Good Question: Mattress Alternative?

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Email questions and pics with QUESTIONS in subject line to:
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Deirdre left this question as a comment on our Used Mattress Survey earlier this week ... and it has us scratching our heads:

I mean, is there a viable mattress-alternative out there? My fear at having to endure a bedbug invasion will likely always prevent me from taking a mattress from a stranger, but are people sleeping on other things? What's a less energy/resource hogging alternative to an innerspring mattress and box spring? I'm not talking about green or organic mattresses, I'm asking if there is another sleeping setup/system out there all together that I haven't heard about... anyone?

This one is really interesting. Mattresses are just not that great for the environment -- between the space they take up in landfills and the chemicals used in their manufacturing. It actually surprises us that we can't think of a viable mattress alternative.

Can anyone else? Do any readers sleep on anything other than a mattress?

image via cbcastro; Flickr.com