Aminah Reza

Sir William Gage MS (Brampton, Ont.)

Solution To Plastic Pollution

We all use plastic. We can’t deny that. It’s necessary for us to go on with our daily lives. That much is true. But there is a problem. We are using too much, and guess where all of our plastic goes? To the landfills. Soon enough, we will run out of room to build landfills.

Where would we put our garbage then? Not just plastic, but everything else we use, like glass, aluminum, and paper. Also, some of the plastic we use, doesn’t get recycled. Plastic bottles do get recycled, yes, but other types of plastic, like Styrofoam, do not get recycled. Did you know that 85 percent of the plastic that we throw into the recycling doesn’t actually get recycled? Where does that 85 percent go? It all ends up in our oceans. It isn’t just a little bit, approximately 8.8 million tons of plastic ends up in our oceans every year! That is a lot!

The plastic also never really disappears, it just breaks down into small, little pieces over the course of hundreds of years. Also, because that plastic ends up in the ocean, about 700 marine species are facing extinction due to the threat plastic poses to them from entanglement, pollution, and ingestion. Also, the United States Of America produces 24 billion pounds of plastic packaging annually. Americans use 2.5 million plastic bottles per HOUR. That is an insane amount, and that is only the U.S.A, not the rest of the world!

It is pretty obvious that we need to stop plastic pollution, or else our world will be ruined (it is already starting) but what can we do? Adidas has helped and has made 7,000 shoes out of ocean plastic pollution. That is great!

Ways we can help reduce plastic pollution is simple.

We can stop using bottled water. In most cases, it is no safer than tap water and costs 1,000 times as much as tap water if you usually buy water bottles.

You can bring your own reusable grocery bags with you when you go to the store.

You can use a refillable dispenser for your hand soap and dish washing liquid, one large bottle is better than using a bunch of small ones. You can use a reusable container instead of sandwich bags.

You can say no to single serving packaging, buying in bulk and sharing with your friends is better. Use silverware instead of plastic utensils.

Download your music instead of buying CD’s.

You can find items that are not made of plastic.

You can avoid plastics that are not easily recycled. They are, #3(v), #4(ldpe), #5(pp), #6(ps),and #7 (other).

  • Number 3 is vinyl, which is used for clear food packaging and shampoo bottles.
  • Number 4 is low density polyethylene which is used for bread bags, frozen food bags and squeezable bottles (mustard, honey).
  • Number 5 is polypropylene which is used for ketchup bottles and yogurt and margarine tubs. Number 6 is polystyrene which is used for meat trays, egg cartons and cups and plates.
  • Number 7 is other, which is used for ketchup bottles, 3 and 5 gallon water bottles and some juice bottles.

We should avoid using those types of plastics because they aren’t easily recycled.

I feel so embarrassed because I don’t always pay that much attention to not using too much plastic and only using what I need. I don’t always not use plastic bottles, sometimes I actually need them but there are times when I don’t need to use them, but I still do anyway. Those are the times when I feel guilty afterwards when I think about. Just imagine.

We use so much plastic that our oceans are getting ruined. Our world is becoming ruined.

And who is responsible for all of this pollution? Humans are. Yet, we see all of this pollution, this destruction, around us, and what do we do? We ignore it all. We think that, oh we’ll be fine, nothing will happen, this all just a little bit of destruction, it will sort itself out naturally. But that is not what will happen.

The whole Earth will be destroyed if we don’t take action immediately. Animals are dying. Wildlife is dying. We need to take action or else we won’t be able to save the rest of the marine animals that are still alive.

We need to stop this foolishness and start saving our home, our animals, and our future.

If we don’t take action, our future is set. We will live with destruction all around us. Around the world animals will be dying and whose fault will it be? Humans.

So to save the futures of the next generations, take action against plastic pollution.

Just imagine yourself living in a world where there is destruction all around you. It doesn’t look so good, does it? I mean who wants to live in a world where everything is pollution and destruction? So donate money to fundraisers raising money to clean our oceans. Make your own fundraisers.

Help stop this madness and foolishness. It will benefit yourself and the rest of humanity.

These are the shoes Adidas has made.
Sources: Top image: https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/MBHE7HdGDOMCI8XnvdgcT4HfR-735GzGaq8Zm_xvnbwEHfcFHBI_KCtDLfpCq1Sry54ja7bpD-r2J4cgfq23m4zxP-TemWqlKcLvqRpsIXcOzxBx2n-CA81tTlJTtNqLqldJ1Xc7
Bottom image: http://r.ddmcdn.com/s_f/o_1/DSC/uploads/2015/07/adidas-fusion.jpg
Plastic pollution image: http://d.ibtimes.co.uk/en/full/1522454/world-oceans-day.jpg