Join the soft toy movement!

We got an apartment! And life seems a bit easier. The new place will cut my living expenses down a bit, which was necessary, but is also bigger than my old studio. And what does this mean? About a thousand trips to IKEA.

I've always been a fan of IKEA. I'm Swedish so it's sort of a given. But since I moved abroad being a fan has developed more into an actual addiction to the company. The kind of fanatism that makes me want to talk about IKEA All. The. Time. They sell Swedish food, they have pictures of Swedish landmarks on the walls, there is Swedish written everywhere. It even smells like Sweden when you walk through the doors and is greeted by that big "HEJ" sign. Oh, and then there's the nice super cheap furniture...

But now to the part of this story that makes it relavant for the blog. IKEA has a campaign going on together with Save the Children and Unicef. For every soft toy you buy 1 euro goes to helping children around the world get an education. For some of the stuffed animals this means every cent goes to this good cause, and That means money is coming straight from IKEAs pockets, and THAT means I have yet another reson to love them. Also, for about a week up until christmas they will expand the campaign to include all the products in the Children's IKEA department.

Now usally I am torn when it comes to this kind of projects. It's obvious that many companies will do this sort of thing just for commercial purposes. Also I don't like the idea that buying these items may settle the conscience of people and make them think they've donated something to charity. This when they've actually just been doing their shopping; and contributing to our crazy consuming that may even hurt children in poor countries in the long run. However, it's christmas time. You're all going to buy toys and stuffed animals for your children anyway. So why not do it at IKEA? It's cheap and the quality is good. So just do it.