Ideas worth spreading

Why are we making pizza boxes out of endangered trees?

1,020,842 views |

Nicole Rycroft |

TED2023

• April 2023

If we're going to solve the climate crisis, we need to talk about supply chains, says biodiversity champion and 2023 Audacious Project grantee Nicole Rycroft. Her organization, Canopy, partners with key industry leaders to overhaul their base materials in favor of more sustainable alternatives. Learn more about how they're shifting production of everything from T-shirts to the Harry Potter book series out of the world's ancient and endangered forests -- and how solutions for every sector are closer than we think.

If we're going to solve the climate crisis, we need to talk about supply chains, says biodiversity champion and 2023 Audacious Project grantee Nicole Rycroft. Her organization, Canopy, partners with key industry leaders to overhaul their base materials in favor of more sustainable alternatives. Learn more about how they're shifting production of everything from T-shirts to the Harry Potter book series out of the world's ancient and endangered forests -- and how solutions for every sector are closer than we think.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

See how Canopy’s plan to catalyze 60 million tonnes of NEXT GEN alternatives keeps vital forests out of paper, packaging and textiles.

Protecting 30 to 50 percent of the world's forests by 2030 is going to take collaboration and creativity. See how you can help!

About the speaker

Nicole Rycroft

Biodiversity champion

See speaker profile

Nicole Rycroft is the founder and executive director of Canopy, an environmental nonprofit dedicated to protecting the world's forests, species and climate.

Canopy, 2020 | Article

"Survival: A Pulp Thriller: A Plan for Saving Forests and Climate"

Canopy’s in-depth and pragmatic plan to change the fibre supply chain and create a new, more sustainable practice for making paper, packaging and viscose textiles.

The Wye Group | Forest Leadership Forum: Collaborative Pathways to Responsible Trade, 2002 | Article

"Endangered Forests: Priority High Conservation Value Forests For Protection Guidance For Corporate Commitments"

The landmark resource established by leading conservation and biodiversity scientists and environmental non-governmental organizations provides the foundation for how Canopy defines "ancient and endangered forests."

E. Dinerstein, C. Vynne, E. Sala, et al. | Science Advances, 2019 | Article

"A Global Deal For Nature: Guiding principles, milestones and targets"

The foundational time-bound, science-driven plan outlining why protecting half the Earth is needed to save the diversity and abundance of life on this planet. The Global Deal for Nature (GDN) targets 30% of Earth to be formally protected and an additional 20% designated as climate stabilization areas by 2030 to stay below 1.5°C.

J.K. Rowling | Raincoast Books, 2007 | Book

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

From 2001 to 2007 Canopy worked on the Harry Potter series, eventually producing the greenest book in publishing history. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was printed on eco-paper free of ancient and endangered forest fiber in 24 countries and in at least eight languages, triggering a broader revolution in the way book publishing is done.

James E. M. Watson, Tom Evans, Oscar Venter, et al. | Nature Ecology & Evolution, 2018 | Article

"The exceptional value of intact forest ecosystems"

An in-depth paper on the importance of retaining the integrity of intact forest ecosystems as a central component of proactive global and national environmental strategies, alongside current efforts aimed at halting deforestation and promoting reforestation.

Suzanne Simard | Knopf, 2021 | Book

Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest

Our relationship with forests can only be strengthened by learning about the complex connectivity in the world around us. Through riveting storytelling, Suzanne Simard uncovers her discovery that trees communicate underground through a complex web of fungi, and at the centre of this web, an individual known as the "mother tree" helps to coordinate a powerful network that heals, feeds and sustains the other members of the forest.

Dr. Seuss | Random House Books for Young Readers, 1971 | Book

"Unless someone like you... cares a whole awful lot... nothing is going to get better... It's not." - The Lorax

Learn more

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

See how Canopy’s plan to catalyze 60 million tonnes of NEXT GEN alternatives keeps vital forests out of paper, packaging and textiles.

Protecting 30 to 50 percent of the world's forests by 2030 is going to take collaboration and creativity. See how you can help!