Plastic

By: Fifi

Plastic is definitely not good for our planet, everyone keeps talking about how we have to stop using plastic to save the sea turtles, but what they don’t realize is that there is more things plastic is doing to our planet. 

Why we shouldn’t use plastic bags if you look at this website it gives you reasons why we should stop using plastic bags, which is the most common litter, how? Well, 

•  They are tangled in trees and fences along the road
•  They are floating in water
•  Lying on the ground in parks and forests
•  Surrounding trash and recycle bins 
•  Washed off beaches 

Did you know a single use of a plastic bag is a super high cost for the environment, which is also very bad for animals and our health? Plastic bags should be banned because they…

•  Cause pollution to the environment
•  They are made from fossil fuels
•  They are killing wildlife
•  Harmful to human health in many ways
•  Not easy to recycle 
•  High cost for clean-up
•  Comes with external cost
•  Better choices available 
•  Are banned in other countries 

How are plastic bags getting into our trees, fences, and forests? Well, because they are so light-weight that the wind can pick them up super easily. Fun Fact, in the Philippians there is a river filled with so many plastic bags that you can almost walk over the top without getting your feet wet! Also, the river is so polluted that it is one of the biggest sources of ocean plastic pollution in the world. 

Plastic bags are made of non-renewable resources and play a huge part in climate change. Most of the plastic bags are made of Polyethylene, a substance that is obtained from a crude oil refining and natural gas processing. Oil and natural gases are non-renewable fossil fuel-based resources and through their removal and production they emit greenhouse gases, which play a part in global climate change. 

•  To produce nine plastic bags, it is the same as driving 0.5 kilometers. 
•  Plastic should not be legal because it takes 1000 years to break down and fully decompose

In conclusion, plastic in any form should be banned, we should start to drink boxed water, or any other alternatives. As you can see from my research, plastic is not good for the earth what so ever, we need to stop using it before climate change goes haywire.