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A topper can transform your old air mattress

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A kinda great shower curtain for $39

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That headline about microplastics in baby food

Our guest quarters have become increeeeasingly spartan over the years.

A decade ago, we had a guest room! With an entire bed. Then that room became an office during COVID: We scaled back to a sofa bed in said space. Until finally, that office became a nursery, and our guests began sleeping on…an air mattress. (Ominous music plays)

One thing has remained constant: our mattress topper. I actually had to buy it twice because I gave the first one away during the office transition phase. 🙃

I am convinced this topper can grace pretty much any surface: mattress, impossibly firm Euro Lounger, inflatable raft, THE FLOOR…and create a comfortable sleeping environment. It is the ultimate hack for enhancing a crappy guest bed.

And it’s probably not from a brand that you’d guess offhand? It’s the Pure Green Natural Latex Mattress Topper from Sleep on Latex. This isn’t a monetized link or a sponsored post. Just something I realized I’ve been gatekeeping since, like, 2016. It’s been in HIGH rotation over here with back-to-back guests, and it rolls into a neat little Hostess Ho-Ho for easy closet storage. 

It has textbook Sway specs: 

Materials: Organic latex foam and an (optional) organic cotton cover 

Certifications: Latex certified to the Global Organic Latex Standard (GOLS); Cotton certified to the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS); & OEKO-TEX Standard 100 

And the price feels really fair given the quality of materials. Depending on your preferences for firmness and height, you can score a full size for $139. We have the full size, 2-inch height in “soft” and it’s retailing for $169 currently. 

Who has a whole extra room & a fancy mattress to expend on guests these days?! (“Well, put a rose on your nose,” as my friend Lolo would say ;) ) Anyway. Reiterating my thesis that a mattress topper can make a less-than-ideal guest sleeping arrangement a LOT better. The end.

P.S. Real ones will know that in 2022, Sleep on Latex spun off a brand called EarthFoam that repackaged its cult-fave latex mattresses & toppers into cushy, cotton- and wool-wrapped versions with peach-hued photography and incredible branding. If that appeals to you (raises hand), you can peep the EarthFoam mattress topper here.

Bathing on a budget: On the topic of guest spaces…for the first time in a decade, I need a new shower curtain for the toddler/guest bath. An affordable one, please! I went with this 100% cotton, OEKO-TEX Standard 100-certified, “Awning Stripe” option from Urban Outfitters for $39. Perfect Sway specs for textiles? No. Good enough? Yes; life is about compromise. I was VERY pleasantly surprised at the color and quality! This one is a win.

Related: Can I successfully design a bathroom around this vintage Snoopy poster? Time will tell. 

ALSO related: Time to go thrifting for a bathroom stool! 

By now, you’ve probably seen the GreenPeace-commissioned study on microplastics in baby food. (Y? N? Maybe?) In the new study by SINTEF Ocean published last month, researchers found, on average, up to 99 microplastic particles per gram in Danone Happy Baby Organics branded fruit puree pouches, and up to 54 particles per gram in Nestlé Gerber pouches.

(1) Headline-making assessments like this can be extremely anxiety-inducing (the cover image alone is enough to make parents hyperventilate), but they essentially confirm and quantify what we already know: There were microplastics in plastic food pouches yesterday, and there will be tomorrow. You don’t need to throw out your entire pantry; rather, use this latest data to inspire better choices.

(2) That said, I think it’s very reasonable & astute to make it a goal to phase out or at least reduce reliance on plastic food pouches for kids as one potential way to limit microplastics exposure. My friend Erica launched her baby food brand GloBowl in glass for that exact reason. I get the ease and portability of plastic pouches, but in my experience, it often feels like a “sustainable swap” is impossible until we try it, learn it, live with it, and then like it. TLLL?

(3) Next month is Plastic-Free July, but WHY WAIT? Reducing our plastic consumption overall benefits us threefold (at least!). First, choosing healthier, plastic-free food packaging helps limit our direct exposure to microplastics. Two, we vote with our dollar when we choose plastic-free packaging (come through, seaweed!). And third, putting less plastic into the environment = less plastic that ultimately degrades into microplastics that then end up in our soil and food and bodies and…you get the point. Baby food pouches are as good a place to start or continue your plastic-free efforts as any. 

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TLLL and TTYL,
Jennifer @ Sway