Chosen as one of Canada's Greenest Employers for 2009:
By Richard Yerema, Mediacorp Canada Inc. staff editor (Apr 16, 2009)
Some of the reasons why IKEA Canada Limited Partnership was selected as one of Canada's Greenest Employers (2009):
regularly conducts environmental audits to ensure its stores continue to maintain and improve their internal efforts to recycle, reduce waste and save energy
recently introduced preferred green parking spaces for customers who drive hybrid, fuel-efficient or electric vehicles
has a longstanding initiative (called Pick a Tree, Plant a Tree) in partnership with Tree Canada, a non-profit organization that has planted over 70 million trees since 1992 -- IKEA Canada employees have planted over 14,000 trees -- and directs a portion of the revenue from every Christmas tree sold towards planting saplings across the country the following spring
was one of the first major Canadian retailers to introduce a five-cent charge for plastic bags at its stores in 2007 -- the company surveyed customers (finding that over 70 percent would support such an initiative) and then followed-up with the five-cent "Bag-a-Bag" program, which has reduced plastic bag usage by 90 percent.
maintains recycling depots at Canadian store locations where customers can drop off compact fluorescent light bulbs (which contain low levels of mercury), halogen bulbs and old batteries free of charge -- and even accepts used bulbs and batteries from non-IKEA brands
internationally, the parent company maintains a strict sourcing policy for its suppliers of wood products, refusing to accept illegally-felled wood or wood from intact natural forests, requiring all suppliers to document the origin of their wood, and supporting this policy with in-house forestry specialists who monitor and work closely with suppliers and forestry companies (IKEA's long term goal is to source all wood for its products from Forest Stewardship Council certified sources.)
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