Sustainability - Ikea

Interview: IKEA Unveils New Sustainability Strategy

http://www.triplepundit.com/2013/10/ikea-unveils-new-sustainability-strategy-people-planet-positive/

Question answered by Mike Ward, President of IKEA USA

3p: How do you reconcile being a provider of low-cost furnishings with bringing sustainability into people’s lives, in cases where the more sustainable options currently cost more, like organic food, for example, or cotton, or LED light bulbs?

MW: Cotton is a good example. We buy quite a bit of cotton. In fact, almost one percent of all the cotton grown in the world goes into IKEA products. The way we’re working with cotton is to really go back to the source. We work with the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) where we have an opportunity to influence the way it is produced. This is an independent organization that works with farmers to help them figure out how to use less water, less pesticide, and less fertilizer, therefore growing cotton more sustainably.

3p: So what about energy independence?

MW: When it comes to what we’ve done with renewable energy, we’ve really been focusing on investment in wind and solar. We now have over half a million solar panels installed on our buildings globally and quite a few wind turbines. By the end of fiscal year 2015, we will produce 70 percent of the energy we consume. And by 2020, we will produce 100 percent. In the US, 90 percent of our buildings already have solar installations and we’ve done that in just two and a half years.

Personal Thoughts 

This is what it will take to change, bigger corporations leading the way, influencing there providers and there customers.