Hi kmark,
The choice between latex and memory foam is really a personal preference issue much more than a “better/worse” issue so this would really be a matter of which one you feel best about. Each one has their own pros and cons. There is also a very wide variety of mattresses in each category that can be very different from each other as well so one “memory foam” or one “latex” mattress (or in the case of OMF a latex/polyfoam hybrid mattress) won’t represent the entire category in terms of how it feels or performs. There is more about memory foam vs latex at least in general terms in post #2 here but your own personal testing and experience is really the best way to decide which one you prefer to sleep on. Some people prefer apples and some prefer oranges but one isn’t necessarily “better” than the other.
[quote]Im a little torn however, because I am definitely interested in making this an eco friendly purchase by buying a latex mattress. I of course would prefer to achieve that perfect sleep and may still go with a memory foam mattress, but I am wanting to do some more digging. A few questions that pop into my head are:
Are there any latex mattresses that can get close to that cloud luxe feel and are still eco-friendly?
Is the memory foam mattress really that much of an insane eco-killer or are those claims a little bit exaggerated? I’ve heard that it is the worst of all mattress types in being green, but everytime I look to see just how much worse it is, I always get mixed responses and/or biased selling techniques (google searches and in-store).[/quote]
Eco friendly doesn’t really have a specific definition and in the mattress industry it’s more of a marketing term than anything else but there is more in post #4 here that can help answer the question of “how green is green enough for me” on a more individual level and post #3 here may also be worth reading as well. Having said that … I certainly wouldn’t call any synthetic material “green” or “ecofriendly” although in some cases it can be recycled into other products.
As far as whether any latex mattress will feel like a memory foam mattress … the “feel” of a mattress is very subjective and unique to each person so it would be difficult to say for any specific person but I think that the most accurate answer in general terms would be no because they are so different from each other. Latex can certainly be as pressure relieving as memory foam and you will certainly sink into softer latex more than firmer latex but they are very different from each other in terms of how they “feel” and respond when you sleep on them.
If the memory foam is still in good condition it can be reused in another mattress (or given away to someone else that may sleep better on it than you do) and it can also be used to make rebond foam but in most cases a mattress will end up in a landfill at the end of its useful life and it certainly doesn’t break down like a more natural material.
This is something that can only be answered by each person based on their own individual preferences. There are people who love sleeping on memory foam and others who won’t sleep on it at all so it really depends on which one you feel best about and on all the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.
Phoenix