IKEA

Founded in 1943 by a young man of 17 years old, IKEA grow to be the world’s largest furniture retailer with 313 stores in 38 countries (October, 2010). The name is an acronym comprising the initials of the founder's name (Ingvar Kamprad), the farm where he grew up (Elmtaryd), and his home parish (Agunnaryd, in Småland, South Sweden), thus come the IKEA (Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd).

What makes IKEA product different from the rest is the unique (and sometimes cute design), the rich cheerful color that we know could help a lot in making the home looks more livable, and the proactive stance IKEA takes on environmental issues and tried to prevent future incidents through a variety of measures.

In 1990, IKEA invited Karl-Henrik Robèrt, founder of The Natural Step, to address its board of directors of his system conditions for sustainability provided a strategic approach to improving the company's environmental performance. This led to the development of an Environmental Action Plan, which was adopted in 1992. The plan focused on structural change, allowing IKEA to "maximize the impact of resources invested and reduce the energy necessary to address isolated issues”. The environmental measures taken, include replacing polyvinylchloride (PVC), minimizing the use of formaldehyde, eliminating acid-curing lacquers, producing a model of chair (OGLA) made from 100% post-consumer plastic waste and several other actions.

More recently, IKEA has stopped providing plastic bags to customers, but offers reusable bags for sale. The IKEA restaurants also only offer reusable plates, knives, forks, spoons, etc. Toilets in some IKEA restrooms have been outfitted with dual-function flushers. IKEA has recycling bins for compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), energy saving bulbs, and batteries. In 2001 IKEA was one of the first companies to operate its own cross-border freight trains through several countries in Europe.

Not a wonder that this furniture retailer is such a household name for environment savvy young generations.