TEDxGreatPacificGarbagePatch
On November 8, 2025, global thought leaders convened at TEDxGreatPacificGarbagePatch to ask: How Do We Solve Plastic Pollution by 2040? This inspiring, impactful, and thought-provoking event brought together scientists, business leaders and innovators, frontline community members and advocates, Indigenous knowledge keepers, policymakers, artists and entertainment industry professionals, and other experts contributing to the movement to end plastic pollution.
Watch the Videos
The event was held 15 years after the first TEDxGreatPacificGarbagePatch in 2010, which was largely inspired by Captain Charles Moore’s discovery of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in 1997. The first TEDxGreatPacificGarbagePatch was about sharing the truth that plastic is pollution. Since then, awareness of the severity of the plastic pollution problem has grown significantly, but unfortunately, so has the crisis. Today we know: the “Garbage Patch” is not just in the ocean, it is inside of us. Microplastics and plastic chemicals permeate our bodies and those of other creatures, where they wreak havoc on our collective health. In humans, microplastics and plastic chemicals have been linked to autoimmune disorders, cancer, infertility and reproductive issues, and more.
Speakers presented in front of an intimate live audience at the Annenberg Community Beach House in Santa Monica, California, and their talks were livestreamed to a global audience, with attendees tuning in from every continent on Earth (except Antarctica).
TEDxGreatPacificGarbagePatch speakers represented a diverse group of experts ages 25 to 90. They discussed the latest science and key plastic pollution solutions topics, including: reuse, refill, and regenerative materials; legal and policy actions to hold plastic polluters accountable; the role of art and entertainment in inspiring change; the importance of justice for communities most harmed by plastic pollution; and more.
Aware of the serious consequences of inaction, the TEDxGreatPacificGarbagePatch speakers emphasized the urgency of implementing real, upstream solutions. The bottom line: We must stop plastic pollution at the source, and reject false solutions—like cleanups and plastic “recycling”— that won’t solve this planetary crisis.
The presenters emphasized solutions and explained:
- how polluters can and should be held accountable through policy, regulation, and legal action
- how regenerative materials are rapidly replacing plastics across industries
- how safer, nontoxic, and plastic-free building materials are being used in construction
- how plastics and toxic chemicals can be eliminated from cookware
- how schools can swap single-use plastic for safe, stainless steel foodware
- the importance of stopping plastic pollution to end the disproportionate harms faced by communities located on the frontlines of fossil fuel facilities and plastic production, processing, and disposal
This inspiring event shows us that change is not only possible—it is happening right now. Changemakers around the world are working to build, and rebuild, the systems to support a regenerative world free of plastic pollution and its toxic impacts—and there is so much more we all can do.
TEDxGreatPacificGarbagePatch was curated by Dianna Cohen, Co-Founder and CEO of Plastic Pollution Coalition. Plastic Pollution Coalition is a non-profit communications and advocacy organization that collaborates with an expansive global alliance of organizations, businesses, and individuals to create a more just, equitable, regenerative world free of plastic pollution and its toxic impacts. Dianna is a visual artist whose 2010 TED Talk “Tough Truths About Plastic Pollution” has more than one million views.
What is TEDx?
In the spirit of discovering and spreading ideas, TED has created a program called TEDx. TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. Our event is called TEDxGreatPacificGarbagePatch. At our TEDxGreatPacificGarbagePatch event, TEDx Talk video and live speakers will combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group in person and the larger online livestream community. TED provides general guidance for TEDx programs, but individual TEDx events, including ours, are self-organized.