Watch these recommended TED-Ed Lessons:

What really happens to the plastic you throw away? 
We’ve all been told that we should recycle plastic bottles and containers. But what actually happens to the plastic if we just throw it away? Emma Bryce traces the life cycles of three different plastic bottles, shedding light on the dangers these disposables present to our world.

The life cycle of a t-shirt
Consider the classic white t-shirt. Annually, we sell and buy 2 billion t-shirts globally, making it one of the most common garments in the world. But how and where is the average t-shirt made, and what’s its environmental impact? Angel Chang traces the life cycle of a t-shirt.

The colossal consequences of supervolcanoes
In 1816, Europe and North America were plagued by heavy rains, odd-colored snow, famines, strange fogs and very cold weather well into June. Though many people believed it to be the apocalypse, this “year without a summer” was actually the result of a supervolcano eruption that happened one year earlier over 1,000 miles away. Alex Gendler describes the history and science of these epic eruptions.

Vermicomposting: How worms can reduce our waste
Nearly one third of our food ends up in the trash can. There is hope, however, in the form of worms, which naturally convert organic waste into fertilizer. Matthew Ross details the steps we can all take to vermicompost at home -- and why it makes good business sense to do so.

What if you could get WiFi and tuition in exchange for your plastic trash?
You can — at a visionary social enterprise called Plastic Bank, which is not only improving people’s lives but keeping junk from going into the ocean.