IKEA: Who Says Big Retail Can't Be Good for the Environment?

This article is reprinted by permission from Grist. For more environmental news and humor sign up for Grist's free email service.

Last week, IKEA U.S. announced a "bag the plastic bag" initiative: the retailer will charge a nickel for plastic bags to discourage their use, donating all revenue to the nonprofit conservation group American Forests. The store will also let shoppers walk away with one of its iconic reusable blue bags for 59 cents.

Pleasant enough news, but it struck me as somewhat cosmetic. Hadn't I heard that IKEA's commitment to sustainability went much further than this?

A little poking around on the IKEA website uncovered a set of practices that puts every big U.S. retailer to shame. From the wood in its products to the factory conditions of its suppliers to the energy efficiency of its distribution network, IKEA has outlined tough, progressive standards almost unheard of in the U.S. Now it's working to move all its stores to completely renewable energy.

Why not brag about that stuff instead of the bags? I contacted IKEA's head of social and environmental responsibility, Thomas Bergmark, at the company's headquarters in Sweden to find out the details behind this unassuming approach.

Tell me a little bit about this initiative in the U.S. with the plastic bags.

It might be the first campaign where we are more on the offense. The basic strategy not only in U.S. but in all our markets has been to be quiet, low-key. We should first do and then talk. We have from time to time been a bit criticized because we have been too quiet. Different stakeholders have realized that we try hard and we do a lot -- so why don't we talk about it?

We have now for three years issued a yearly social and environmental report on the web. We communicate more in different kinds of media, of course in the catalogue and in IKEA family magazines for our customer club and so forth. This campaign is one step in that direction, to be more aggressive and more transparent in these issues.

How does IKEA view its obligation to the environment?

We have a vision for business that was written more than 30 years ago. It's about creating a better everyday life for the people. Today, it's obvious to care about the people you have to care about the environment.

The starting point for our sustainability is the people and the culture. We have a very strong company culture. One of the cornerstones since IKEA was founded more than 60 years ago is to care about resources -- we are clever with resources.

For the first 20 years, this was only about turning and twisting the materials to utilize them in the best possible way, to save on material and thereby save on costs. But today we know it's a perfect win-win also for the environment. You save on the resources, you save on the environment. That has evolved over the decades.

Then of course there is the core business side as well. We are more than aware of that. We have to take responsibility for these issues if customers are to trust us today and in the future. We are convinced that if we work hard on sustainability and make progress, it will build trust in our consumers and with the IKEA brand. The culture issues and the business issues meet with the brand and the IKEA logo.

Has IKEA tried to make its stores green?

We're focusing more and more on that. First of all, we are setting up an IKEA standard, which includes the different steps in establishing a store. The first step is to look into a site, the land and such, to make sure we are not stepping into any sensitive areas that should be protected for biodiversity or other reasons. We consider the building materials we use when building new stores. Now we also consider environmental issues.

Then, of course, it's about operations -- energy, water issues related to the stores. We do a really good job on waste sorting and recycling compared to many other retailers. Then there's the maintenance of the stores. And at the end of the day, it's the products we put in the stores.