Q&A: SMARTDOWN – LUXURY BEDDING WITH A CONSCIENCE
Just how eco-friendly is your bedding? Is your duvet keeping you warm – but damaging the environment? Are your pillows cruelty free? We chat with Claire Watkin from The Fine Bedding Company about a new range of eco-friendly bedding…
What inspired the creation of Smartdown?
We have been manufacturing bedding for more than 100 years and are continually looking for new ways to innovate in the market. The company began its sustainability drive more than five years ago, making huge improvements on lowering our carbon footprint. Our European facility achieved ECO Factory status in 2016 and uses 100% energy from renewable sources and 94% of factory waste is recycled.
Using recycled materials in our products and processes was the natural next step as part of our innovation, and the quality of the fibres we can produce using recycled plastic are quite simply ‘excellent’. The way we spin the fibres and blow them into each pocket means they can emulate natural feather and down to deliver the same hand feel, natural warmth and breathability.
We saw that there is huge consumer appetite for more environmentally friendly products so knew this would be a big hit with customers. We launched our first recycled fibre range with Smartdown® to offer an alternative to feather and down products and have subsequently created an ECO Duvet that’s made entirely from recycled materials.
What are the issues that your range is helping to address?
The launch of the new Smartdown® and ECO Duvet is part of our wider commitment to sustainable and ethical manufacturing processes. In fact the company has just been awarded the Global Recycled Standard (GRS) – showing it is leading the way in its processes.
We believe that reducing plastic at source is the ultimate solution but as a business we’re committed to helping consumers make more eco-friendly choices by making green products readily available and affordable.
Customers can now genuinely opt for an environmentally-friendly product that feels and performs as well as any less sustainable products on the market.
While we were already developing this product well before the airing of Sir David Attenborough’s Blue Planet II heightened consumer awareness of plastic pollution in our oceans, greater awareness and information about plastic pollution has been an important catalyst to manufacturers, retailers and consumers wanting to address the issue of using sustainable products.
What is Smartdown made of? And how is it made?
Smartdown® is filled with soft silky fibres spun from recycled PET. Around 100 discarded plastic bottles go into each double duvet. The plastic is shredded, melted and then spun to create small individual down-like clusters which trap air in between one another to ensure insulation and warmth similar to goose down and feathers. Where normal duvet fibres are layered, the unique structure of the Smartdown® fibres means they can be blown like feathers and down in to the cotton duvet casing and then sewn in a square cassette pattern to create volume and make the duvet plump and lofty.
For every ton of plastic we recover, 6.4 cubic metres of landfill space is saved. We’ve also worked out that the energy we save by using Smartdown® instead of virgin fibres could power a 60watt lightbulb for up to 25 nights. That’s not to mention the reduction in plastic pollution in our oceans and rivers this encourages.
The cover is a 280-thread count, BCI sustainably sourced cotton. BCI cotton is Better Cotton Initiative approved and has been sourced in a way that is better for the people who produce it, the environment it grows in and better for the cotton industry’s future.
The ECO duvet is also made using 100% recycled PET fibres and PET has also been used to created the 100% recycled fabric cover.
Duvets and pillows need to be comfortable and healthy – how does Smartdown stack up against more traditional forms of bedding?
Smartdown® is both washable at 40°C in a domestic washing machine and hypoallergenic. This makes it the perfect choice for luxury hotels, commercial settings, allergy sufferers and anyone who wants a wonderful night’s sleep.
Not only that, but the Smartdown® clusters are more durable than feather and down, so they will keep their structure and performance for longer.
What next for you/your range?
We will be continuing to innovate and introduce ways to build on our eco credentials. Our next project is looking at how we can recycle duvets.
Where can we buy/find out more in UK?
Both products are available to buy at www.finebedding.co.uk and in selected retailers across the UK.
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