Steve Howard: Let's go all-in on selling sustainability

The big blue buildings of Ikea have sprouted solar panels and wind turbines; inside, shelves are stocked with LED lighting and recycled cotton. Why? Because as Steve Howard puts it: "Sustainability has gone from a nice-to-do to a must-do." Howard, the chief sustainability officer at the furniture megastore, talks about his quest to sell eco-friendly materials and practices -- both internally and to worldwide customers -- and lays a challenge for other global giants.
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[@SpaghettiWithMeatSauce]

And as of 2018, 70% of Ikea's products were either renewable or recycled. Excellent work!

[@projecthomecoming]

I'm only commenting to raise the search ranking. We need more of this as a planet.

[@user-vl8xf3pg8d]

It was a very impressive lecture. Recently, many factors have caused environmental pollution. Until recently, many people suffered from fine dust in Korea. As such, environmental damage has side effects. I think we should all work hard to protect the environment from getting worse in the future. In particular, in the video, I came to my heart by saying, "The environment has changed from being good to being a must." I also sympathize greatly with this sentence. We feel that preserving the environment has become essential, not optional.

[@posalguien1941]

Thanks teacher for helping me with this video!!

[@osmia]

Love that corporations are working towards sustainability, because in my view; governments are led by corporations.

[@j.thorgard]

Great message

[@JTProductions3]

And here I was thinking this guy would get a standing ovation! What's wrong with you TED! You stand for pretty much everyone why not this guy?

[@funnygazman19]

I like your points here john, i would say have a look at the ted talk about new battery designs. In terms of progress, i think the question is, progress towards what?

[@Seancooke89]

Great talk !! ;-)

[@oluwaseyiadeoye8707]

Hmmm.....sustainability, not just a to do idea but now a must to do idea. Applaude

[@nancychang9146]

Things are getting done. I'm glad to see so.

[@scarlynlc]

what an inspiration :)

[@casonhuffman4466]

John, You're right. We have been growing food without soil for decades. We will be able to achieve this. The question is, how soon? It looks to me like society is getting closer and closer to collapse. Like I said before, even If we start working on this ASAP it will be a century before we move any substantial amount of the population into space. Wouldn't it be responsible to achieve a level of sustainability, efficiency, and reduction of scarcity here on earth before we start moving to space?

[@ThrowThoseCurtains]

The most important message: be discerning consumers!

[@milford30]

I don't have anything against renewables but I suggest you take a look at the amount of concrete needed to secure a wind farm, and how much CO2 emission in creating that concrete base. Not the mention the economic factors including maintenance.

[@softypapa]

Love it! I'm learning. :-)

[@dangerouslytalented]

Well, there is the big one in the suburb of Mayflower, Arkansas,(same pipeline also ruptured in Ripley county Missouri), the one in North Dakota that the oil company neglected to report for 11 days, there were ten spills directly related to the Colorado floods, those are some of the major ones. And getting off of oil will mean that there would be no NEED to drill in Ecuador, Nigeria or the Caspian Sea, and therefore no spills there.

[@miguelcamel8079]

I find this lecture very much interesting, but at the same time there's a comercial side of it, "We Ikea are sustainable" "Buy from us" "We're saving the planet"..... not sure if I like that side! I'm pretty sure he's also telling other businesses how sustainability can also be profitable... =p

[@starfire139]

+Miguel Camel I do think that having more businesses be focused on sustainability is at least a step forward. But besides the side of it that makes people buy from businesses, we need to concentrate on ourselves and make change in our own daily lives. He says at 3:21 that people want the transition to a more sustainable world to be "easy." This is where we are wrong. We must sacrifice some comforts and our daily routine, or we will get be nowhere at the end of the day. If we do not limit our consumption, we will overtax our planet.

[@dangerouslytalented]

They don't have to store the energy, they can simply pump it straight to the grid, and, during times of surplus, i.e. a nice sunny day,they can simply compensate for the extra power by turning down the amount of power emitted through other means, like shutting off a dynamo or two at the hydro plant, or they can export the excess power.The energy generated by solar power contributes to daytime peak loads.No need for batteries (although batteries and capacitors are getting more and more efficient)

[@ChristopherJManess]

Well said.

[@tennisfitapp]

great stuff!!! ;-)

[@dangerouslytalented]

a few tonnes. Once. Whereas every tonne of coal is a couple of tonnes of co2. Maintenance of windfarms is pretty negligible too, compared to constantly feeding an ongoing stream of coal into a powerplant. THAT is high maintenance, And you can actually USE the land between the towers on a windfarm, you can grow crops, while opencut coal mining leaves the land sterile.

[@dangerouslytalented]

no, the stuff under unused land is already GONE. That is the stuff they dig up FIRST. Then comes the stuff that is harder to get. What do you have against using renewables anyway? Solar panels are getting more and more efficient every day, taking in greater proportions of energy from wider portions of the spectrum, and there is none of the risk of spillage. Wind turbines are also getting more efficient, and storage options are getting far more efficient too, while fossil fuels? not so much.

[@dangerouslytalented]

$33 billion in oil subsidies per year. over $70 billion can be saved by ending the subsidies on both coal and gas. (those companies would still make a profit regardless). 10,000-40,000 birds killed per year by wind turbines (this number is dropping as engineers are working out ways to avoid birdstrike) as opposed to 150 - 170 million killed by powerlines and approx. 82,000 killed in the BP deep water horizon blowout.

[@marilyndanz423]

Why do coffee companies continue putting 12,000 to 15,000 tons of burlap bags from the green coffee beans in landfills. My husband figured out how to convert the bags into paper with a sister company picking up the bags and companies buying the paper. Caribou Coffee is doing it. They are using KONA PAPER in a variety of applications with plans to expand. I can't understand why other coffee companies speak about how great they are by recycling by just putting bins in front of their stores, why not do something that really helps the environment. Please encourage coffee companies to check into KONA PAPER to be better stewards.

[@dangerouslytalented]

I was pointing out that even at the rate of 40,000 birds killed annually, it does not come close to the number of birds killed by the transmission lines. And oil spills are NOT rare. Within thirty days (april 11-may 10 2013) there were 13 major oil spills in Nigeria, Canada, Ecuador and the US. 1.3 million gallons, mostly crude oil and tarsand diluted bitumen (which is even harder to clean up). This month, there have been spills in India and North Dakota, fire in the Caspian Sea, and far more.

[@mariamedusa3542]

my favorite person!

[@amaliahuitron]

María Medusa s yoo

[@casonhuffman4466]

pt.1 John, I agree with you, it is a lie saying those things cost the tax payers nothing. You know what else is a lie? Saying that Wikipedia can be edited by anyone. For major issues, only creditable persons can be editors of a page. Go ahead, go edit something non-trivial and see how fast it gets changed back. Also, they list sources at the bottom of every page, so you're not just taking the word of whoever the has the editing privileges.

[@dangerouslytalented]

you can find all that on Wikipedia. 17% of Germany's electricity production is created through renewables (solar, wind, geothermal and tidal). Peak production is exported. And this is Germany, which is overcast most of the time. If you put a similar program in a place like Arizona or Nevada or outback Australia, where very little grows, there would be HUGE gains over even that. And this is done with no cost to the taxpayer.

[@kaveter]

9 out of 10 don't see the lies

[@dangerouslytalented]

Except they are gaining in efficiency, reliability and cost effectiveness every year, particularly solar, with the coating technology getting so sophisticated that more and more wavelengths of light are being captured. It has already surpassed nuclear (Germany, for the cost of a new nuclear plant, was able to build the equivalent in solar instead) and the ongoing production costs after installation are minimal, because no fuel is required.

[@Phi1eap]

My friend bought a lot led lightbulbs when he was finishing his house. He throw away receipts as he did not care because they suppose to last so long. Unfortunately most of them start breaking faster than old "short lasting" classic lightbulbs. Think there are two possibilities: electric grid must be prepared for this type of light or "The Light Bulb Conspiracy" is good and working fine, doesn't matter it's led, it's designed to break fast :/

[@utkua]

well nice, but... isn't most sustainable thing to do is not to buy new furniture unless we have to.

[@FinallyGotATubeName]

I think he was showing that it may look like a big number but there are large numbers of birds killed by power production already they just aren't talked about. Perhaps one could relate it to how flying is safer per mile traveled than driving but plane crashes get news coverage and some people feel flying is more dangerous.

[@Vladd7]

this is a good speech and the man has a lot of good points. However, I don't think that sustainability in the world can truly be attained while working within the current monetary system.

[@Lintary]

You actually be surprised at how well we actually can recycle our products, most IKEA stores themselves throw very little away nearly everything is recycled from wardrobes to mattresses. Still it can be done better and that is one of the things that as an IKEA co-worker annoys me for on top they do a lot, but on the store based level these things are HUGELY undervalued as it is all about saving costs and that hurts the real focus on sustainability at a store based level which is just sad :/

[@VideoVelico]

Well put. Do you think that we will ever reach a 50/50 gender distribution in management? I have always been under the impression that men have a somewhat greater tendency to seek managerial positions and that more women than men desire to stay home with their children (if that's a financial possibility of course), which seems like it may skew the hiring figures. Obviously these aren't very scientific conclusions, so feel free to enlighten me.

[@holy_youtube_final]

Absolutely true! But you can not say it out loud :)

[@casonhuffman4466]

CharKueyTeow, I have a thought exercise for you. Say most of the engineers working for the fossil fuel industry, over the course of a few months, gradually started devoting themselves to renewable energy. How long would it take for it to become the economical choice? For the most part, engineers are just designing BETTER ways to get the stuff out of the ground. So when we eventually run out, all that effort was for nothing. We're on borrowed time here. Let's be responsible, and forget profit.

[@zytigon]

The IPCC gives a whole range of scenarios. The upper one was a 6 Celsius rise but the lower one was only 1.5 Celsius rise by 2100. For the last 15 years there has only been a 0.06 Celsius rise which could indicate a trend towards the lower scenarios. Try reading " The rational optimist " by Matt Ridley or see climatologist Judith Curry's website

[@LordSirGinger]

I would like to hear precisely how Ikea helps children other than ensuring they aren't working. Many children work because an income is a necessity for them, and while child labour is en evil, it may be a necessary one until the larger problems of widespread poverty can be properly sorted out.

[@dangerouslytalented]

They are very inefficient at producing heat, too. The glass insulates it.

[@CharKueyTeow]

I'm talking about the end consumer.. As long as the infrastructure remains inadequate and the price of renewable energy remains more expensive, consumers wont' choose renewable energy over fossil fuels. Eg: How could you drive an electric car long distance without readily accessible charging stations along the way. And I don't think the petroleum and mining engineers have the necessary skills to develop alternative energy sources, it is the other branches of engineering that are more qualified.

[@casonhuffman4466]

John, part 2 Fine, lets roll with the idea of us becoming Independent from the earth in space. Unless we invent warp drives, the solar system is STILL a closed system, because the nearest star is over 4 light years away, and it would take hundreds of years to get there with conventional methods. I'm not implying that space is a waste of time, I just think that we are at least a hundred years from becoming entirely Independent of the earth. And that's if we try to achieve it ASAP.

[@Skateandcreate9]

yes, your comment is an advertisement for a hangover movie. good job.

[@hectorae86]

Dr Warren Farrell - Why men earn more do a KZbin search for that video, it explains why men make more and have the higher paying function, put short, it has to do with them caring more about what they make and women caring more about enjoying the job they do. Also, i would LOVE to be a stay at home dad and i believe this desire ( which i think many men do have deep deep inside, it has merely been stomped out since day one ) should have always been clear during the whole feminist revolution.

[@liquidminds]

Cason Huffman Space-Exploration and the Images of earth made through that has done more for humanities awareness about the fragile nature of our planet, than any earth-based project ever could have.

[@TakehHuang]

sustainability=kesinambungan,keberlanjutan. jual sesuatu yang bagus atau cantik,harga terjangkau,kesinambungan produk

[@ZimmZimmster]

Bravo Ikea:) Could you please think about having your meals in the restaurant's be Sustainable? 100km challenge?

[@dangerouslytalented]

and that is where recyclability comes in. When they build recyclability into their products, they will find that it will be far cheaper to simply feed their old used products back into the chipper to be remoulded into new products.

[@Waffle4569]

But but, I like my heaters that produce light on the side. Its fucking cold!

[@gabrielespinoza5956]

I like the frases, "we can make sustainability afforeble for the many people, not a luxury for the few" the biggers company not realy matter about it, just try meke treir index better then compatition and get profit intend.

[@thewallstreetjournal5675]

I know of two ways to lower Co2 to pre-industrial levels, The first is permaculture, the second is NAWAPA. Why would you think there was a point of no return? Every living and complex system I know of has a Homeostasis. Modern science cannot predict the temperature, because it models the planet, like one would a car. The planet it's dying, it just needs to go on a diet. Mankind is part of the environment and how we treat each other is how we treat the environment.

[@earlpierce7173]

We can create debt free money in every country to produce sustainable systems that work with the environment, ecosystem, and humanity to optimize efficiency, labor, resources, recycling, equality, and the use of money itself.

[@delatroy]

Yes agreed. All you can do is create an equal playing field so men and women equally have a fair chance. If it turned out 90% women and men or whatever then so be it. Providing an equal playing field though is obviously rife with all kinds of problems - political, favoritism based on commonality, etc.

[@jameskillalotthewarr]

It would be nice if governments would take the initiative on steps like this rather than giving billions in subsidies to the oil industry.

[@djshortsleeve]

People need to accept the fact that women are better are some tasks, while men are better at others. Let things work themselves out naturally.

[@michaeljames1585]

Yes I know that but what's that. Your point is?

[@Apvatar3000]

A definitive change into new human direction but there's one key point "Ikea " missed.Sure they could achieve all of their sustainability targets but again- would Ikea share 20 % of its annual profits with all its total employees ? This would complete the sustainability cycle.

[@faza553]

What % of world population already chronically/seriously dis-eased with Environmental Illnesses? May those in good health and the most compassionate hearts manage and lead. Look into the work of Theo Colborn, Claudia Miller, and others.

[@Wourghk]

Then in this world, in which one's time is precious, how do you accommodate services with a resource-based economy? We started with bartering and moved to fiat money because services became valuable. It won't go the other way around again because it can't.

[@johnnielawson]

I have a grip with IKEA, they place there stores in high density urban areas like Dublin to maximize profit, understandable. Where do they put their wind farm so they look good, you guessed it, not close to their store where land is expensive but where land is cheap and not enough people to object, so there are four blots on the beautiful landscape in county Sligo so that IKEA Dublin can say they are heading for carbon neutral. IKEA you disgust me, never again will you get one cent of my money.

[@robynnsimoneofficial]

Dude, you're part of the problem. congrats.

[@EmilChristianGram]

How can I skip this 13 minutes commercial?

[@milford30]

He pulled so many 'facts' out of his arse in the first few minutes, you can make solid judgements about the video

[@casonhuffman4466]

John, Resources may not be strained, but the allocation of resources is definitely skewed. Why would we try to go to space when we won't even feed everyone on the planet right now? It's like paying for Internet without owning a computer. It's just irresponsible.

[@dangerouslytalented]

It is done with no cost to the taxpayers, it's done through electricity bills. The power distribution firms have to pay the people with the solar panels the same rate as they pay to other generators. And the solar panels have a limited lifespan, yes, but the infrastructure to support them don't, and they are not hard to recycle. And when they are replaced, new coatings and materials will mean that they are more efficient and cheaper.

[@Full_Counter]

I do like inperfect food :)

[@Zgembo121]

i trust this guy

[@theoryg]

I'm all for it but I am already reminded of how its slightly too late in lieu of the global warming. I mean they say GW is unstoppable and the real issue is coming from industrial plants refineries and vehicles. Not much can be done with these two in a rapid sense.

[@meeeee9407]

You also are forgetting one more important factor. Management positions are often filled by some of the most senior employees within the company. Women are more likely to leave the workforce to have children, and thus have a few years less experience on average than men. This must add to the inequalities seen when comparing men and women on paper.

[@CharKueyTeow]

Since we're on the subject of equality, I want to know how come we still have hereditary monarchies and titles all over the developed world? If we need someone for ceremonial roles, why can't we have an elected monarchy?

[@nathanhale3697]

Please, translation or at least subtitles for people who don't speak english fluently. Thx

[@GraysonBuzz]

This is the case for sustainability: when it makes solid economic and business sense. We are approaching that where sustainable technologies produce savings that justify their investment. This is far more of a convincing argument than some fanciful hysteria over the potential results of supposed climate change.

[@jaker20101]

Scary thought

[@jaker20101]

I got to thinking about future generations and how our decisions now will undoubtedly impact them and I just want to leave this Earth in better condition than when I found it.

[@milford30]

This guy is funny, after the day to day issues, then they care about the BIG issues. Let's all be more sustainable and stop caring if we can put food on the table tonight!

[@MWcrazyhorse]

Aa a matter of fact 'climate change' instead of global warming is already the alternativie labelling introduced by those that disagree with the theory.

[@TheVirtualban]

Investing into something that does not produce the best return will leave any company to be destroyed by the competition. Be that incandescent light bulbs, or people unworthy of reaching high management levels by themselves and needing an extra hand. I said 'people'.

[@casonhuffman4466]

pt.2 John, Fine, Wikipedia isn't reliable, I can deal with that. The fact of the matter is we have created an infinite growth economy in a world of limited resources. Either we keep taking steps toward sustainability and efficiency or we live in a constant battle for resources. Fossil fuels are becoming more and more obsolete as technology is increasing at an exponential rate. I say we kick start our natural evolution by striving for sustainability rather than being forced by laws of nature.

[@dangerouslytalented]

Sustainable products used to suck, and suck hard. But you know what? Cars sucked a hundred years ago, they were noisier, smellier, and far more dangerous than horses. But what happened when people started buying them? They got quieter, cleaner and safer. Same with environmentally sustainable devices and processes, they will exceed the potential of the old technology, and these new technologies are still in their infancy.

[@michaeljames1585]

My family is not within those 3 billion people.... :(

[@ButtheadHghh]

ya and middle class in the west can mostly be categorized in the top 5% of the world in the sense of wealth

[@acvarthered]

"Let's be responsible, and forget profit." Forgetting profit means forgetting efficency. It means using more resources the exact opposite of what we all want. If renewables ever become more efficient then our current sources of energy (and our future sources) then people seeking profit will switch to them in droves to increase thier profits. If they remain less efficient and as such less profitable then it would be a waste of resources to switch to them.

[@liquidminds]

So if you can pull 100 units out of a market, for 10 years before you run out forever, it's more efficient in your eyes, than pulling out 50 for all eternity? "If I can get 100.000.000x what I need now, why should I care if my grandchildren have enough to survive". That's what you are saying.

[@acvarthered]

liquidminds A: Your math does not work. B: Humans are quite addaptive creatures. They find new ways to do things when neccessary. We will come up with new eneregy sources. Not using those things available to us now simply because some day in the future they will run out is foolish. Would you not eat corn now just because someday in the future there will be no corn? What are you saving tings for? The day when they become obsolete due to other advances? Then you wasted those resrouces. I want to live both now and in the future. You want to kill ourselvse off to save the future?!?!? If we don't make it through today we will never see tomorrow.

[@liquidminds]

acvarthered what can I say. There are intelligent people who understand sustainability. And there are people like you. Sad fact of life. Can't change anything about it.

[@hectorae86]

Read your comment like 10 times but uhm.... nope, still doesn't make sense to me,what are you trying to say?

[@G_G251]

The Venus Project!

[@Onodera1980]

If only energy companies would go "all in".

[@Bunny456]

You will never get the Ayn Rand crowd on board with this. Selfishness is a virtue in their world.

[@CurtHowland]

"The 'Middle Class' is not hurt in any way, shape or form by regulation" Then who do you think pays the cost of the regulations? "That 3billion u speak of isn't poor due to regulation(ask Chinese citizens)" China is reducing regulation, and their economy is improving, raising people out of poverty and into the "middle class". When China was very tightly regulated, almost everyone was "poor". Your example proves my point.

[@michaeljames1585]

You should watch the whole thing before you start judging.

[@Frost517]

You have never heard of storing energy in batteries and transmitting it???

[@castello544]

They wouldn't have done anything without the horror stories!

[@user-fs7cs5ik8t]

The only way to achieve global sustainable development is to implement the resource-based economy proposed by Jacques Fresco, see The Venus Project

[@Vladd7]

Also I find the man is selling Ikea a little more than he is actually selling sustainability :S

[@dangerouslytalented]

Most of the slanderous edits on Republican (and Democratic) Wikipedia pages were quickly taken down, and those pages locked off, and when pages are locked off for the general public, any edits (and their references) get thoroughly checked.

[@dangerouslytalented]

Wikipedia is a starting point, and you will find all the sources you need down the bottom of the page. To simply declare "it's on Wikipedia, therefore it is a lie" is simply a ad hominem fallacy.

[@johngalt5604]

How did powerlines come into this regardless of whether your power comes from wind turbines or solar farms, power lines will continue to exist! And oil well blow outs are rare, were as wind turbines kill on a regular basses! Also both wind and solar are dependent on whether there for incapable of providing reliable continues power! And both waste land!

[@missmeech788]

A "point of no return" is when you have destroyed so much in the 200 years we have lived on this planet, it can never be recovered in time." I certainly do believe we have reached that point. I agree the planet is dying and it needs a diet - a diet free of human beings. A time to renew itself. It has happened before and will happen again - only we are too stupid and arrogant to accept our own extinction. It won't be in our lifetimes, but it will be. We don't realize how large our footprint is.

[@kalidesu]

I agree but the reality is the battery tech isn't there on a mass scale yet. Nor the money to make them on a scale to get the rewards, (no Keynesian money printing make that happen without crashing the world economy) Because energy is REAL currency. Countries are getting desperate they will go for the nuclear option in the short to medium term. If it's nuclear lets make it only Thorium, Integral fast reactors (IFR) we have these now! Or for the future Liquid fluoride thorium reactors (LFTR).

[@frepi]

LED will last 25 years until the manufacturers find a way, as they did for the incandescent light bulb, to make them last 1000 hours.

[@dangerouslytalented]

Solving that problem too quickly will not be a very good option.

[@dangerouslytalented]

IKEA started off by building flatpack furniture, now everybody does it... They lead the way...