No More Plastic Bags at Ikea
by Bonnie Alter, London 
on 07.10.07
Ikea, the home of Swedish design, and decorator of choice for every new apartment dweller, has gotten even better. First they charged for plastic bags and reduced the price of the big blue bag, in an effort to encourage shoppers to cut down on plastic bags. Now in every one of their 15 UK stores they are removing all plastic bags and going 'carrier neutral'.
Last year Ikea made a pledge to cut plastic bag usage from 32M to 12M a year. Customers responded positively with demand dropping to 1.6 M bags. Laid out side to side, 32 million bags would have covered the distance of a return trip from London to Tokyo. Just in case you are worried, they will continue to sell the very handy big blue bag (pictured) and will introduce a smaller version. :: Observer
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So now the bags won't go into the waste stream, but the furniture still will. How about a commitment to not sell furniture that can't be repaired, or a dead furniture pickup/recycling service?
I had this uncanny feeling the other day. I was over at an apartment where every single item was disposable. There was nothing there, from the new HP laptops to the table, rugs, sofa, magazines, or plastic water bottles, that would not be part of the solid waste stream in about 5 years or less.
Almost everything Ikea sells will become MSW, sooner rather than later, and it isn't Ikea that will pay for its removal and dumping.
Ikea has somehow convinced hip urban dwelling environmentalists everywhere that it is okay to shop there. While I can think of worse places to shop for furniture, I can think of a lot better. It is just like Jim said, they sell a disposable product that most purchasers don't even intend on keeping more than a few years. And, even worse, they make it cheap enough for us all to have products that we simply don't need and will dispose of when we tire of looking at the uber-cool design. I respect Ikea's sustainable initiatives, but I think everyone should really question the sustainability of buying their products. In may take a bit more effort, but searching out used furniture should always be your first choice. Second should be buying quality furniture that you intend to keep past your hip urban dwelling days.
Ikea is a guilty pleasure of mine...I am glad to see such a change being made, even if it is small.
I have a feeling that the reason these products aren't made to last is simply because of the changes in popular design and style. I feel the same argument can be made for clothing. People COULD buy durable, timeless clothing or furniture, but fashion and other cultural components come into play.
One of the other commenters said:
"While I can think of worse places to shop for furniture, I can think of a lot better. "
Please tell me - where???
I have been looking for quite a long time now for furniture that is AFFORDABLE and as green as possible.
Used furniture (at least where I live) is either hideous or retro/vintage (overpriced!) and the super-eco products like organic hemp couches run at like $4,000 which is not a feasible price point for most of us.
If you can recommend any other stores, please name them.