Investing in Sleep
This post is sponsored by Sol Organics, a company committed to making organic, fair-trade textiles more accessible and affordable to consumers.
Americans don’t get enough sleep, according to a study published in the journal Sleep earlier this year. In 2013, the average American slept 6.8 hours, with 40 percent getting less than six hours a night. In 2014, the CDC declared sleep deprivation a national health epidemic, which a handful of studies linked to depression, ADHD, obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. A study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences showed that chronic sleep deprivation causes shifts in the expression levels of more than 700 genes. I’m no scientist, but I think it’s safe to say that’s probably not good.
In my own life, I’ve had many (long-term) experiences that left me sleep-deprived and desperate for a good night’s sleep. The first came in my 20s when I spent two years sleeping on a straw mattress while serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guinea, West Africa. The straw mattress was one thing, the straw pillow was another, and the late night drumming and dancing outside my hut was (almost) the final straw. What got me through those noisy and uncomfortable nights was a padded eye mask and a pair of bright orange ear plugs. It also helped that I was young and resilient.
The second experience came a few years later with my foray into motherhood. In the span of three and a half years, I gave birth to two sweet, squishy babies who slept in 45 minute cycles. Each time they awoke, they’d let me know in no uncertain terms that they needed help settling back to sleep. Like any dutiful mother, I did whatever it took – rocking, nursing, swaying, pacing, swaddling, singing – to calm and soothe their sweet little nervous systems. Those years were a blur, to say the least, and it’s no wonder considering the impressive sleep deficit I racked up in a relatively short period of time. It didn’t help that I’d given up my eye mask and ear plugs, all in the name of being a responsive night-time parent. I was a hypervigilant sleeper, which is to say, I don’t think my nervous system ever calmed down enough to slip into deep, restorative sleep.
Those years of early motherhood were such a vulnerable time. I remember worrying endlessly about my children’s’ health and safety, which certainly made me a nervous Nellie, but also led me to learn about natural, non-toxic living. New motherhood is hard, the learning curve is steep, and a lot of the information and marketing geared toward parents is more likely to stir up fears than relax and reassure. It doesn’t help that most new parents are as sleep-deprived as they are anxious, making it all too easy for minor concerns to balloon into full-blown household crises. There was definitely a time when I was singularly focused on making my home as safe and as non-toxic as possible. And when I wasn’t trying to make my own herbal home cleaning supplies, I was fretting over how to make our family meals more nutritious and healthy and – oh, the irony – staying up late to research how to help them sleep.
When it came to healthy sleep, I traded in flame-retardant pajamas for snug-fitting, organic cotton sleepers; I researched beds, mattresses, and bedding, and saved and shelled out for the best I could afford. That meme that makes light of the mom who won’t spend twenty dollars on a new shirt for herself, but throws a wad of cash to the wind for her children, could very well have been about me. If they were going to sleep, they were going to sleep well, and nothing harmful was going to get near or inside their pure and perfect little bodies.
As for me? I might as well have been back in Guinea, sleeping on a straw mattress stuffed inside stitched-up rice bags. Taking care of myself was an afterthought –something I’d planned on doing when my kids were a little older and less dependent. When that day finally came, I started to have some chronic health issues. I knew right away I’d pushed my body, psyche, and spirit as far as it could go. After doing a bit of research and talking with doctors, I decided to take a holistic approach to taking care of myself: I cleaned up my diet, gave up coffee and sugar, took up meditation and light exercise, started gardening again, and committed to getting healthy, restorative sleep.
To improve my chances at getting the kind of sleep I needed, I got myself a new eye mask and ear plugs, set night-time limits around screens, tried my hardest to get to bed before 10 p.m., invested in an organic mattress, and started researching organic bedding. All those years of buying cheap sheets from big box stores were over – if I was going to invest in a comfortable, organic mattress, why would I top it with something cheaply-made and potentially produced and processed with harmful chemicals? It just didn’t make sense.
By some stroke of luck (or perhaps serendipity), SOL Organics contacted me around this time. I tread carefully when it comes to partnerships and sponsored work. I want to know the company shares my values and puts its commitment to slow, simple, sustainable living at the core of its business model. I took the time to research SOL Organics and really get to know the company, its history, and its mission. And I’m so glad I did.
Since 2010, Sol Organics has worked to make a difference by offering luxury organic sheets that are fair-trade certified and affordable. Not only are their products made with 100 percent organic, long-staple cotton, but they’re grown from non-GMO cotton seeds without the use of pesticides or chemical fertilizers. This means consumers enjoy the highest level of comfort without compromising the health of the environment.
Consumers aren’t the only ones who benefit. Sol Organics has a strong commitment to fair trade, which ensures everyone along the supply chain – from farmers to factory workers – is treated fairly. The company partners with fair trade, organic farms that invest in women, seed, and sustainability and produce products in a FLO-certified, carbon neutral facility that ensures living wages for workers, no child or forced labor, social compliance working hours, and a clean work environment.
SOL also strives to bring healthy organic bedding to consumers at an affordable price. Part of their mission, in fact, is to keep costs down to make organic bedding accessible to more people. One way they do this is by managing production and distribution directly, eliminating the middle man, which can inflate prices. They also refuse to profit from fair-trade pricing. Other companies in the industry typically inflate fair trade pricing, which drives up the cost of similar bedding beyond what most people can afford. By comparison, most competing brands offer similar bedding for as much as two times the cost of SOL organics’ products.
As for quality, I can vouch for all of their products. I was gifted a sheet and bath set to try and purchased their organic down comforters on my own. When it comes to the sheets, there’s no question they’re the most luxurious set we’ve ever owned. Made from long-staple cotton, with a 300 thread count and 60s yarn count, they have the sheen, smooth comfort you’d expect from a high-end, luxurious hotel. They age well too – after having them for a year and putting them through several washes and on many a clothesline to dry, I’ve seen no shrinkage, discoloration, or unraveling.
We’ve also been very happy with the towel set. Made from 700 GSM long staple, high pile organic cotton, they’re incredibly soft and super absorbent. I’ve also noticed they dry faster on the line and in the dryer, and I’m told that’s by design and due to a high pile weave.
Two final points that may matter a lot to some of you: My products were shipped without single-use plastic and excess packaging. I also absolutely love that SOL donates $7.50 from each purchase to one of their four charities, which focus on clean water, child advocacy and animal cruelty.
It may sound like a stretch, but investing in bedding is investing in your well-being. Outside of maintaining a healthy diet, creating healthy sleep habits and a healthy sleep environment has been the most important change I’ve made for my health. The dark circles that have been under my eyes since childhood are more often gone than not. And my stress levels are much lower than they were a few years ago. Plus I really do sleep better at night knowing that I’m supporting companies that value people and the planet.
If you’ve been eyeing their bath and bedding sets for a while and would like to gift yourself a set for the holidays, SOL has kindly offered 20% off to my readers. Just use the code SOL20 at checkout!