Why We Need to Think Differently About Sustainability: Leyla Acaroglu at TEDxMelbourne

Leyla Acaroglu (A-jar-a-loo) is a sustainability strategist and leading proponent of systemic life cycle based sustainability. She is the founder and director of Eco Innovators, designer, social scientist, strategist and educator she is a creative force who finds innovative and inspiring ways of catalyzing change. Her work spans a range of fields and projects including the development of one of the first online life cycle assessment tools - 'Greenfly', creative director of the award winning sustainability education project 'The Secret Life of Things', designed the 'Design Play Cards' and in 2012 was an Artist in Residence with Autodesk. She lectures at RMIT University where she is also undertaking her PhD in designing change. Leyla was invited to speak at TED2013 in Longbeach, has been named one of Melbourne's Top 100 People of Influence, was a judge on the ABC TV show The New Inventors, radio presenter, op-ed writer for the New York Times, and has won several awards including two Melbourne Design Awards and a CORE77 design award for her work. In her humorous and compelling talk, Leyla explores why we need to rethink sustainability...
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[@aru4820]

I was sitting at home alone in my room and clapped at the end of this video. Amazing talk and very inspiring.

[@Saropeful]

I loved your discourse! I have received your message and I must say that the world isn´t the same thanks to speechs like this. Thank you.

[@kaimaikuldkepp3982]

Awesome speach 👊 We need more speakers like her. And more passion like hers!

[@browntroy101]

This was a great talk, and this is a subject that we as a society should focus more on.Leyla has a great personality,her motivation is what made this one of the best Tedx Talks I have seen.

[@abhaynathmishra4692]

Sustainability is an opportunity. this phrase can help companies bring balance between prosperity and health.

[@o0Lilypinny0o]

thank you for this excellent talk.

[@tamilmaranc]

Leyla Acaroglu ---Great speech buddy

[@claudiaalvarado9995]

Unintendent consequences... Love that definition!

[@musicisbrilliant]

HERO. (Thanks, Ted.) We need more like her. So many more...

[@margaritaperez9971]

I really enjoyed the talk! She has the main knowledge about what is sustainability being about, and I'm not talking about a scholar knowledge, I'm talking about her mindful mind to the earth and to every species that stands it up. In general, the talk pointed out issues that have been happening and comes along (because of a lack of planning and strategy) with environmental problem-solving, it was moving from the general idea and all those environmental issues, jumped out to what is sustainability without linking to parts. I feel that the idea should be more linked to the practical action to get a life in a sustainable way.

[@dineshnagwekar3173]

Great video! Thank you!

[@lakshmananravichandran1357]

great thought...need to learn more..we are all on an intuitive frame work and time to come out of it..

[@magdalenalanderos3517]

Great talks!! I am totally agree with her. Sustainability is an opportunity for our planet. If we understand that all systems are connected each other, no one is able to be sustainable by itself. So, we need to stop buying unnecessary things, recycling more, using less water and energy. Just we have to think in future generations, it is possible for them to use the same resources if we continue with our same behaviour.......some calculations says that we are using our resources at 120% and for 2030 we will using approximately 200%...It is a total disaster... So, what we are waiting for....

[@rexmichaelugpay1311]

I spent the most valuable 17 minutes of my life listening to this magnificent woman. How I wish I could be a good speaker like her someday ❤👏👏👏

[@safakozsoy]

Very extensive approach to explaine sustainability.. It is very nice .

[@acarel1]

Awesome talk.

[@rpoulles]

great talk !

[@claudiaalvarado9995]

Law of unintendant consecuences.... Muy buena!

[@ava_qira]

I would love to see this video with subtitles :)

[@knowsolarnow5860]

A huge difference we can make will involve individual effort with masses of people. Reducing our plastic use, purchasing local, going solar, things like that.

[@okenobumneme]

"Sustainability must be viewed as an OPPORTUNITY not a problem as most people think about it today."

[@talyataylor2232]

Nice talk

[@1light4love]

LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!!!! Totes Majoring in Sustainability instead of EE! .......still interesting that she didn't mention Veganism's insanely beneficial impact on Sustainability of this planet. Its truly the only way at this point.

[@eliehasteiner3167]

Pollution and waste are inexorably linked to logistical problems entailed by globalism. Employing transnational corporations to deliver goods which can be produced locally is extravagantly insane. Grow your own food, harvest your own water/sunlight, buy local and 99% of these issues disappear. The more people satisfy their basic needs of subsistence locally, the less they rely on these massive political and economic systems.

[@elfboi523]

Another problem is that goods aren't designed to last anymore. Kitchen stoves fall apart after 10-15 years, and you can't get any spare parts anymore after more than 5-7, while old ones from the 1960s are oftentimes still working, and you could still get spare parts for many of those in the 1990s. Many high tech products, many mobile electronic devices, don't even last more than 3-5 years, and they're often near impossible to repair. It would be easy to design them differently, but in a saturated market, planned obsolescence is the only way to generate any profits. Capitalism must die before it kills us all.

[@mariacairo7239]

@@elfboi523 ok km ok ijioo Juu9

[@n_arv5653]

i really liked that talk

[@nataliaaranguiz]

I like the conclusion: "Sustainability is an opportunity. All we have to do is see it differently. We have to seek to understand how we can all make choices to positively impact the planet.

[@cliffcobb6083]

Right thought begets right action. Right thought comes from being centered. If one is out of balance, then unbalanced advice will be forthcoming. One dimension of life that matters in this respect is optimism vs. pessimism. Pessimism leads to passivity and inaction. But optimism leads to excessive talk and action, passionate but unbalanced. What struck me about this lecture was her unbridled optimism, even when she was talking about tragedy (the law of unintended consequences). Can we avoid that law through sheer willpower? I think not. But that seems to be her message. Thus, there is a mania in her presentation, and I imagine it will spread to those who like her message. Until she can find that point that is neither pessimistic nor optimistic, she will be an agent of the wrong kind of change, a kind of Thomas Midgley. This is the nature of tragedy: those who passionately want to do good are likely to cause unintended harm. I applaud her and feel despair in the same moment.

[@consciousnobody]

doing more with less. I love Leyla, she is a great orator! Love the talk, if we are so connected with nature- should we have right to harm or kill animals for our own sake, because we r nt just animals we r animals with cognitive power and rationality. Is it good to be vegetarian or vegan? as I think it is more sustainable approach

[@greekgod2289]

Being vegetarian simply means you kill animals but won't eat them. Over 1million kangaroos and other animals along with insects and birds are killed to protect your "sustainable" vegi or vegan diet. Let that sink in for a minute. Not to mention the GMO foods that are created to feed your desire in eliminating meat as a source of nutrition. Problem is much greater than you think or are told. A balanced diet is best and a balanced point of view is essential if we are to do what is best for humans, animals, insects and the earth we live off.

[@YassuYasen]

Veg imagine whole population with the one billion Indian were Veg That means lots and lots of vegetables double or trible if u are a body builder or athlete this ppl need protein And so much less for the other animals and more whipping out forests for more lands to grow more veg And let's not forget fertliser needed... Also pets what they going to eat if there is no meat waste had left U veg ppl its OK to be a veg but u can't expect all world ppl to turn like u This will unbalance the circle of life and the order God created But lets agree here on some points The wastfully, we need a balanced diet, we need to know the process And let's agree on that The best way to slu an animal is the one god ordered with Is that go to the airway Not shock him like they use to electric ppl Or put him in hot water or drawn him... As we all know where the pain sensors located and we also know how wild animals prey... Its in the nature, god created this world and this nature, this unlimited book so we can absorb from it And learn....

[@yutsiyutischi8889]

Proud of this Turkish women

[@claudiaalvarado9995]

Unintended consecuences!!! Consecuencias no intencionadas!!! Genial

[@wilsonochoa3719]

many talking about the presentation she made, but few reflecting on the importance of the central theme and sustainability,web should start a change instead of just criticizing

[@mnmlst1]

Oh my god, in 1989 I was also seven, and it was the same year as the Exxon-Valdez oil spill. I saw the animals on the television, covered in oil, sying in agony, and in that time, I knew humans were not meant to live on this planet. We, as species, do not deserve living here.

[@EastwardTraveller]

Good talk. Realistically, the only path toward sustainability is if humanity achieves a technological singularity which will make international socialism possible. Otherwise we witness ecological disaster, followed by economic collapse, followed by thermonuclear warfare, followed by our likely extinction. Not necessarily in that order, either.

[@CaraTee88]

Still agree in 2024 ❤

[@profkrumdieck]

I'm having a hard time figuring what the point is. Things are sustainable unless they aren't?

[@joicecarmona3220]

Hello, Leyla! Congratulations on your talk. I started following you on instagram because I am more and more interested in sustainability. Please indicate me good books on this topic. I wish you a long and prosperous life =)

[@niyazi95]

It was not a good style of doing representation, she needs to stop talking sometimes. She should give time for audiences to think what she's talking about. It is quite important for better understanding.

[@labradormanik7386]

Good !!!!!!!круто 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@AdelinaMonroe]

💚

[@NazrulIslam-gq6zx]

Hi Adelina

[@smashhittherisespecialkapa3034]

This 2037-2041 Smash Hit The Earthquake Sustainability Why We Need to Think Differently About Sustainability: Leyla Acaroglu at TEDxMelbourne

[@profkrumdieck]

It is always good to see that some younger people are picking up on the "systems thinking" "sustainability is an opportunity" slogans that have been out there for so many years. It's always good to re-tell the stories of the big fails of progress and to quote Einstein. But - really - somebody needs to actually do something. Maybe the real lesson is that it is people "doing something" that gets us into trouble.

[@dustystahn3855]

Susan What is being done and its long term effects is more important than doing something. Planting trees or cutting them down are both doing something but the effects are totally different. Destructive agriculture and regenerative agriculture are both doing something but have opposite long term effects. It is the consequences of what one does that matters. The only people that aren't doing something are dead people.

[@stuartbedwell8576]

These old talks prove in retrospect that these so called aces are always wrong. Cheers Stuart.

[@yepwhocares3541]

Solved all this. Now how to get it funded.

[@user-yh5ln3yt9q]

13:20

[@eddiehan__]

I admire her enthusiasm, but it's a shame the good points being made were being drowned out by unnecessarily waffling and talking about oneself without relating it to the subject. 'Doing more with less' also applies to public speaking ;)

[@davidwheatley3023]

***** Comments like that perpetuate sexism in our society. If you're going to judge her on a public forum, you should base it on merit, like the original poster did and most of the other posters have done.

[@409raul]

+David Wheatley Shut up you weasel! All I can think about is how sexy she looks without clothes!

[@duggydugg3937]

Alarm is raised by her presentation... But what is the practical action for most ? Good question.. Yes ? Don't know... I do know Mel Robbins offers actual things to do to take control..make decisions..take action ...she might benefit by checking out Mel's y t vids ...

[@KristopherMcCrawimercury]

I was wondering when she would get on the topic was worried it was a agenda 21 pitch. Indeed sustainability should be the focus of our lives because of the law of unintended consequences and that we are all interconnected.

[@victormanuelvazquezdelmerc8550]

Why didn´t you talk about livestocking? Is surreal that the use of biofuels led to a dramatic decrease on food quantities for humans around the globe.

[@lakecrab]

In Southern Louisiana a giant Live Oak tree does a fairly good job of shading people from the sun and first growth Bald Cypress trees the size of a Sequoia aren't too shabby either ... well they did anyway 100 or so years ago before they we almost totally logged out. Exceeding carrying capacity and pushing a greater percentage of the world's population onto sub-marginal lands and into harm's way is the Camel in the Tent today.

[@dustystahn3855]

Those marginal lands can and are being restored, not with chemicals but with regenerative natural methods. This increases the carrying capacity and productivity.

[@elfboi523]

I don't think capitalism will ever be sustainable, and the longer we try to sustain it, the worse its collapse will turn out.

[@robertreznik9330]

+elfboi523 Socialism is proven to not be sustainable time after time.

[@elfboi523]

Robert Reznik The problem is that most incarnations of socialism tried to emulate capitalism, just under state control and central planning. The incarnations that worked differently - decentralised anarchist versions of socialism, like in Spain - didn't collapse, they were crushed by their enemies.

[@robertreznik9330]

People are meant to be free and not be ruled by a central group.

[@elfboi523]

Robert Reznik That's why I am for anarchist socialism. Right now, people in Western so-called democracies are ruled by a central structure, which is capital. There is no such thing as a free market, because extremely rich individuals and huge corporations always dictate the rules. The only way to make people really free would be to abolish private property and give everybody an equal share of everything, which cannot be bought or sold but is theirs for life.

[@robertreznik9330]

This socialism giving what they need for life will result in no incentive and no one will have anything in the end. Just long lines to starvation.

[@ctmjr2012]

As always, good speech. But too fast. Please take more deep breaths. Apart from that, I think that indeed less is more and that the excess is the cause of many problems. We are so accostumed to blame the other that we can't see that all of us can make a big difference. On the other hand, globalisation is a fact but is against sustainability.

[@paulthomasshepherd5156]

We won't have to 'THINK" what we need to do, we will be told by law what we are to do. Our private homes will, by law, be mandated to be winter insulated to energy savings standards, our use of electricity governed, our roofs, heating systems, refrigerators. water usage given new meters, and all at legal expense that the average home owner could not possibly afford to comply to and subsequently be condemned for government take over. With nowhere to go, look forward to your placement in the Femma Camps that have been earlier prepared for you

[@mehmethecebil1835]

yurdum insanı yabancı dil konuşurken bile milletinin duygularını veriyor. (Erdoğan değilim)

[@lexaw]

Takıldığın şeye bak, Türk Türk Türk Türk başka bir şeye odaklanmıyorsunuz gerçekten, umarım bunu yazarken anlattığı şeylere de önem vermişsindir ve anlamışsındır. Normal bir şey bu Türklerin de önemli konuşmalarda/yerlerde yer alması sizin gibiler böyle her Türk gördüğünde şaşırdığı ve sadece buna takıldığı sürece bu ülke gelişmez. Evet bir Türk, bunda abartı bir durum yok zaten Türkler de başarılı olabiliyor neden buna şaşırıp belirtme ihtiyacı duyuyorsunuz sürekli, mesela sen hiç bir İngilizin bir film izlerken bir İngiliz oyuncu görüp şaşırdığını veya bunu belirttiğini görsün mü veya başka bir milletten birinin? Cevabı hayır. Küçük düşürmeyin kendinizi ve Türkleri, fark etmiyorsunuz ama ezikleştiriyorsunuz yüceltmeye çalışırken.

[@mehmethecebil1835]

@@lexaw senle aynı taraftayız da coğrafya kaderdir

[@peterjol]

Every idea for sustainability is a good idea and is transitional ......but it's being completely negated by all the millions of people who are doing the jobs that are harming the planet, all desperately wanting to hang on to their damn jobs at any cost!!! .......It absolutely MUST be made financially worthwhile for people to start sharing the jobs we NEED people to do and working LESS. You certainly can't make them all unemployed and expect them to happily exist on something like a UBI or benefits while the rest have to carry on working 40 hours or more a week. There is no valid argument against it...we have to get people sharing the jobs we NEED people to do and working LESS.

[@patricklincoln5942]

What did we get out of this presentation. We need to shrink the size of the global economy. Did she say that?

[@donsubramaniam6010]

I didnt get that word."......when people were ×××× and people had the licence and wanted to drive."

[@damonhowell8025]

Hmmm, good talk. The native American idea of seven generations is sustainable. Every choice is made by how it will affect the environment for 7 gens. Look ahead, if we can't imagine how it will affect the world then we probably shouldn't do it, because it will create unintended consequences, right?

[@joemecus7436]

See how misinformation effects people negatively.

[@dustystahn3855]

Sustainability Is meaningless unless it is stated what is to be sustained. Sustainability is the ability to maintain at a certain rate or level. Do you want to sustain a chemical and other technology that is destroying the ecosystem and what level?

[@TayDay25]

The bacon

[@rakeshvlogs6567]

“Don’t make trees rare, keep them with care.” "रूखहरुलाई दुर्लभ नबनाउनुहोस्, तिनीहरूलाई सुरक्षित गर्नुहोस्।"

[@vaninhpham3052]

:))

[@arifulislamleeton]

Introduce myself I'm Arif Khan harry I'm software engineer and website development and investors and members of the Democratic and students funding United States

[@bashful228]

This "personalise the story" in your intro stuff is jumping the shark right now, right here…

[@RudolfGraspointner]

WTF does this have to do about "sustainability" ? Takes till 13:00 to mention it in a western atmosphere WTF! :-( Patents!!!!

[@IdentifiablePerson]

The root cause of all problems, including sustainability, is money. So get rid of money and create money-less economy (MLE). Under MLE we all work free and get everything free. If we do not work then we do not get anything. MLE will give you full democracy and any lifestyle you want. Take a look at the MLE chapter in the free book at theoryofsouls.wordpress.com/ Since under MLE everything is free, nobody will horde anything. For example in a neighborhood of 20 houses, there will probably be lying about 10 cars on the street, for everybody to share, whenever they want. The cars would comeback automatically after it drops you in your office. This will eliminate all scarcity of car building and car fuel resources, making them abundant again. This will happen for all things that we use now, eliminating the sustainability problem.

[@Detteermiig]

Most technologies would never have been developed without the social construct of money. It is amazing how well of a motivator it is for optimization. Why would you optimize a bridge to be constructed with half the man-hours, if it means you as an engineer or project manager still have to work just as much as anybody the day after? This is the power of a wealth bonus. We should however, increase sustainable competitiveness by using system thinking and setting very specific goals that limit companies to create more sustainable products, integrated into more holistic systems.

[@chesterfinecat7588]

A point? 7.6 billion people and we've got to "think creatively about sustainability" and see the interconnected systems to positively influence the outcome? Okay then. Get back to me when that number doubles and everybody is making do with less and recycling.

[@Wookey.]

We are never going to reach 15 Billion people, so negligible danger of that number doubling. Peak population will be between 9 (2050) and 11 (2070) billion. Probably closer to 9 than 11.

[@andrijanascepanovic2126]

I believe she a cancer ♋💜

[@y37chung]

The irony that she's wearing heavy cosmetics. Buying unnecessary things is the most unsustainable of all behaviours.

[@nyoung1496]

This may be because she is giving a public talk that will be broadcast over the internet - she may not do this all the time, and aren't we all hypocrites to some degree? I think you are missing the bigger picture!

[@riverg9677]

and you are commenting from a computer or phone, the production and use of which are a sustainable and ethical dilemma. here's the thing: it's ok to participate in a society in which you critique. No one is perfect, and holding people to that standard makes them not want to try at all. Let's put more pressure on the industries, private businesses, and politicians that are doing the most damage, less on someone who wears eyeliner sometimes.

[@rajeshdoshi8857]

While subject is good to talk about, I found too much focus on dramatizing to drive home a point. To finger point use of CFC without being aware of what could led to the invention in the first place at that point of time or even if you know that, to condemn that sarcastically after 50-60 years shows disrespect. I believe Leyla could better by making the speech less dramatic but keeping it core to the matter of discussion - quite a few times she goes on a long different tangent to explain something which could have been explained briefly. Not taking away her knowledge but believe the same matter could have been communicated in half the time.

[@1951blackbird]

Get to the point.

[@duggydugg3937]

DEBT plastic

[@pedroaceves1276]

She doesn't like how Americans are living...

[@mikefranz1056]

Time and money were wasted on her engineering education because she's become a show girl passionately talking nothing. That waste is the unsustainability.

[@pongkham143]

Devils in disguise.

[@serasian]

What a sad, pretty and conceited broadcast, another one coming up to tell us about how we can make a positive contribution by another way of thinking. Indeed, telling us that Mother Earth is a system, She's been nurturing us for eons keeping everything in balance. I really don't want to say anymore.What do you suggest on a local level? Come up with something better than rat's tails, if you are thinking innovation come up with a carbon bonus. Pay me for the water I re-use, scrimping on power,...

[@chrissmithaustell]

Blah

[@walterdownes1263]

Horrible this person talks like a machinegun completly unqualified to give such talks.

[@simianwarthog]

o.v.e.r.p.o.p.u.l.a.t.i.o.n