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Archive for January, 2009IKEA and Barack Obama: EnvironmentFriday, January 30th, 2009 by Tigratrus
Third in a series: IKEA and Barack Obama: Is EmbraceChange09 More Than a Shallow Marketing Ploy? Sustainability, renewable energy, efficiency and waste minimization and reuse, these are some cornerstone values that the new Obama administration is bringing to the public forum. Reducing Carbon emissions and investing in green technologies also figure prominently in the Obama/Biden Environmental plan. So with these values in mind, lets look at how IKEA fares:
When M.C. Escher Does IKEA InstructionsThursday, January 29th, 2009 by TigratrusIKEA Catalog 3rd Most Printed Item in the WorldTuesday, January 27th, 2009 by TigratrusFile this under, “How did we miss this?” Awesome marketing idea, though I think the world could do without yet MORE IKEA catalogs. It IS the 3rd most printed item in the world. After the Bible and Harry Potter, apparently. IKEA, you’re slipping! You used to be number 1. [Via KiwiPulse] IKEA and Barack Obama: ResponsibilityFriday, January 23rd, 2009 by Tigratrus
Second in a series: IKEA and Barack Obama: Is EmbraceChange09 More Than a Shallow Marketing Ploy? President Obama has issued strong statements on the subject of responsibility. We need to be mindful of how the decisions we make at work affect our surroundings, our communities and our country. But responsibility begins at home, in how we spend time with our family, with focus on fostering the education and empowerment of our children rather than leaving that in the hands of others. Companies need to bear responsibility for their impact on the environment, need to practice responsible manufacturing where waste is minimized rather than ignored where inconvenient. We need to be focusing on building sustainable facilities that minimize energy usage and impact on the environment through good design and green building practices. Companies need to consider the long term welfare of not only their finances but their workers and their community. So how do IKEA’s internal practices measure up to those standards?IKEA and Barack Obama: Is EmbraceChange09 More Than a Shallow Marketing Ploy?Thursday, January 22nd, 2009 by Tigratrus
First in a series: IKEA and Barack Obama: Is EmbraceChange09 More Than a Shallow Marketing Ploy? There’s been quite a few news and blog stories talking about companies like IKEA, Pepsi, Quaker Oats, QVC and even Dunkin Donuts running ad campaigns to associate themselves with the new President. But in all those stories, we haven’t seen any attempt to discuss whether there is any basis for those companies actually having anything in common with the fundamental principles and goals of the new administration. Just a general, knee jerk reaction of distaste for the perceived opportunism. While we lack in-depth background on Pepsi, QVC and (despite Quaker roots in the family :)) Quaker Oats, we DO have quite a bit of experience and background knowledge regarding IKEA’s principles and practices, so we thought it might be interesting to do a series of blog posts about whether there IS any basis for IKEA and President Obama’s administration being mentioned in the same sentence. Obviously we’re not exactly impartial here, but we’re also not mindless sycophants and we’re mindful of areas in which IKEA is less than perfect in living up to their published ideals. In contrast, we’d really love to see whether Pepsi or QVC puts a fraction of the effort into their corporate policies about the areas below that they put into their marketing. That said, we’d like to talk in this series of blog entries about some of the ways that IKEA’s guiding principles and President Obama’s are similar, specifically regarding:
While there is obvious overlap in some of the above areas, we feel as though each warrant a discussion. Join us tomorrow for the second in the series: Responsibility. IKEA And Barack Obama: Responsibility IKEA and Barack Obama: Environment Read the entire series: IKEA and Barack Obama IKEA Nursery Repurposes Furniture and Makes Room for BabyWednesday, January 21st, 2009 by Tigratrus
Do I long for another little bundle of joy in the house? Yes. NO. Yes. No. Yes. Ok - really, no. But yes. Sorta. Shhh! IKEAFANS member Griffin283 from Toronto has one on the way and has created a beautiful baby room from new and repurposed furniture, both IKEA furniture and other existing furniture from the home.
Way to go green with a room remodel! And congratulations, Griffin283 and family! Get more details and join the discussion in the IKEA Youth and Children forum Firefox Extension Allows You to Compare IKEA PricesMonday, January 19th, 2009 by Tigratrus[Gallery=10] IKEAFANS member George Decosta has created an extension for the Firefox browser to display prices in neighboring countries in Europe. The extension, Compare IKEA Prices for Firefox Extension, is available for download, but still needs a bit of tweaking. It currently displays the price in your local IKEA, and prices in countries surrounding your local country, but it doesn’t yet work with product pages that have drop-down menus. Still, I can see the value in this in areas where the exchange rates are favorable for a trip across the border. What a cool idea! Hmmm…what other software tools could we use??? Discuss the Firefox Extension for IKEA Price Comparison in the forums: IKEA Hacker Forum. Win a $1500 Gift Card in IKEAs Sweepstakes EmbraceChange09Sunday, January 18th, 2009 by Tigratrus
Also, while you’re there, try your hand at redecorating the Oval Office, IKEA style! Obama could use a bunk bed in the office, right? Furnish the Oval Office! This is IKEA’s take on it:
I don’t know…I mean, I’m arguably one of the biggest IKEA Fans in the world, but I’m not diggin’ on this representation of the Oval Office. Can we do better? I bet we can! Knappa Light Gets HardwiredThursday, January 15th, 2009 by TigratrusIKEAFANS member sproketz posted in the IKEA HACKER forum this cool tutorial on turning a KNAPPA Artichoke light into a hardwired lamp using a Westinghouse mini-pendant kit: Love that light! Got Questions? Ask sproketz in the forums: Hardwire kit for Knappa (artichoke) lamp IKEA CEO Dahlvig Disappointed Yet Optimistic About Progress MadeTuesday, January 13th, 2009 by TigratrusAnders Dahlvig began IKEA’s sustainability efforts when he took over as IKEA’s CEO 10 years ago, and he says that now sustainability is now at the heart of their product development and supply strategies. During the Business for Social Responsibility Conference on Sustainability held in November 2008, Dahlvig stated that he’s frustrated with the amount of work left to do, but he also expresses optimism as the company moves from a “separate [sustainability] strategy with a top-down approach” to an approach that is “truly integrated in our everyday business agenda and strategies.”
Currently, only 5-6% of the wood purchased by IKEA is certifiable by the independent Forest Stewardship Council, but Dahlvig expects that about 30% will be FSC-certified within the next few years. IKEA is also looking to reduce the amount of solid wood used, if the customers ‘don’t resist.’ See also: What say you? Are you willing to give up solid wood products for the promise of sustainability? Where do you stand on this issue? Join the discussion in the Green Living and Building forum  |
