IKEA plans to pour $77 million into clean-technology start-ups within the next five years and could add "green" goods such as solar panels to its inventory, according to Cleantech Group.
The four-person, 50 million euro IKEA GreenTech fund has been operating for eight months, the report said. And it could invest in up to 10 fledgling companies in the next few years, perhaps first in Europe, where IKEA rings up about 82 percent of its sales.
Efforts to commercialize new and affordable green technologies within several years could lead to IKEA selling the resulting products among its growing collection of stores, currently 283 in more than 30 nations. The goods reportedly would relate to energy in the form of solar panels, efficiency meters, and lighting; as well as more sustainable materials, and water treatment and conservation.
In 2007, IKEA expanded sales of pre-fab, low-income, eco-friendly housing from Sweden into the United Kingdom. Could its catalog of 9,500 products someday add flat-packed, "smart" green homes available globally?
Given IKEA's sheer reach, an aggressive focus on green technologies might reshape the furnishings industry. For instance, green-business gurus credit Wal-Mart's controversial efforts to green its shelves and practices with shifting big-box stores and shoppers' tastes toward less toxic and wasteful products.
Among IKEA's latest moves in support of sustainability, by the fall, it will eliminate its checkout use of plastic bags, for which it began charging British customers about two years ago. More than 380 billion plastic bags are estimated to be trashed each year in the United States alone, polluting land and waterways with toxic chemicals.
In the early years of this decade, the modern-furnishings goliath pledged to phase out unhealthy formaldehyde and PVC in its core products, and to stock wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.
Its Swedish stores use mostly renewable energy. Some of the 18,000 staff members use hybrid cars or bicycles. IKEA pledged to carry organic consumables, including coffee, jam, and schnapps within the year. But a nagging question remains: would solar panels from IKEA require an Allen wrench?
Bloxes cardboard cut outs can form walls, furniture and more.
(Credit: Bloxes)A start-up launched on Friday aims to make furnishing an office as simple as assembling a cardboard box.
Bloxes are the latest option in cardboard furniture (see photo gallery), which is gaining a toehold in the world of 'green' design. The corrugated cardboard puzzle pieces lock together to form sturdy shapes such as chairs, walls, and play forts.
Bloxes founder Aza Raskin turned to his childhood for the idea, toyed with as an art project by his father Jef Raskin, known as the "father" of the Macintosh computer.
The junior Raskin is using Bloxes to furnish the lofted Chicago office of digital design firm Humanized, where he is president (Mozilla hired Raskin and Humanized co-founders in January to work on Firefox and other projects.)
With a little help, Bloxes are strong enough to drive over, said founder Aza Raskin.
(Credit: Bloxes)"You could go out and get yourself a set of cubicles and it'll be boring," Raskin said. But Bloxes, on the other hand, enable creativity on a whim. "It's pretty amazing to see when we need a desk or a workspace, we can build it in 10 minutes."
The interlocking forms are so strong that a car safely drove over a large form capped by plywood, Raskin said. Plus, the 'green,' recyclable building blocks can be packed flat for easy and inexpensive shipping.
Bloxes aren't ideal for outdoors use, although someone could probably coat them in waterproofing material, he said. However, similar shapes in plastic or another water-resistant material could work outside, Raskin added.
The 6-sided, 9.5 inch-square shapes are designed with CAD software and made in Chicago. Bloxes sells each case of 20 brown or white squares for $60, enough to build a form 36 inches by 45 inches.
With swift hands, Bloxes furniture could be assembled in 10 minutes.
(Credit: Bloxes)The headquarters of Humanized features Bloxes workspaces as well as a virtual roman aquaduct, which help to absorb sound from a noisy heating and air conditioning system. Two other Chicago offices are using Bloxes, including news Web site Gapers Block. Raskin envisions Bloxes, which can be drawn or painted on, in kindergarten classrooms and college dormitories.
He sees an overlap between the worlds of sustainability and software. The Web 2.0 movement is refocusing people on design while offering highly customizable do-it-yourself tools for tinkerers, Raskin said.
"I guess you could say Bloxes are a physical representation of Web 2.0."
(Via TechCrunch)
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