The Swedish-founded furniture and home goods giant has designed a remote-controlled boat ‘The Good Ship IKEA’ to clear trash from the water.
The Good Ship Ikea: cleaning up London’s waterways has never been so much fun
IKEA, the Swedish-founded furniture and household goods multinational, has taken its SMÅKRYP tub toy and created a giant, remote-controlled robot version that will help clean up trash in the River Thames in London. To mark the opening of the Swedish retailer’s newest London store in Greenwich, IKEA deployed two boats in the river in southeast London, dubbed The Good Ship Ikea, each equipped with technology enabling them to collect up to 44lbs/20kg of trash at one time. Each boat is almost 10ft/3m in length and weighs up to 150lbs/68kg. According to Ikea, more than 300 tons of trash is cleared from the Thames every year.
It’s not the first time Ikea has used its products to raise awareness for an issue
In 2014 in Singapore, the retailer used its store showrooms to promote stray dog adoption.
The boats have been running throughout the UK school half-term this week. The retailer has teamed with the local Creekside Education Trust to provide an educational experience for local families, and the public were invited to help control the boats remotely. The collected trash will be turned into a sculpture for the new Greenwich store.
After this week, the boats will be permanently donated to the sustainability charity Hubbub
Source: FastCompany.com
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