Flatpack king Ikea is proving to be quite future-oriented these days. In between launching a furniture line with built-in wireless charging, envisioning the kitchen of 2025, and experimenting with movable walls, the brand has also been deep in the trenches on a sustainability initiative, specifically one that tackles more responsible use of cotton. And today, the company announced a major milestone: as of September 2015, all cotton used in Ikea products, everything from sofas to towels, now come from more sustainable sources, meaning farmers who use less water, less chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and can actually turn healthy profits from their labor.
For a company that consumes 0.7 percent of all the cotton grown in the world every year, this is certainly good news. The "more sustainable" farmers Ikea now sources from are those who grow cotton in accordance to the Better Cotton Standard System, which includes best practices for cotton production, supply chain transparency, and progress monitoring. These standards were established as part of the Better Cotton Initiative, a non-profit partnership between World Wildlife Fund and retailers like Ikea, Adidas, Gap Inc., and H&M. Below, a few more shots of Ikea's new fall 2015 line. (The company indicates that a small inventory of products made with conventional cotton will be available until supplies are out.)
· Ikea Thinks Movable Walls Can Solve Your Tiny Apartment Woes [Curbed]
· What the Kitchen Will Look Like in 2025, According to Ikea [Curbed]
· In Stores Soon: Ikea's Gamechanging Furniture Line with Built-In Wireless Charging [Curbed]
· Here Come 10,000 Ikea Flatpack Refugee Shelters [Curbed]
· Ikea's New 2015 Fall Line is Chock Full of Gorgeous Goods [Curbed]
· All Ikea coverage [Curbed]