma

8. My Green Mattress

Categories: Mattresses, Kids Mattresses, Crib Mattress, Bed Frames, Bedding

Highlights: GOTS + GOLS Certified Mattresses, USA Made, Zero Wood Stains

The certified organic mattresses from My Green Mattress are all made in their own factory in Illinois. These quality mattresses come with a year-long sleep trial and 20-year warranty so you can rest easy about your purchase. The Amish-made platform bed is made with the same commitments and is left unfinished with zero wood stains.

non-toxic platform bed and mattress

9. Natural Home by the Futon Shop

Categories: Mattresses, Beds, Futons, Dressers & Bedside Tables, Bedding

Highlights: Organic Materials, Solid Wood Options, Zero VOC Finish Options

If you’re looking for a non-toxic futon frame or sofa bed mattress, The Futon Shop is just your place. The retailer offers organic cotton, natural Dunlop latex, and natural wool mattresses for both sofa beds and regular beds. Many of their futons and platform beds are made with solid wood. Look for the options like this one that say “Chemical Free” or “Natural” for non-toxic bed frames finished with linseed oil only.

Non-toxic light wood bed frame and mattress

More Furniture Guides:

15 Best Non-Toxic Furniture Brands for a Healthier Home

11 Eco-Friendly and Non-Toxic Beds for a Sustainable Slumber

7 Best Places for Sustainable and Non-Toxic Nightstands

The post 9 Sustainable Non-Toxic Bedroom Furniture Companies for a Safer Sleep appeared first on Conscious Life & Style.

9 Sustainable Non-Toxic Bedroom Furniture Companies for a Safer Sleep

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Best of Sustainability In Your Ear: Okhtapus Cofounder Stewart Sarkozy-Banoczy Accelerates Ocean Solutions

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The ocean provides half the oxygen we breathe, absorbs 30% of our carbon emissions, and helps control the planet’s climate. By 2030, it’s expected to support a $3.2 trillion Blue Economy. Yet 70% of proven ocean solutions, such as coastal resilience, coral restoration, and marine pollution cleanup, never move past the pilot stage. These projects often win awards and get media attention, but then stall because funding systems don’t connect working ideas with the cities, ports, and coastal areas that need them. Stewart Sarkozy-Banoczy, co-founder and ocean lead at Okhtapus, wants to change that. Okhtapus, named with the Persian word for the octopus, uses a model that links what Stewart calls “the three hearts” of successful projects: innovators with proven solutions, cities and ports ready to use them, and funders looking for solid projects.
Stewart Sarkozy-Benoczy, Cofounder and Ocean Lead at Okhtapus.org, is our guest on Sustainability In Your Ear.
The first Okhtapus Global Replicator will launch in 2026. It will bring groups of proven innovators to work on important projects in specific places, such as a single port city like Barcelona, where Okhtapus already has strong partnerships, or a group of Caribbean islands facing similar problems. The aim is to have enough successful projects that funders stop asking “where are the deals?” and start saying “we’ve got enough.” The platform focuses on late-stage startups and scale-ups, not early-stage ideas. Stewart calls these the “Goldilocks zone”—solutions that are proven enough to copy but still need funding and partners to grow. By combining several solutions for different locations, Okhtapus can offer investors portfolios that fit their needs and make a real difference in cities, ports, and island nations.
Stewart has spent 20 years working where climate resilience and policy meet. He was part of President Obama’s Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force, led policy and investments at the Resilient Cities Network, and is now Managing Director of the World Ocean Council. “Ten years from now, if this is done fast enough,” Stewart said, “we should have pushed hard enough on the funders and the system to change it. What we don’t know is whether we’ll get to the solution status fast enough for some of these tipping points.”
To find out more about Okhtapus, visit okhtapus.org.

Editor’s Note: This episode originally aired on December 22, 2025.

The post Best of Sustainability In Your Ear: Okhtapus Cofounder Stewart Sarkozy-Banoczy Accelerates Ocean Solutions appeared first on Earth911.

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Earth911 Inspiration: A Serious Look at Modern Lifestyle

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Today’s quote comes from Pope John Paul II’s message for the celebration of the World Day of Peace, 1990. He wrote, “Modern society will find no solution to the ecological problem unless it takes a serious look at its lifestyle.”

Earth911 inspirations. Post them, share your desire to help people think of the planet first, every day.

Pope John Paul II quote from World Day of Peace message

The post Earth911 Inspiration: A Serious Look at Modern Lifestyle appeared first on Earth911.

https://earth911.com/inspire/earth911-inspiration-take-serious-look-lifestyle/

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Best of Sustainability In Your Ear: Making Billions of Square Feet of Commercial Space Sustainable with CBRE’s Rob Bernard

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The built environment, particularly office buildings other urban facilities, are responsible for 39% of the global energy-related emissions, according to the World Green Building Council. About a third of that impact comes from the initial construction of a building and the other two-thirds is produced over the lifetime of a building by heating, cooling, and providing power to the occupants. Our guest today is leading a key battle to reduce the impact of the built environment. Tune in for a wide-ranging conversation with Rob Bernard, Chief Sustainability Officer at CBRE Group Inc., which manages more than $145 billion of commercial buildings, providing logistics, retail, and corporate office services across more than than 100 countries.

Rob Bernard, Chief Sustainability Officer at the commercial real estate giant CBRE, is our guest on Sustainability In Your Ear.

Rob cut his sustainability teeth at Microsoft, as its Chief Environmental Strategist for 11 years, as the company was developing its world-leading approach and collaborating with other tech giants to lobby for policy and funding to accelerate progress. He discusses CBRE’s Sustainability Solutions & Services for commercial building owners, as well as the accelerating progress for renewables, carbon tracking, and economic, health, and lifestyle benefits of living lightly on the planet. You can learn more about CBRE and its sustainability services at cbre.com

Take a few minutes to learn more about making construction and building operations more sustainable:

Editor’s Note: This podcast originally aired on April 15, 2024.

The post Best of Sustainability In Your Ear: Making Billions of Square Feet of Commercial Space Sustainable with CBRE’s Rob Bernard appeared first on Earth911.

https://earth911.com/podcast/earth911-podcast-making-billions-of-square-feet-of-commercial-space-sustainable-with-cbres-rob-bernard/

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