Humans are builders and creators—but how can we build thoughtfully, without waste? These talks explore sustainable design—both past and present—and its beautiful, inspiring results.

Bjarke Ingels' architecture is luxurious, sustainable and community-driven. In this talk, he shows us his playful designs, from a factory chimney that blows smoke rings to a ski slope built atop a waste processing plant.

Do you know where everything you buy comes from? Olivia Tyler illuminates the daunting challenges companies face when enforcing sustainability across their supply chains.

I wish my artwork could persuade millions of people to join a global conversation about sustainability. I wish we could launch a ground-breaking competition that motivates kids to invent new ideas in sustainable living. I wish I could create an IMAX film that would make my work accessible to a broader audience. The plan Create a website to rai...

At his carpet company, Ray Anderson has increased sales and doubled profits while turning the traditional "take / make / waste" industrial system on its head. In a gentle, understated way, he shares a powerful vision for sustainable commerce.

Sustainability is pretty clearly one of the world's most important goals; but what groups can really make environmental progress in leaps and bounds? Chris McKnett makes the case that it's large institutional investors. He shows how strong financial data isn't enough, and reveals why investors need to look at a company's environmental, social an...

The big blue buildings of Ikea have sprouted solar panels and wind turbines; inside, shelves are stocked with LED lighting and recycled cotton. Why? Because as Steve Howard puts it: “Sustainability has gone from a nice-to-do to a must-do.” Howard, the chief sustainability officer at the furniture megastore, talks about his quest to sell eco-frie...

Travel and flying are here to stay -- but we need to do them responsibly. In conversation with TED's head of curation Helen Waters, Virgin Atlantic CEO Shai Weiss shares three steps the aviation industry needs to take to achieve its pledge to be net-zero by 2050 and discusses what you can do to shift airlines towards sustainability. "We have a 2...

Jackie Savitz works to protect the world's oceans. A marine biologist, she is passionate that saving the seas will benefit us all.

As of 2018, there are around 2.5 billion smartphone users in the world. If we broke open all the newest phones and split them into their component parts, that would produce around 85,000 kg of gold, 875,000 of silver, and 40,000,000 of copper. How did this precious cache get into our phones--and can we reclaim it? Kim Preshoff investigates the s...

Diébédo Francis Kéré and his architectural firm design buildings that are good for the environment -- and those who use them.

Michael Green wants to solve architecture’s biggest challenge -- meeting worldwide housing demand without increasing carbon emissions -- by building with carbon-sequestering wood instead of concrete and steel.

Enrique Peñalosa is the mayor of Bogotá, Colombia. He advocates for sustainability and mobility in the cities of the future.

By 2050, global food production must double to keep up with population growth. How does the man "who buys the most food in America" think this can be accomplished? Jack Sinclair, Executive Vice President of the Walmart US Grocery division, shares a few ideas on what we can do to produce more, sustainability. (One of them: re-use the apples in Am...

You might not expect the chief operating officer of a major global corporation to look too far beyond either the balance sheet or the bottom line. But Harish Manwani, COO of Unilever, makes a passionate argument that doing so to include value, purpose and sustainability in top-level decision-making is not just savvy, it's the only way to run a 2...

Cultivating the power of sustainable materials, Elora Hardy leads Ibuku, creating bespoke bamboo homes in her native Bali.

As a "corporate suit" (his words) and former VP of sustainability at McDonald's, Bob Langert works with companies and their strongest critics to find solutions that are good for both business and society. In this actionable talk, he shares stories from the decades-long transition into corporate sustainability at McDonald's -- including his work ...

Three billion people in the world don't have access to a consistent water supply, due to issues not limited to infrastructure, supply or mismanagement -- and for some, water may flow every two days or even ten. Sustainability engineer Anu Sridharan launched an organization in India that wants to fix this using cellphones and the power of crowdso...

Climate change is a global issue and action must come from every aspect of society to yield the needed change. How can corporations make a difference without losing profit? Keith Weed argues that sustainability and economic growth can go hand-in-hand, after implementing a few key approaches.

Dealing with the waste of a consumer society is one of the greatest challenges of our modern times. But UPS' Sustainability Director, Peter Harris wonders: what if waste weren't waste at all? He proposes a plan where methane from the trash we produce fuels the machines that transport our critical goods; a closed-loop, circular economy that power...

The fashion industry has a big carbon footprint. How can we find a sustainable solution that fits?

Businesses have the resources to make contributions to the collective good. Here, TED Talks on what can happen when corporations make saving the environment and helping people a priority, plus talks on how business principles might even be more effective for creating change than non-profit models.

Michael Pollan is the author of "The Omnivore’s Dilemma", in which he explains how our food not only affects our health but has far-reaching political, economic and environmental implications.

Joe Smith is an active figure in the Oregon community and a powerful advocate for proper paper towel use.

Most of us want to do the right thing when it comes to the environment. But things aren’t as simple as opting for the paper bag, says sustainability strategist Leyla Acaroglu. A bold call for us to let go of tightly-held green myths and think bigger in order to create systems and products that ease strain on the planet.

Mark Raymond’s work as an architect in Trinidad and Tobago is founded on the belief that thoughtfully designed cities can foster sustainability and inclusiveness throughout a society.

Fiorenzo Omenetto shares 20+ astonishing new uses for silk, one of nature's most elegant materials -- in transmitting light, improving sustainability, adding strength and making medical leaps and bounds. On stage, he shows a few intriguing items made of the versatile stuff.

Concrete is the most widely used construction material in the world. It can be found in swathes of city pavements, bridges that span vast rivers and the tallest skyscrapers on earth. But it does have a weakness: it's prone to catastrophic cracking that has immense financial and environmental impact. What if we could avoid that problem? Congrui J...

Lian Pin Koh expands conservation efforts by championing the use of low-cost autonomous aerial vehicles.

Magnus Larsson hopes to build new structures in the desert -- by using bacteria to turn shifting sand into a solid mass.