It’s been seen well over a million times. Dr Leyla Acaroglu’s TED Talk Paper Beats Plastic – How to Rethink Environmental Folklore is clearly touching a nerve. What insights will this designer, disruptor, social scientist, and entrepreneur bring to the 2018 Zero Waste Conference? You’ll have to attend to find out… but here’s a taste of what to expect.
I’m absolutely fascinated by consumer goods and how they have an impact on the natural environment.
The Potential for Change by Design
Acaroglu’s work illuminates the ways design impacts our perspectives and behaviours. Then she goes a step further. Looking at the stories we tell ourselves in our daily lives, in the myriad consumer choices we make, she sees the urge to make sustainable choices sabotaged by mistaken beliefs about materials and their properties.
You get given the option for a plastic or a paper shopping bag. Which one do you choose?
As Leyla notes, it’s a decision more nuanced than simply believing ‘brown equals natural’. From raw material to finished product, the countless inputs and processes involved in bringing goods and services to the world makes for a complex equation. As a starting point however, adopting circular economy values and systems can leverage design and consumer culture as a potent catalyst for a massive change. But that’s a big challenge. Acaroglu brings her deep understanding of how to make this happen to the 2018 Zero Waste Conference, offering attendees invaluable guidance as they undertake their own journey to the circular economy.
We have to rely on some sort of intuitive framework when we make decisions. So I like to call that intuitive framework our environmental folklore. It’s that gut feeling you get when you’ve done the right thing.
Connecting Design and the Circular Economy
Whether it’s connecting the dots between toxic smoke in Nigeria and millions of mobile phones sitting in desk drawers around the world, or showing how inefficient design in the commonplace electric kettle equals energy waste on a massive scale, Leyla’s self-proclaimed ‘obsession’ with the design of consumer goods equals a unique understanding of our economy’s global inter-connectedness and the scale of change required to implement the circular economy.
America has this amazing ability to keep growing refrigerators. And so what happens is, we waste more food.
For anyone ready to examine their own role in the economy, move beyond the appearance of doing ‘the right thing’, and toward zero waste principles, Dr Leyla Acaroglu’s insights into the connections between culture, products, design, and the circular economy can illuminate a path forward where prosperity and sustainability merge. Want to know more about this fascinating and insightful speaker? Visit Leyla’s bio page to learn more about her accomplishments and awards.
Register Today for #ZWC18
Register for the 2018 Zero Waste Conference today to hear Dr Leyla Acaroglu and a host of panellists and speakers share their expertise and guidance. Never been to a Zero Waste Conference? Here’s a look at our 2017 conference, which returning attendees were calling, ‘the best yet.’
REGISTER NOW FOR THE 2018 ZERO WASTE CONFERENCE
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