RÅGRUND Towel rack chair, bamboo

After some thinking and testing, we realized bamboo is more suitable for a bathroom than a bedroom. Why? It’s a grass that mostly grows in the tropics—a climate similar to a steamy, hot bathroom. To carry out their new plan, product developer Damon Hird and his team left the forests of Sweden and headed to a factory in China. Visiting factories to collaborate and design directly on the factory floor helps us maximize material use and save resources.

Damon says they met a man they started to call "the bamboo professor". "He literally knew everything about bamboo, and he could make mathematical equations on how to utilize the material, as well as maximize use and minimize waste from the top of his head." "It was really incredible," he adds. "It gave us so many ideas on how to best use the material and insights into what was possible and what wasn’t.”

The team focused on combining the need of more spots for storage, maximizing small spaces and wanting to sit comfortably with the lessons from the “bamboo professor.” After 5 days, they headed back to Sweden with a design that was finalized into RÅGRUND towel rack chair. Not only being a chair, it also has a shelf underneath and a high back where you can hang towels or clothes. Naturally, it matches the RÅGRUND shelving units, mirror and toilet roll stand. The story of RÅGRUND proves you never know when and where you'll learn something new!

Forests contribute to maintaining balance in the atmosphere, purify the air that we breathe and are part of the water cycle. They nourish wildlife biodiversity and provide homes for indigenous communities who depend on forests for their livelihoods. 90% of plant and animal species living on the planet need forests to survive. They provide sources of food, fuel, timber and many other ecosystem services that we rely upon. Sourcing approximately 19 million m3 of roundwood per year from some 50 countries, IKEA has a significant impact on the world’s forests and the timber industry and a huge responsibility to positively influence how wood is sourced. Responsible wood sourcing and forest management ensure that the needs of people dependent on forests are met, that businesses can work sustainably, that forest ecosystems are protected and biodiversity is enhanced.

At IKEA, we work with strict industry standards to promote responsible forestry. We don’t allow any wood in our supply chain from forest areas that are illegal or contain high conservation values or from forest areas with social conflict. Before starting to work with IKEA, suppliers must demonstrate that they meet IKEA critical requirements on wood sourcing. IKEA requires all suppliers to source wood from more sustainable sources (FSC-certified or recycled wood). All suppliers are audited regularly and non-compliant suppliers are required to implement immediate corrective actions. By working together with our suppliers, we are proud to announce that we have reached our more sustainable sources goal, which we set out to achieve by 2020. Today more than 98% of the wood used for IKEA products is either FSC-certified or recycled.

As pressure on the world’s forests and the surrounding eco-systems increases due to unsustainable agriculture, the expansion of infrastructure and illegal logging, it is time to take an even more holistic approach to protect and support these important resources for generations to come. The IKEA Forest Positive Agenda for 2030 set out to improve forest management, enhance biodiversity, mitigate climate change and support the rights and needs of people who depend on forests across the whole supply chain and drive innovation to use wood in even smarter ways. The agenda focuses on three key areas: • Making responsible forest management the norm across the world. • Halting deforestation and reforesting degraded landscapes. • Driving innovation to use wood in smarter ways by designing all products from the very beginning to be reused, refurbished, remanufactured, and eventually recycled.

For many years, IKEA has partnered with businesses, governments, social groups and non-governmental organisations to fight forest degradation and deforestation and increase the volume and availability of wood from responsibly managed forests both for our own supply chain and beyond. We are on a journey to improve global forest management and make responsible wood sourcing the industry standard, contributing to building resilient forest landscapes and improve biodiversity.