Persuasive Essay On Plastic

The author proves the falsehood of the long known assumption that plastic is a threat to our planet. By citing the research done by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the author convinces his readers that not only are plastic bags not harmful as people think, but also beneficial. This surprises his audience and shows them how exaggerated the cries of environmentalists, which gets the readers wondering what else have they falsely believed in and what other information are paper-bags advocates hiding from them, and that pulls them into the argument and intrigues them further. Additionally, Summers lists the harmful consequences of using reusable bags by presenting research results and observations. This alarms the audience and raises concern in their

Americans use over 500 million plastic straws every single day—that’s enough to circle the earth’s circumference 2.5 times (Ives et al 2017). By 2050, there will be more plastic debris in the ocean than fish (Kaplan 2016). These staggering statistics are unacceptable and it is our duty to find a realistic, sustainable solution to the issue.

In the article, "Plastic in Our Oceans", Kimberly Amaral discusses the everyday uses of plastic and how it can be beneficial to humans, but harmful to marine life. As fishermen casually dump waste overboard, animals mistake it for food sources, such as a turtle mistaking a plastic grocery bag for a jellyfish. From the trash brought out to sea, gyres, large circulations of water, carry the garbage through currents, spreading it to all over the ocean, specifically to the central gyre. Amaral notes common ways for marine life to die from plastic, which include entanglement by plastic rings, consumption of plastic bags and pellets which stuff the intestines and lead to health problems, and suffocation. As researchers today work hard to discover

Each year there is an increase in demands for plastic bags, and therefore more are shipped, creating further environmental pollution concerns. This increase in demand has lead to the phenomenal upsurge in the use and misuse of plastic bags globally, both in developed and developing countries. Statistics show that 4 to 5 trillion plastic bags are produced per annum, whereby North America and Western Europe account for nearly 80% (Geographical, 2005; Reusable Bags, 2005). Cheeseman (2007) states that approximately “380 billion plastic shopping bags are used in the United States annually”; in turn, only 0.6% of this is recycled.

According to Ocean Crusaders, there is over 100,000 marine animals that die each year because of plastic bags. “Beaked whale species in particular are highly susceptible to swallowing plastic bags as they are believed to strongly resemble their target prey, squid,” Britannica Advocacy for Animals states. Animals do not know what a plastic bag is, and often mistaken them for food. When an animal ingests a plastic bag, the plastic bag will be stuck in the gut for a very long time, sometimes more than 1000 years! Also, food would not be able to go through the intestines anymore and would probable cause the animal to die slowly. Since a plastic bag takes around 1000 years to completely decompose, it means that by the time the animal decomposes, the plastic bag is still not fully decomposed and will be back in the ocean, ready to kill another animal. As you can tell, plastic bags are very harmful to animals, especially marine animals. When plastic bags are banned, there is no chance of it going into the ocean, and many animals will be saved.

The author Adam B. Summers states in his article "Bag Ban Bad for Freedom and Environment" that plastic grocery bags are not that bad for the environment as we thought, but will infringe citizens' basic right. He effectively builds his argument by using comparison and reliable statistics.

The claims that plastic bags are worse for the environment over reusable bags are deceitful. Compared to paper bags, plastic grocery bags produce fewer greenhouse gases, require 70 percent less energy to make, generate 80 percent, less waste, and utilize less than 4 percent of the amount of water needed to make them. The reason for this is because plastic bags are lighter and take up less space. Another reason reusable bags aren't as useful is because they are more prone to food contamination if not washed properly. A study found that San Francisco’s plastic bag ban in 2007 resulted in more visits to the hospital from patients suffering E. coli, salmonella, and other infectious diseases from

To many, plastic bags are seen as malevolent and criminal, and heavy campaigns have been pushed into our communities to ban the use of them and enforce those beliefs, but in actuality, plastic bags aren’t as horrible as we make them out to be for

Australians approximately use 6.9 billion plastic bags per year (Errata Nolan ITU, 2002). The high consumption of plastic bags highlights one outstanding issue. The adverse impact, consumption and disposal of plastic bags have towards the environment. This involves the resources used to make

The over consumption of plastic bags imposes pollution and damage on the environment leading to negative externalities (Hubbard & O’Brien, 2014, 323). This is due to the fact that the social cost of plastic bags and their damage on the environment being greater than the private cost of production, as can be shown in Figure

According to an article on Huffington Post, The total amount of plastic pollution in the world's ocean is about 130 million metric tons. It is thought that each year the oceans are gaining 5 to 13 million tons of plastic pollution. If this estimation rings true within 10 years there will be 250 million tons. That would be the equivalent to there being 1 pound of plastic to every 3 pounds of fish, according to the Ocean Conservancy. However it is thought to be good news that The science paper found that there are just five countries that are responsible for over half of the plastic pollution. These countries include China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka.

“Americans use more than 100 billion thin plastic bags every year.”(Pickert, 11). This number is extremely large and needs to be addressed, however, the alternative needs to be environmentally friendly. Reusable tote bags have been the answer in most Americans eyes, this is evident through grocery stores selling them and in certain cities requiring one to have to pay for plastic bags. Reusable bags can be made from a various variety of materials, but cotton is one of the most popular. “One study found that a cotton tote must be used at least 131 times to be better for than planet than plastic.”(Pickert,11).The reality is that these cotton tote bags usually do not get used that many times before they are thrown out. This is because the bags are made with very inexpensive materials . The argument is that because the bags are reusable means they're better which is not the case, because once it is time to thrown away the bag justs sit in landfills. “Production of tote bags commonly marketed as sustainable actually had an environmental impact many times larger than that of a standard plastic HDPE

As the United States deals with the overwhelming amounts of waste building up, Nitin et al explain that “plastics take anywhere from 15 to 1000 years to biodegrade” once they are discarded (Nitin). Changes in recycling methods can no longer keep up with the exorbitant amount of waste produced in the United States. This is why some states choose to take their initiative one step further by placing either fees or a ban on the use of plastic bags. Due to the enormous waste the United States produces on a daily basis and the negative outcomes of this trash including adverse health effects, harmful impacts on nature, and the exponential piling of trash in landfills, the US government should ban plastic bags.

Introduction: Have you ever wanted to help the environment, but you just didn’t know how? When we go shopping we see a lot of people carrying bags made of plastic. I must admit; plastic bags can be very convenient at times, but the use of plastic bags has it disadvantages. If you knew about the dangers of the use of plastic bags, then I'm sure you will think twice about using plastic bags and use tote bags instead.

Five hundred billion used globally and one hundred billion of them end up in U.S. landfills, taking about one thousand years to decompose, but only 5.2 percent were recycled (Borrud, 2007, p.75).-These are the figures plastic bags have produced every year. Human beings invented plastic bags for the convenience of carriers and packers. However, just as other great inventions, say, nuclear energy and biotechnology, plastic bags are causing serious issues like global warming, environment pollution and energy consumption. They are gradually becoming sword towards ourselves. In responding to this problem, the city of San Francisco has become the trail blazer to prohibit non-biodegradable plastic bags in its large supermarkets and pharmacies.