Ikea just launched a DIY flat-pack indoor garden that can feed a whole lot of people at once 



Space10, Ikea's innovation lab, has designed a piece of living furniture that can feed quite a few people, from the looks of it.

Called the Growroom, it's a flat-pack spherical garden that grows plants, veggies, and herbs. 

"Standing tall as a spherical garden, it empowers people to grow their own food much more locally in a beautiful and sustainable way," its designers write on Medium. 

Though Space10 launched the Growroom in late 2016, the designers just made the plans open-source. You can download the instruction manual on Space10's site. 

Here are some information about it:  

1. Measuring about nine feet tall, the Growroom lets you grow plants indoors. 

2. You can also sit inside and admire the crops. 

3. Though the Growroom features mostly plants, the structure can grow anything, including fruit, herbs, and vegetables. 

4. Made of 17 sheets of plywood, you can build the structure with a rubber hammer, 500 stainless steel screws, and a milling machine. 

5. The instruction manual only has 17 steps. 

6. The pieces attach together like most Ikea furniture. They can be hammered together with nails. 

7. The first Growroom was built in 2016, and exhibited at the Chart Art Fair in Copenhagen pictured below. The latest version doesn't include any metal parts.
 

8. Shipping Growrooms in flat-pack boxes over large distances to Ikea's stores would've conflicted with the goal of the project, which is to promote local agriculture, according to the designers. 

9. "Local food represents a serious alternative to the global food model. It reduces food miles, our pressure on the environment, and educates our children of where food actually comes from," Space10 writes. 

Article Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/ikeas-growroom-photos-2017-2
Image Source: http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/58adc3c101fe58ae018b60bc-1200/measuring-about-nine-feet-tall-the-growroom-lets-you-grow-plants-indoors.jpg 

VOCABULARY WORDS:
1. Sustainable (adj.) ~ able to be maintained at a certain rate or level
2. Admire (v.) ~ regard (an object, quality, or person) with respect or warm approval
3. Conflicted (adj.) ~ having or showing confused and mutually inconsistent feelings
4. Alternative (n.) ~ one of two or more available possibilities
5. Spherical (adj.) ~ shaped like a sphere 

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:
1. What is Space10? What is its goal?
2. Where are the various locations this invention could be placed? Do you think it's a good idea to promote this product? Discuss your opinion. 
3. Would you be willing to invest money on this invention? Explain your answer.