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Plastic Pollution Essay

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In 1975, the National Academy of Sciences estimated that ocean-based sources, such as cargo ships and cruise liners had dumped 14 billion pounds of garbage into the ocean. Over 1 million seabirds and 100,000 sea mammals are killed by pollution every year. Pollution is a hot topic, but people don't want to talk about it as much as we should. Plastic bags are a huge source of pollution, and they cause a lot of damage. In my opinion, putting a .25 cent tax on plastic bags will help promote reusable bags, and make it affordable to use recyclable bags as well! For example, do people know how many animals die a year from consuming plastic bags? It's a huge number, and people fail to realize it's almost 100 percent preventable. Plastic bags are the cause of death for over 100,000 marine animals. If we allow plastic to be dumped into our bodies of water or don't pentalize people for littering then this number will be higher. If we put a tax of a measly .25 cents on plastic bags, I'm certain that this issue will decrease, and we won't have such a high number of marine deaths every year. Tens of thousands of whales, birds, seals and turtles are killed every year from plastic bags litter in their environment THEIR HOME. They often mistake plastic bags for food such as jellyfish. Plastic bags, once consumed, can't be digested or passed by an animal so it stays in the gut. Next, Plastic bags are made from a non-renewable resource, and they have a huge factor on climate change. Most

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