SNOOZE NEWS stuff you can use
The Washington Post
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Better Sleep Council & ISPA give mattress tips
Readers of The Washington Post have received sound mattress-buying advice, compliments of the International Sleep Products Association and its consumer education arm, the Better Sleep Council. The Feb. 23 article, “Handy Guide: Mattresses That Get Nodding Approval,” gave simple tips for mattress shopping and a few basic industry statistics. Also included in the piece were sections on recent innovations and hot products, including gel technology and adjustable bases. ISPA was mentioned in the story’s introduction, recommending that consumers replace their mattress every seven years. “The bed should be your oasis,” Karin Mahoney, BSC director of communications, told the paper. An online version, “Handy Guide: Buying a Mattress,” paralleled the print story with similar tips and advice. And Mahoney hosted an online, real-time question-and-answer session on buying the right mattress. The web chat featured live questions from participants, who asked everything from “What’s the best mattress for someone with disabilities?” to “How do I know a store is safe and reputable?”
Business?
That’s easily defined— it’s other people’s money.
—Peter Drucker
ISPA proposes national program for recycling used mattresses
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he International Sleep Products Association has proposed federal legislation, the Used Mattress Recycling Act, to create a national program for recycling used mattress parts. The legislation would protect the industry from potentially damaging costs and inefficiencies that will result as multiple states pursue their own stand-alone legislation. Specifically, the bill would: ● Create a Mattress Recycling Council. The new, nonprofit, volunteer-led group would represent the needs of manufacturers, retailers, consumers and government and would support the development of a national recycling program. ● Collect a single small, visible fee for mattress recovery at each point of sale that would be remitted to the Mattress Recycling Council.
www.sleepsavvymagazine.com
● Combat illegitimate mattress scavenging and “renovator” operations that are unsanitary and dangerous to consumers and the mattress industry’s reputation. ● Operate with oversight from the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, the leader of a business-supportive, cabinet-level agency. Once the bill is enacted, the program would be initiated only after members of the industry have had an opportunity to voice their opinions on the proposed national solution and voted on that proposal through an industrywide referendum. For more information on why a national solution is needed, an update on state efforts to impose costly and inefficient obligations on the mattress industry, and how you can help support ISPA’s federal effort, check www.sleepproducts.org.
SleepSavvy • April 2012
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