Welcome to IKEA Springvale! Sustainability Tour create ra bette The IKEA vision is to create a y better everyday life for the many everyda people. This includes doing what life we can to help create a world where we take better care of the environment, the earth s resources, and each other. We know this continuous improvement is a never-ending job, and that we are sometimes part of the problem. But we work hard to make improvements at every stage, and add them all to a list our Never Ending List. As you walk through our store, you can see some of the products featured on our Never Ending List, and read about some of the improvements we ve made so far. I m taking responsibility for the environment, what do you do? Inter IKEA Systems B.V. 2011 1
Upstairs showroom and Restaurant 5 4 3 Bedroom Dining Kitchen Wardrobes and Storage Bathroom Living Room Storage 2 Workspaces 6 Children s IKEA Down to: Market Hall Self serve furniture area Checkouts Exit IKEA Restaurant & Cafe 7 Living Room 1 1. Big sofa that travels smaller, EKTORP - page 3 2. Strong and durable, yet so much lighter, MICKE - page 3 3. Save water every time you turn on your kitchen tap - page 3 4. Waste knot! Get the most of every tree, NORDEN series - page 3 5. Fewer chemicals against your skin - page 4 6. PVC free, SAGOSTEN - page 4 7. Our food - page 4 2
1. Big sofa that travels smaller Improvement #13: Since its launch in 1996, EKTORP sofas have been one of IKEA s most popular and enduring products. They are also the bulkiest, making it a challenge to transport and store them in a cost-effective and environmentally sound manner. We have recently made EKTORP a customer assembly piece which means that the product can be packed in a way that reduces space consumption by half. With this change, each EKTORP pallet fits twice as many sofas, which has made transport costs drop sharply. And guess what? So has the price! 2. Strong and durable, yet so much lighter Improvement #15: MICKE series is one of the latest IKEA products made from wood-based frames filled with recycled, honeycombed paper, a fabrication chosen for its strength and rigidity. MICKE uses less raw material than particleboard. It is also more lightweight and thus easier to handle during transportation and ultimately, for our customers. 3. Saving water every time you turn on your kitchen tap Improvement #30: All IKEA kitchen (and bathroom!) taps are equipped with a water saving function, which can reduce water usage by up to 30 percent. 4. Waste knot! Get the most of every tree Improvement #9: NORDEN birch tables are a great example of how IKEA tries to get the best possible return from every tree trunk. Introduced in 1998, it was probably the first time anyone had thought of making furniture also from the knotty top part of the birch tree instead of burning it as firewood or grinding it for chipboard production. 3
5. Fewer chemicals against your skin Improvement #12: It is our policy never to use optical brighteners in IKEA textiles. In addition, IKEA products must not contain hazardous substances and we always try to minimise the use of chemicals used in production processes. Whenever practicable, we apply the strictest health and safety requirements to manufacturing in all of our markets. 6. PVC free Improvement #48: SAGOSTEN inflatable children s floor cushions are made from polyolefin, a smooth and durable plastic without the chlorine and other harmful additives found in the more commonly used PVC (poly vinyl chloride). Did you know? Use of PVC is banned from IKEA products since the early nineties. The only exception is electrical cords, where no viable alternative is available yet. Every year IKEA runs a Soft Toy Campaign, where one euro from every soft toy sold is donated to our partners Save the Children and UNICEF. So far donations are benefiting more than 8 million children in 40 countries. 7. Our food Improvement #72: Many people enjoy IKEA restaurants and food products around the world every day. To improve the animal welfare standards in farms that supply to IKEA s food business, IKEA has partnered with the international charity Compassion in World Farming (CIWF). CIWF engages with Europe s biggest food manufacturers, supporting initiatives which lead to tangible benefits for the welfare of farm animals reared for food production. 4
Downstairs Markethall To: Self serve furniture area Checkouts Exit Home Decoration Wall decoration and Mirrors Lighting 13 Bathroom accessories 12 Home Organisation 11 Home textiles 10 Rugs 9 Bed textiles Tableware 8 Cookshop 8. Leftovers last longer page 6 9. Better textile dying page 6 10. Towards Better Cotton - grown in a more sustainable way, DVALA bed linen - page 6 11. Reused, again and again, KASSETT magazine files - page 7 12. How the sun helps you read at night, SUNNAN lamps - page 7 13. We got the lead out page 7 5
8. Leftovers last longer Improvement #53: Did you know that up to a quarter of all food is thrown away every day in many households? That s not only a waste of money. Food production generates lots of CO2, so cutting waste helps reduce our carbon footprint. IKEA food savers help take better care of fresh food and leftovers. Some products have benefits making them especially good for saving your food and using just the right amount of food to prevent waste when cooking. For example, some sizes in the IKEA 365+ food storage series come with a removable plastic bottom grid to allow excess moisture to drain off and help food last longer. And, in the RARITET series the jar for dry storage has a measuring cup in the lid to make getting it right easier. The jar itself is transparent and graduated so you can see how much is left. 9. Better textile dying Improvement #68: Although beautiful to look at and a complement to any home furnishing, manufacturing printed textiles can consume large amounts of water and dyes. Today, 40% of IKEA s printed textile products, are produced with techniques that require less water and colours. Not only does this technique use 60% less water than previous production techniques, but less pigment is required and the result has a better quality finish as fabric is softer than a regular colour print. In addition, colour-fastness is more durable. 10. Towards Better Cotton - grown in a more sustainable way Improvement #18: The cotton in DVALA bed linen is Did you know? grown in a more sustainable way, using substantially less water, chemical fertilisers and pesticides. Not only that, the fabric is woven using 15% less cotton but still feels just as good as comparable bed linen. 6 Turning down the heating just one degree can save up to 5% in energy. Add an extra blanket to keep warm in winter, and choose a lighter quilt that wicks moisture away in summer.
11. Reused, again and again Improvement #28: KASSETT magazine files are made from 80% recycled paper, and now arrive to our customers flat folded. This means more files per truck, for less impact on the environment (and a better price). Each pallet now holds five times as many KASSETT. CO2 emissions from transporting it have decreased 75%. 12. How the sun helps you read at night Improvement #29: SUNNAN lamps use solar cells that transform sunlight into electrical energy and require no electrical connections. Just charge the panel for 9-12 hours in direct sunlight outdoors and get three hours of full lamplight that you can use anywhere indoors. Did you know? From 2009 onwards, the IKEA Foundation donates one SUNNAN lamp for every SUNNAN sold in IKEA stores worldwide. This enables children in homes without electricity to read, write and draw even after dusk. The lamps have so far been delivered to children in India and Pakistan through our partners Save the Children and UNICEF. If every IKEA customer replaced an ordinary 60-watt bulb with an energy-saving bulb, it would be like taking 750,000 cars off the road in terms of CO2 emissions. Imagine all the good we could do together with more actions like this. 13. We got the lead out Improvement #39: We are happy to say that IKEA is one of the first companies in the world with a lead free mirror range - with one added benefit: your reflection is clearer, as lead-free mirrors have improved reflection properties! 7
Self Serve futniture area, Checkouts and Exit 1 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 Self serve furniture 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 14 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 38 36 35 40 42 15 Bargain Corner Checkouts Customer Service area 17 16 IKEA Bistro and Swedish Food Market Exit 14. Put that thing in a smaller box - page 9 15. One thing you ll never find in here is trash - page 9 16. Go organic without going anywhere - page 9 17. We make it easy for you to recycle - page 9 8
14. Put that thing in a smaller box Improvement #1: We don t design flat packs to sell more but to save more. Flat packs mean optimised loads and fewer transports, which reduces emissions. Our use of recyclable packaging requiring minimal raw material helps, too. Brown cardboard is one of our best friends it saves costs and the environment. 15. One thing you ll never find in here is trash Improvement #18: Maybe there s a scratch. It could have been a floor model. Or someone took it home and decided it wasn t right for their home and brought it back. It s perfectly good and doesn t deserve to be thrown in the trash. By shopping in the Bargain Corner, you get great bargains and give IKEA furnishings a second chance to lead happy, productive lives. Each year, Bargain Corner shops in IKEA stores worldwide keep millions of kilos of materials from being wasted and help tens of thousands of people like you save piles of money. 16. Go organic without going anywhere Improvement #8: Every year, millions of people eat at IKEA restaurants. And even here we ve got an eye on the environment at least one organic dish is offered in all IKEA restaurants and 15% of all products in the Swedish Food Market are certified organic. 17. We make it easy for you to recycle! Did you know that you can bring some of your recycling with you to IKEA Springvale? Bring your batteries and light globes to our recycling station as both contain some nasties which are harmful to the environment. Rather than throwing them out and damaging the environment, save them in a recycling box and bring them along next time you come over to shop! Leave your items at our recycling area and we ll dispose of them safely with the correct recycling companies. 9
What did you think was the best improvement that you saw on the tour? How many organic products were you able to find in the Swedish Food Market? Every year, IKEA partners with WWF to support their annual campaign, Earth Hour. Earth Hour asks people around the world to think about their personal energy usage and switch off all their lights for one hour. Earth Hour is usually held on a Saturday night in March. What are some things you think people could get up to during Earth Hour? The recycling stations What are some of the things customers can recycle at IKEA Springvale? My best tip for Earth Hour is: The SUNNAN lamp Why is it good for people? What are some of the things you recycle in your home? Why is it good for the environment? Which colours can you buy the SUNNAN lamp in? 10
clean water clean air Why are we so obsessed with keeping things flat? Why are flatpacks better for the environment than already assembled furniture? Some environmental facts about IKEA Springvale... A very sophisticated lighting control system with timers, motion sensors and sunlight sensors near windows and roof lights controls all of the lighting in the store. We harvest our rainwater from the roof and have the ability to store a million litres in the three tanks in the car park. This water is used to flush toilets as well as to run parts of our cooling system. We have CO 2 sensors in the store to monitor the air quality. This allows us to recirculate the cool air in the store in the same way that you do in your car, and cools it more quickly and efficiently than having to cool the air at outside temperature. In our showroom, we also have a home that s been designed to be extra environmentally friendly. Did you see it on your tour? 11
Why not start your own never ending list at home? Here are a few tips for a more sustainable life at home! tip #1 Save energy putting your groceries away. As you shop, pack groceries according to where you put them away. That way, cold things stay cold and your fridge doesn t have to work so hard to chill it again. You save energy by having it all organised so you won t have the fridge door open as long, and you save time and steps putting groceries away. tip #2 Get spaghetti ready faster - put a lid on it. Pasta water boils up to 75% faster with a lid on it because heat doesn t escape. That s why IKEA designs pots with glass lids so you don t let the heat out when you peek to see how stuff s cooking. Your kitchen also stays cooler, which can save you energy too. tip #3 Vampire power sucks energy and cash. Vampire energy loss is the way computers, TVs and other stuff suck power even when you turn them off or put them to sleep. Unplug what you re not using and you can save up to 10% on your electric bill. To save wear and tear on cords, plug lots of gear into one power strip and shut it all off with the flip of one switch. 12 tip #4 Thank you for visiting IKEA Springvale!Look forward to seeing you again! Summer: light curtains, winter: dark heavy ones. White reflects heat, so use light curtains in summer and keep them closed to block out warmth on sunny days. In winter, heavy curtains help insulate against the cold, and darker colours absorb sun to warm rooms so you can lower your thermostat a bit. For each degree you lower it, you save 3 to 5% on your energy bill. educe euse Recycle