Ideas worth spreading

The surprising climate benefits of sharing your stuff

708,738 views | Tessa Clarke • TED@BCG

There's something simple we can all do to help the planet -- and it's probably not what you think. With one-third of all the food we produce globally each year being thrown away, entrepreneur Tessa Clarke believes that sharing more and wasting less is an underrated solution to the climate crisis. Learn more about how you can join the growing movement reducing waste and building community worldwide.

There's something simple we can all do to help the planet -- and it's probably not what you think. With one-third of all the food we produce globally each year being thrown away, entrepreneur Tessa Clarke believes that sharing more and wasting less is an underrated solution to the climate crisis. Learn more about how you can join the growing movement reducing waste and building community worldwide.

This talk was presented at a TED Institute event given in partnership with BCG. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Read more about the TED Institute.

Visit the Olio website to download the app and join the sharing revolution.

Find out more about how businesses can get to zero waste with Olio.

About the speaker

Tessa Clarke

Sharing economy entrepreneur

See speaker profile

Tessa Clarke is helping reduce waste by giving people an easy way to locally share household items -- from food to furniture -- instead of throwing them away.

Naomi Klein | Simon & Schuster, 2015 | Book

This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate

Eleanor Tucker | Aurum, 2023 | Book

Thanks for Sharing: How I Gave Up Buying and Embraced Borrowing, Swapping and Renting

"If you want a glimpse at what life will look like by the end of the 2020s, you simply must read 'Thanks for Sharing," says Clarke. "Eleanor is a one-woman guinea pig who dives straight into sharing everything from food to fashion to furniture — and even dogs! She makes it all incredibly accessible due to her engaging writing style, and warts-and-all reportage. I finished the book feeling thoroughly inspired, and most importantly, hopeful for the future."

Jason Hickel | Windmill Books, 2021 | Book

Less Is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World

Louis Fox | Free Range Studios, 2007 | Watch

The Story of Stuff

Jonathan Clay | Silverback Films and Indikate Productions, 2021 | Watch

Breaking Boundaries: The Science Of Our Planet

Jason Hickel | advaya, 2020 | Watch

"Jason Hickel: Economics in an Age of Climate Breakdown"

About TED Institute

Every year, TED works with a group of select companies and foundations to identify internal ideators, inventors, connectors, and creators. Drawing on the same rigorous regimen that has prepared speakers for the TED main stage, TED Institute works closely with each partner, overseeing curation and providing intensive one-on-one talk development to sharpen and fine tune ideas. The culmination is an event produced, recorded, and hosted by TED, generating a growing library of valuable TED Talks that can spur innovation and transform organizations.

Read more about the TED Institute

This talk was presented at a TED Institute event given in partnership with BCG. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Read more about the TED Institute.

Visit the Olio website to download the app and join the sharing revolution.

Find out more about how businesses can get to zero waste with Olio.