Recently Pacific
Standard reported that Swedish furniture giant IKEA currently consumes one
percent of the globe’s entire commercial
wood supply -- roughly 17.8 million cubic yards -- to produce their furniture.
IKEA, along with Home Depot and Lowe’s, is currently one of the three biggest
consumers of commercially used wood in the world. Although one percent may seem trivial, the
impact of this number on global resources is huge.
While it’s difficult not see red over the
fact that such a vast portion of the world’s forests are being utilized for
cheap, disposable furniture, IKEA is doing its part to stay green. In the last year, IKEA has put forth serious
efforts to source more sustainable materials and improve their supply chain in
order to help offset their massive global resource consumption. In the
beginning of 2012, IKEA began replacing its wooden pallets with corrugated
cardboard. Corrugated cardboard is a highly recyclable material and has no
impact on wood resources. The company’s chief sustainability officer, Steve
Howard, also noted in their 2012 Sustainability
Report that twenty-five percent of the wood currently utilized by IKEA for
their furniture is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which
supports forest management improvement. The company has also noted that they
are currently aiming to double that percentage in the next five years.
In addition to promoting sustainable
sourcing practices, IKEA has recently implemented a number of programs
aimed at furthering their green initiatives and improving the company’s
environmental impact. Last October, IKEA kicked off their "People and
Planet Positive" strategy, the goal of which is to utilize 70 percent of
the company’s energy needs from renewable resources by 2015. As of 2011, the
company leveraged wind farms in 6 countries throughout Europe to generate a
total of 152 gigawatt hours of electricity, or roughly 12 percent of its total
electrical need. IKEA also recently completed its first round of solar
initiatives, which originally began as a solo project in October 2010 at a
store in Tempe, Arizona. The installation of these solar panels turned out to
be so effective at keeping energy costs down at the test location that IKEA
made it their goal to install solar panels at as many locations as possible.
Currently 39 out of 44 IKEA stores in the U.S. are now utilizing solar panels
to generate electricity.
While IKEA’s massive consumption of a
single global resource is less than ideal, their commitment to help offset this
intake is commendable. Not only has the
company helped to improve their environmental impact, they’ve also benefited
financially from their sustainable efforts.
IKEA’s has set an exemplary model illustrating that going green can be
easily achieved no matter how large, or small, the business.
Very informative!
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