Plastic is everywhere. We can't solve this problem by telling people to change their consumption habits. In this beautiful talk, part profound science, part lyrical storytelling, innovator Veronica Harwood-Stevenson shares her efforts to use biomimicry to replace a particular kind of plastic— and challenges us all to think about the problem in a new light.

Veronica Harwood-Stevenson is founder and CEO of Humble Bee, a protective biopolymer company which draws on her business and science backgrounds.

She studied anatomy and reproductive biology but left the laboratory to pursue a life of entrepreneurship, starting businesses from lingerie to documentary filmmaking. She has a Masters in Science Communication on the use of commercial communication strategies to reduce the research to implementation gap. After graduating Veronica drove years of research & development, giving her unique insights into development pathways for scientific research and the closing window of opportunity in biomimicry.

Her unusual skill set is sought out by academics, and commercialisation committees to uncover value propositions and develop strategic storytelling around applied research. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.