ikea

e, d and i made the pilgrimage to ikea today. i've been needing some storage solutions and an additional shelf for our "billy bookcase".

ikea leaves me with mixed feelings, but i came to some conclusions about the interesting mega-store today. out of all the stores that i have been to lately, they are the most eco-friendly out there. here are some ways in which they are doing things right:

they have little to no packaging on most of their merchandise, causing a huge reduction in waste.

their restaurant is all washable items, rather that consumables.

they label their trash bins (located throughout the store) "landfill waste" and "recyclables"- crazy how just the word landfill made me stop and take note of how consumable we are and that i should think twice before putting something into that bin.

they charge $.50 per plastic bag, causing the penny pincher in each of us to resist the use of those plastic bags that are ruining our planet.

if you live near an ikea, i'd like to encourage you to shop there. i think that the more we can support eco-responsible stores, like this one, the more other stores will catch on to the trend. i'd also encourage you to translate this into your daily life. i'm thinking about putting the label, "landfill waste", on my own trash cans at home. it would be a good reminder for me on a daily basis of where all that stuff is going.