Fortune favours the frugal, says IKEA

Swedish furniture and lifestyle giant IKEA adapts the well-known phrase 'Fortune favours the bold' for its new year message of frugality, encouraging us all to lead more moderate lives with less waste and consumption. "We believe in empowering people," says the company, which has grown way beyond its original image as a supplier of accessibly priced furniture ranges that often proved incredibly hard to put together on your own at home. Now, the familiar blue and yellow emporium aims to make life better through balancing economic growth and positive social impact with environmental protection and renewal, it says, so as to meet today's needs without compromising sustainably enjoyable living for future generations. "Giving and taking responsibility are ways to grow and develop as individuals. Trusting each other, being positive and forward-looking inspire everyone to contribute to development." Do you think they've hit the nail on the head in this ad? Are you glad to see a major commercial company stake a claim to everyday sustainability? And are we ready as individuals and society to take on the resposibility of more moderate, less wasteful lifestyles, or is it just too hard until there are policies and overall measures at government level to deal with environmental issues such as plastic waste?

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