Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
Sleep Labeling Panel in Las Vegas
December 4,
2012 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Bedding on December 5, 2012
Eco-chic interior designer Sarah Barnard will moderate a panel on the value of consumer disclosure labeling in specialty sleep at Las Vegas Furniture Market.
"What's in Your Mattress," created to raise awareness for how using truth in marketing of sleep products can help to grow sales among specific groups of consumers, is set for Monday, Jan. 28, 4-5 p.m., in space C176 of the World Market Center; and is sponsored by the Specialty Sleep Association. The event is open to all market attendees.
Barnard, of Sarah Barnard Design in Santa Monica, Calif., is recognized by the International Institute for Bau-Biologie & Ecology as a Building Biology Practitioner and by the United States Green Building Council as a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional. She serves on the Santa Monica Conservancys board of directors and specializes in green interior design and historic preservation.
Panel participants will include Chris Chamberlain, cofounder of The Clean Bedroom, a leading organic bedding retailer with stores in Maine, California, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York; Barry Cik, founder of Naturepedic, an organic bedding manufacturer with an active product labeling program; and a Las Vegas consumer who places a high value on transparent communications when deciding which products to purchase for her home.
The panel will discuss how identifying whats in a mattress can be a powerful selling tool for retailers. The group also will provide tips on how stores in the specialty sleep arena can prepare for the emerging product labeling trend.
Purchasing safe and environmentally friendly products for the home is a growing priority for many consumers, especially for mothers of young children, said SSA President Dale Read. With the SSAs Environmental & Safety Program, weve done the leg work for the manufacturer and the retailer.
The SSA program currently has three levels of bedding product seals that build upon each other with increasingly demanding levels of requirements. The seals, plus a required SSA Consumer Disclosure Label, appear on mattresses from manufacturers who comply with requirements of the program and serve to inform the consumer about the minimum environmental and compliance levels to which a manufacturer claims its particular products adhere.
This is a seal and label consumer disclosure program that relies on existing certifications and standards already established by independent agencies, adds Read. With product seals and tags, consumers will understand the environmental and safety attributes of participating manufacturers products at the point of purchase.
Participating manufacturers complete an extensive application process, providing documentation to back up claims. Any mattress currently manufactured is potentially eligible for inclusion in the program, but higher levels of classification require compliance with requirements for third-party certifications and increased use of natural/bio-based or renewable content.
In addition to moderating the Whats In Your Mattress educational event, Barnard is currently designing the new headquarters of Life Rolls On, a subsidiary of the Christopher Reeve Foundation. Other recent projects include the new corporate offices of National Geographic Entertainment, a Backstage Celebrity Eco-Lounge for the Academy of Country Music Awards and the Teen Choice Awards, and a sustainable penthouse.