I have been obsessed with understanding what was the minimum load that people could own and carry with them, for that I do not believe that a laptop and a mobile phone is all you need in this time of mobilities. My previous experiments and research on the question of owning or not owning has led me to write that if neo-nomads pack light, they store a lot. I observed that objects are embodied with personal meaning and are the means by which one soothe the pain of changing scenes.

I have been reminded of it while reading a post on Archinet about IKEA “the least sustainable retailer on the planet“, and all the comments that this post encouraged. Some of it has to do with transportation (mobility est au banc des accusés lately!): “[...] The average IKEA customer drives 50 miles round-trip. Cleverly, IKEA transfers transport and energy costs onto consumers, who are then handed the additional burden of assembling their purchases.” Buy To Last by Ellen Rupper Shell for the Atlantic. Ideas: Fixing the World July/August 2009 Atlantic.

I remember a European friend of mine who was settling in Cambridge, MA, writing to me once “We’ve IKEAnized our apartment.” Today’s nomads do not carry home with them also because the volume of home has unfortunately inflated to the point of explosion. They leave it, store it, sell it, buy it new (anyway these are so fragile that they can’t withstand the move). I am seriously impressed by the amount of junk people “need” and can accumulate. Also one will look for the same IKEA piece, so the environment look alike on the other side of the world for a spatial continuity. Personally I am all for things that I can transmit to other generations. Reduce and Reuse.

Do you really need that junk?