Walt Bader, co-founder of OMI, started his business to provide sustainable, organic mattresses to people who were as concerned about sleeping as healthily as possible as he was. He talks about starting and running an eco-friendly small business in this interview, which is one of several eco-friendly small business profiles which show that entrepreneurs can be green and still turn a profit.
What Makes OMI Different From Small Businesses That Aren't Eco-Friendly?
"If you were to walk into the business, the first thing people would comment on is that it doesn't smell like a factory. We don't wear perfume, wash clothing with detergents, or smoke. Our sewing room workers have white coats and wear booties to walk in. Everything we do has an emphasis on purity and being eco-friendly. We don't manufacture cheaply or quickly, but we are sustainable. We are a zero waste facility. Everything we use, we reuse and consume. We use a natural rubber core from rubber trees. When we have to square a core for a mattress, the leftover pieces are put in a box and saved to shred and use in a pillow. We use everything."
What Do You Like Most About Owning an Eco-Friendly Business?
"Sleeping at night. We all have certain things we think about before we go to sleep. I think about the consequences of our daily existence. This business is rewarding as a personal contribution. If we're going to do something with our lives, why not try to improve the world? My products biodegrade. What I choose to do feels good."
What Do You Wish You Knew Before Starting a Sustainable Mattress Business?
"How hard it would be to get people to conceive of a substitute to typical consumer products. I never would have believed I could sell a product that was as comfortable as a higher end mattress but consumers have so many advertising messages bombarding them each day. You can spend millions to discover consumer perceptions and billions to change them."
How is OMI Helping the Environment?
"We're producing products that are dioxin free. Dioxin is the most dangerous chemical and is man made. Anything we can do to reduce this chemical is good."
What Made You Realize You Could Earn a Living and Still Promote Sustainable Business Practices?
"When my sales were high enough that I could give up my day job. My first invoice was $37. There's a point that which you realize, wow I'm doing enough volume to sustain myself. I reached that point 12 years ago. We were the first company to advertise organic mattresses nationally. We braved a new field."
Do the Majority of Your Customers Come to You Because Your Company is Green?
"Most of my customers don't know what green is. Organic is the only term that is definable. They come to us because we have certified organic products."
Do You Have any Plans to Become More Eco-Friendly or Sustainable in the Future?
"We're as sustainable as we can be at this time with the technology and standards that are currently in place.
We get our cotton from Texas, our wool locally from California and our rubber from Connecticut. Their carbon footprint is where most businesses can make the biggest difference."
Mr. Bader had a final word of encouragement for entrepreneurs who want to start an eco-friendly business. "We're in a recession. The challenges are always there, but the solutions are, too. People won't pay a lot, but they will pay a premium for more organic products."
Katelyn Thomas - If you can't find me in the spring, I'm out hiking through the wood with a few pounds of photography gear strapped to my back. In the ...
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