Are we being consumed by plastic?: Dianna Cohen at TEDxThessaloniki

Dianna Cohen, a visual artist from California, has been working with plastic bags for more than twenty years. An ocean and sea sports enthusiast, she has begun a never-ending effort to relieve the ocean of the burden that is called plastic pollution.

"The ocean is becoming a plastic soup" she said to us and she talked about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and how approximately 150 billion plastic bags are used annually in the United States alone.

She focused on how fish tend to consume the plastic elements that pollute the oceans and that plastic everyday items such as baby bottles can release toxins that are dangerous to us even in very low percentages.

This summer she works in Kefallonia in a project to alleviate plastic pollution of the island and like its permanent residents she urges us to use and promote the use of non-plastic reusable items.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)