Swedish design meets a new Indian raw material in this sustainable collection
You are well aware that air pollution is dangerous for your health, but you might not know that estimated 4.2 million deaths in 1 year are due to contaminated air, about 90 per cent of them in low to middle-income countries, according to the World Health Organization
Ikea is putting a step of improvement towards the cause with its new collection FÖRÄNDRING under its “Better Air Now” initiative launched earlier in 2018. Aiming at reusing the leftovers of rice production, the collection transforms rice straws into home objects instead of burning them as Indian farmers traditionally do.
Amongst all the adverse effects that air pollution has, one peril is the global climate change. Kanpur, Faridabad, Varanasi, Gaya, Panta, Lucknow, Agra, Muzaffarpur and Gurgaon: 9 out of 10 of the world’s most polluted cities are situated in northern India and crop burning is one of the root causes of the contamination in this region.
Approaching a long term goal in sustainable innovation, IKEA has teamed up with the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, a voluntary partnership between governments, intergovernmental organisations and businesses, focused on improving the quality of air by taking initiatives to preserve our climate conditions.
Rice straws’ flexibility makes them a versatile material easily bent into desired shapes, twisted into ropes and processed as pulp to make baskets, boxes, lampshades and mats. The blue and grey colours used for the pieces in the collection are inspired by the hues of smog and air pollutants.
The initial prototypes of the collection were displayed at IKEA’s event Democratic Design Days 2019 and is due for its launch in autumn 2019.
FÖRÄNDRING in Swedish means “change”, reflecting the central idea of IKEA being a prominent player in supporting a sustainable lifestyle for a planet with pure air.
