IKEA announced it is working with its suppliers to ensure that, by September 2000, the solid wood used to make its products does not originate from ancient forests unless it carries Forest Stewardship Council certification. “Our long term goal is to ensure that all wooden products comes from well-managed forests. The first step is to see that no solid wood is coming from ancient forests,” said Susanne Pulverer Bergstrand, environmental manager for the IKEA Group.
Two companies – Wickes Lumber and HomeBase – targeted as part of the “Foolish Five” by Rainforest Action Network (RAN), quickly made commitments this month to stop selling old growth wood products. HomeBase and Wikes, the sixth and tenth largest U.S. home improvement retailers respectively, will end such sales by 2001. The remaining “Foolish Five” – home improvement companies that sell old growth wood products – are 84 Lumber, Menard’s and Payless Cashways.
RAN has been applying relentless pressure on the industry group since its two-year campaign resulted in Home Depot’s August announcement that it would stop selling old growth wood products. A long list of corporations have made similar commitments including 3M, Dell, IBM, Kinko’s, Levi-Strauss, Mitsubishi Motors America, Mitsubishi Electric America, and Nike.
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