Skip to main content

Where do your online returns go? - Aparna Mehta

  • 81,585 Views
  • 579 Questions Answered
  • TED Talk

Let’s Begin…

Do you ever order clothes online in different sizes and colors, just to try them on and then send back what doesn't work? Aparna Mehta used to do this all time, until she one day asked herself: Where do all these returned clothes go? In an eye-opening talk, she reveals the unseen world of "free" online returns and shares a plan to help put an end to this growing environmental catastrophe.

Create and share a new lesson based on this one.

About TED Talk Lessons

TED Talk Lessons are created by TED-Ed using phenomenal TED Talks. Do you have an idea for a lesson? Create it now using any video from YouTube »

Meet The Creators

  • Speaker Aparna Mehta
Additional Resources for you to Explore
So what really happens to the plastic bottle and containers that we recycle? Trace the life cycles of three different plastic bottles, and discover the dangers these disposables present to our world.

When you’re shopping, you’re often confronted with a choice: what kind of bag should you use? Plastic, paper, or cloth? Explore the environmental impact of each material. 

You place an order online and are offered many delivery options. Who wouldn't choose the fastest option? After all, you want that product as soon as feasibly possible. But, which delivery choice is best for the environment? Vox takes a closer look. 

Plastic straws are bad, but they’re just a teeny drop in the giant ocean of plastic we’re swimming in. 15 ocean experts share other everyday plastic objects that they would put on the discontinued list.
Avatar for Mariana Garcia Conde
My personal opinion of the video, is that it is a bad idea to put clothes returns, because people made this option as if it was normal, and it is not normal that people buy clothes just because they want to and do not know if that is their size, the color they choose, among others.
07/20/2022 • 
 0 Responses
 / 0 Updates
Avatar for rodrigo recinos
I think it's wrong to return clothes because it's useless, isn't it? I mean buying clothes without knowing what size they're going to fit or what color you're going to like and then returning them because you didn't like them or they didn't fit, that then goes in the garbage, I mean it's a waste of fabric. Someone who maybe has been doing this for a long time and then throws it away and then pollutes the planet just because I didn't like these clothes or because they didn't fit me and I paid for them because I didn't know what I wanted. It's something that was created in a night half asleep with the feet.
07/28/2022 • 
 0 Responses
 / 0 Updates
Avatar for Ahmat Syukron
the first think that everyone needs to know is to make sure what they want and the thinks that they buy to fit them like the size and everything. I think that is one way to reduce that high amount of return think
12/07/2022 • 
 0 Responses
 / 0 Updates
Avatar for aniga waaye hee
new ways of negotiation with online technology companies
12/17/2022 • 
 0 Responses
 / 0 Updates

Customize this lesson

Create and share a new lesson based on this one.

About TED Talk Lessons

TED Talk Lessons are created by TED-Ed using phenomenal TED Talks. Do you have an idea for a lesson? Create it now using any video from YouTube »

Meet The Creators

  • Speaker Aparna Mehta

More from Troubleshooting the World