The excess of garbage in the world | Bianca Marques | TEDxKids@PortoSeguroSchool

Bianca Marques is a ten-year-old girl. She's a cheerful student at Porto Seguro School and likes to read adventure books. She loves playing traditional children's games such as hide-and-seek and jumping rope. She's very sweet and sensitive. She’s always defending and helping people. She also avoids disappointing them. Worried about the future of the Earth, Bianca believes that small attitudes can bring positive results.

At TEDxKids@PortoSeguroSchool, Bianca Marques will talk about the excess of garbage produced in the world and will defend the idea that little actions can generate great transformations.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

Hi, everybody. How are you?

I'm Bianca Marques, and I'm 10 years old.

I was born in Marília,
a city in interior São Paulo state,

and I've been here
in São Paulo for two years.

Today I'm here to talk
about the excess of garbage in the world.

In the past few months,

I realized that people
have only been talking about politics.

It's good to talk about politics,

but many people blame
politicians for everything.

I know they do a lot of wrong things,

but there are moments
when we have to stop and ponder.

Other problems depend
more on us than on politics,

such as the problem of garbage.

Unfortunately, politicians don't invest
in the problem of garbage,

because it doesn't get them votes -
nobody sees it, nobody cares.

So we're the ones who have to act.

Here in São Paulo, I realized
that garbage doesn't choose a place.

It's in the streets, schools, communities,
and even in upscale neighborhoods.

I'm very sad when I stop to think
that we cause this in the world.

But almost no one admits
that they throw garbage on the ground,

on the streets, in schools,
and even on the beach.

And they think, "It's only a plastic bag,

it's only a juice box,
a bubble gum, a bag ... "

The "only" becomes a lot!

I just don't understand
why these people keep doing this.

They're harming our planet,
where we all live.

One day, my teacher Cláudia
taught us a different class.

She talked about the excess of garbage.

Her class was amazing,
and she encouraged me a lot.

I think it's really cool
when teachers talk about this topic

because they help people
become more aware,

and with a good class,
you can become more aware,

just like I did.

After her class, I had more knowledge,
and I wanted to learn more.

I searched on the Internet

to find out where the trash would end up,
and where people would throw it.

The garbage ends up
in landfills and dumps,

and only 3% of it is recycled.

People throw it in schools,
on the streets, and even on the beach.

When you throw garbage -

When you throw garbage on the beach -

When you throw garbage on the beach,
the tide rises and takes it to the sea.

So aquatic animals eat it
because they confuse it with their food.

They may even die.

Poor things!

And when you throw garbage on the street,

when it rains, it causes the floods
that worry us so much

when we're walking on the streets,
and it's raining.

Now have you realized
how dangerous garbage can be?

We have several options,
and they need to be done together:

donating, recycling, rethinking
public policies, and educating society.

We can't run away.

We have to face it.

I have a dream:

that our world be sustainable
to create good opportunities for everyone

and that all people respect each other
without there being any differences.

I'll end here,

and I hope you've enjoyed my presentation.

Thank you very much.

(Applause)