Furniture giant IKEA has come under criticism for poor quality and suspect craftsmanship, which has result in many items finding their way to landfills instead of being reused.
However, the company’s Canadian arm is working hard to change that mindset, creating instructions on how to repurpose some of its products for other uses, similar to Game of Thrones using rugs for costumes.
The company says its new Repurposeful Instructions adds to the company’s commitment to sustainability, turning items such as an IVAR cabinet into a beehive or a FABRIKÖR into a terrarium or even its 79 cent shopping bags into a hanging garden.
IKEA created instructions to repurpose some of its products for other uses. Cabinets can be turned into a beehive, a FABRIKÖR into a terrarium and shopping bags into a hanging garden
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‘We really believe in the power of small, sustainable acts that people can take in their daily lives,’ said Ami Warrington, Marketing Communications Specialist, IKEA Canada, in the statement.
‘In addition to becoming a fully circular business by 2030, IKEA is committed to helping our customers and co-workers make lots of little changes, like with Repurposeful Instructions, to live more sustainably in easy and inspiring ways.’
Last year, IKEA Australia transformed its blue shopping bags into a bucket hat.
The new Repurposeful Instructions add to IKEA’s commitment to sustainability and its 2030 plan, previously outlined
IKEA created three tiers of instructions: beginner, intermediate and advanced. Instructions range between 4 and 12 pages for all three tiers
IKEA Canada has created three tiers of instructions for items that can be repurposed: beginner projects, which it says are ‘quick and easy;’ intermediate projects, that are ‘a little trickier, but still manageable for most;’ and advanced projects, which require power tools and ‘more elbow grease.’
Instructions for the beginner products range between four and eight pages, as do the three intermediate projects, which include a hanging garden and a shoe drawer.
Instructions for the beginner products range between four and eight pages, as do the three intermediate projects, which include a hanging garden and shoe drawer
The two advanced projects, the beehive and a birdhouse, have instruction manuals that are 12 and 8 pages, respectively.
This is not the first sustainable action IKEA has taken in recent memory. In June, IKEA Norway launched ‘The Trash Collection’ to reuse broken and discarded furniture, according to Fast Company.
The announcement from the Swedish furniture giant is in line with its 2030 sustainability plan to give furniture a second life, help eradicate inequality and alter climate change.
The new actions come in light of the United Nation’s damning report that said global warming is already causing extreme weather and the world will see a temperature increase of 2.7F by 2040, compared to a previous forecast between 2030 and 2052.
It is ‘unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, oceans and land,’ the report warned.
The lengthy report added that it is virtually certain’ heatwaves ‘have become more frequent and more intense across most land regions’ and a rise in sea levels approaching 6 feet by the end of this century ‘cannot be ruled out.’
