Antony Smith, an engineer from England, remembers when he joined IKEA and the small team that develops our taps and showers. "I realized we practice what we preach about sustainability," Antony says. "It's a refreshing experience, but it makes our job really difficult because we genuinely have to deliver on sustainability with each product."

So, why conserving water? Because no organism on earth can survive without it, and no new water is created. It's constantly recycled, but our freshwater supply is overused and not evenly distributed. It’s impacted by pollution, contamination and climate change, too. "Those of us who live where you can just turn on your tap may not think about saving water; it's taken for granted," Antony says.

Behind the scenes, we constantly explore new ways to improve water efficiency. That includes providing factory workers and their families with fresh drinking water, ensuring all factory water is cleaned before release, reducing water usage in textile production and using rainwater to flush toilets in stores. And now we are working on new taps using sensors and spray technology – and new water-efficient showers – to save even more. Every water-saving action adds up.