Published 11 April 2022 • Inter IKEA newsroom
"Us & Our Planet: This Is How We Live": A book about life at home and sustainable living
PHAIDON and IKEA have teamed up to explore one of the biggest challenges of our generation: sustainable living. The book "Us & Our Planet: This is How We Live" looks at the life at home of twelve everyday people including activists, artists, athletes and gardeners as well as young families across the globe. From Mexico to Bali, the book shines a light on the small things one can do to make our world a little better.
“This is an inspirational study of the home, as the most important place on earth, and how we all, with small steps, can make the world a better place”, Tina Petersson-Lind, Communication Manager, Inter IKEA Systems B.V.
Since the 1950s IKEA has conducted home visits all over the world to find out more about the way people live and investigate how daily life at home can be improved. This feedback informs product development and is mirrored in new generations of the IKEA range. Inspired by the IKEA’s life at home visits, Us & Our Planet presents case studies of twelve diverse individuals and families around the world. The book also highlights some of the IKEA’s most iconic products born from this approach over the past 70 years.
The overall IKEA ambition is to become people and planet positive, and to inspire and enable the many people to live a better everyday life within the boundaries of the planet by 2030. “The IKEA People & Planet Positive 2030 strategy” describes the sustainability agenda and ambition for everyone in the IKEA franchise system and value chain.
“_At IKEA we work to develop and offer products, services and home furnishing solutions to inspire and enable people to live a healthier and more sustainable life at home. Our work is focused on five areas where the IKEA offer (both products and services) has a direct impact on people’s health and ability to reduce their environmental footprint at home: energy, air, water, food, and waste._”, Lena Julle, Sustainability Manager, IKEA of Sweden.
Us & Our Planet is structured into six thematic chapters: Time, Space, Food, Rest, Play, and Togetherness. Each chapter features three iconic IKEA designs, two life visits – interviewed and photographed by local writers and photographers – plus one photo essay by a photographer who has interpreted the theme of the chapter. This book wants to inspire the many people and serves as a call to action for each one of us to take small but important steps at home to make our world a little better.