IKEA Guide: Sustainable furnishings and living

IKEA Guide

Hey, it’s great to see you! This guide is all about sustainable living and furnishings. We’re excited to tell you all about sustainable living with IKEA and how you can furnish your home with natural materials. We’ll explain exactly what we’re doing to plan our range in a more environmentally conscious way and to implement an environmentally friendly policy. Our goal: to produce high-quality, affordable furniture and accessories that meet (your) sustainable living requirements.

Find out more about our fair trade policies, how we are using more sustainable sources for cotton and wood, why we switched our lighting to LED several years ago and much more besides. This guide is aimed at anyone consciously seeking sustainable furnishings in the age of climate change but still wants beautiful furniture and a comfortable and cosy home. Happy reading!

Furnishing your home in an environmentally conscious way thanks to sustainable furniture and textiles

Are you looking for elegant design and ecological furniture? IKEA offers beautiful and sustainable living. We explain how exactly here. Find out more about our organic products made from renewable raw materials, learn about our philosophy on sustainable resources and discover what we’re doing to avoid wasting resources. Whether it’s rigorous certification, self-imposed standards, recycling, second-hand furniture or cooperation with social enterprises worldwide: we produce sustainable furniture and accessories for your home and for sustainable living. Interested? Then read on.

IKEA furniture made of FSC-certified wood

We love wood. Most of the beautiful products found at IKEA are made of wood. And there’s a pretty good chance that you’ll fall in love with our wooden furniture or have long adored it. But are wood and sustainability compatible? Want wooden furniture in times of climate change without a guilty conscience? Is that possible?

Absolutely, and it’s very easy too: simply select from our range of sustainable wooden furniture. The magic word is FSC certification. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) aims to conserve the planet’s forests through responsible forestry to ensure they will remain available to us in the future. Together with the WWF, we were co-founders of the FSC. And we’re proud that we’re close to achieving our main goal: in 2020 we want to procure all of our wood from sustainably managed sources – in other words, FSC-certified or recycled wood. We’re currently standing at 97%. .... which means we’re almost there! How about a few examples of sustainable wooden furniture? Look no further:

IKEA products from recycled plastics

A world without plastic is now inconceivable. But if we’re not careful, our planet will soon be engulfed by it. What options are there for sustainably furnishing your home and sustainable living without having to give up the incomparable benefits of plastic? Our production and planning are essentially based on the ethos of “avoiding plastic wherever possible.” When we do use plastic, it’s in a smart and reasonable way. Ultimately, it’s not just you that benefits from this approach, but also the environment. Here are a few ideas:

Our aim is to make all plastics from recycled or renewable materials by 2030. We’re well on the way to achieving our goal: we’re already removing disposable plastic products from our range and replacing them with sustainable plastics. We’ll complete the process this year (2020) and that’s a promise.

Having a clear conscience: you can pack food and other useful items into reusable ISTAD plastic bags adopting a sustainable and resource-saving approach. ISTAD bags are made of plastic that consits of at least 20% renewable content.

What else are we doing to help you shop and furnish your home more sustainably? We help you to avoid creating plastic waste. Wherever possible, we use paper, cardboard and other materials from renewable sources instead of plastic. And we separate waste directly on site at your IKEA store. Whether it’s plastic, batteries, paper or cardboard: anything you no longer need at home or have difficulty disposing of on your own, you can simply hand over to us. We ensure the correct disposal and sorting of waste as part of the recycling process.

A second chance for IKEA furniture

Did you know that you can extend the service life of IKEA furniture? That’s easily done thanks to IKEA’s second chance initiative. Do you have a piece of IKEA furniture in good condition that you no longer need? We repurchase certain products from you and give them a second chance in our Bargain Corner. Second-hand IKEA furniture changes hands and everyone’s happy. Repurchasing second-hand IKEA furniture also relieves strain on the environment by reducing bulky waste - another welcome benefit. Here’s what to do: visit the website to find out whether you can sell your IKEA furniture back to us – or visit the Bargain Corner at your IKEA store and give a piece of furniture a new home.

IKEA products made in cooperation with social enterprises

Working conditions and social justice are always key issues where sustainability and environmental protection are concerned. That’s why we at IKEA focus on people when it comes to sustainability. Together with social enterprises, we support the work of craftsmen, for example in Bangladesh and India. We help establish improved working conditions and clear standards to ensure a safe working environment and to make tasks easier. This means that you are supporting craft in India and Bangladesh when purchasing our handmade carpets and helping to take a stand on this issue. We support fair working conditions and pay and help to combat exploitation and corruption. For example, local IKEA weaving centres are replacing home-based work where dubious middlemen were often pocketing money with craftsmen receiving little or nothing at all. Short journeys to work, regular orders and a steady income now mean a brighter future for local people. We’re proud of our efforts. And also of the exquisite handmade carpets in our range.

Furnishing your home with sustainable, natural materials

You can furnish your home wonderfully with sustainable materials Whether it’s wool, seaweed, burlap or bamboo: the days when you had to choose between attractive design and sustainability are over. You can now select stunning items for your home as the fancy takes you – safe in the knowledge that they’re eco-friendly. In this section, we’d like to present the sustainable materials and explain what they can do for you. Find out more about sustainable textiles, products made from renewable materials, the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) and lots more besides.

Textiles made from sustainable cotton and wool

Cotton is a key component in many of our products. Whether it’s sofas, cushions, bed linen, fabrics sold by the metre or cuddly toy animals: cotton is essential. But is eco-friendly cotton an option? You bet it is! Since 1 September 2015 we have been purchasing all of our cotton from more sustainable sources. For you this means: our cotton requires less water, fewer pesticides are used and the farmers are better paid and enjoy safe working conditions. You can see the outstanding quality of our cotton for yourself at your IKEA store. Our bed linen is luxuriously soft and means you’ll enjoy lots of wonderfully comfortable nights and Sundays in bed. It also benefits the environment as there is less water consumption and pesticide pollution, while the farmers enjoy higher profit margins and improved working conditions. The same is also true of SKÄGGÖRT fabric sold by the metre. But do we only use ‘new’ cotton for our products? No we don’t. We also use recycled cotton. With the TÅNUM carpet made using offcuts from the production of bed linen, even the tiniest strip of cotton is used.

Together with the WWF, we launched the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI). Like FSC wood certification, the BCI aims to achieve a more sustainable approach to using raw materials and to establish more environmentally friendly business practices. We use cotton from Better Cotton sources (sustainable cotton produced under stringent regulations), recycled cotton and Towards-Better-Cotton products. This is cotton that is produced more sustainably but does not fully meet BCI standards. This currently stands at around 6%, but we also want to convert this into ‘Better Cotton’. You see: you’ll find amazing cotton products at IKEA that are also eco-friendly. 
 
We also put great stock by sustainability and responsibility when it comes to wool. Wool is a renewable raw material, biodegradable, recyclable, robust, breathable, stain-resistant, weather-resistant and easy to dye and process. In a nutshell: it’s the perfect material. We aim to procure only responsibly-sourced wool by 2025. In other words, wool which is environmentally friendly and provides a fair income for the craftsmen who process it. 

More IKEA products made of natural materials