Isenhour quoted in Press Herald article on sleeping sustainably

Cynthia Isenhour, an assistant professor of anthropology and climate change at the University of Maine and an associate at the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions, spoke with the Portland Press Herald for the article, “If you’re sleeping for 8 hours, why not do it sustainably?” For many shoppers, the marketplace of green bedding — from mattresses to sheets and pillows — which exploded about a decade ago, can be daunting to sort through, especially for anyone on a budget, the article states. After wading through multiple websites, Isenhour found there’s a lot of greenwashing in the bedding retail sector, particularly in “the mattress in a box phenomenon” that’s developed since about 2010. It’s often not clear what a mattress is made of or how it was made, which leaves it up to the consumer to prove that a product is safe, Isenhour said. “Do they not have the right to sleep safely?” Isenhour asked of people who don’t have the wherewithal or means to research these products. “It is just ridiculous that consumers should be expected to do so much work.”