INFORMATIVE ESSAY ABOUT THE PLASTIC TRASH

Source 1
How Plastic is Trashing the Planet
Plastic was invented to make our lives better. But our dependence on it
has created an environmental crisis. Can we reduce our use before it’s too
late? 
By Laura Anastasia
1.Beep! Beep! Beep! The alarm on your cellphone shakes you from sleep. You  
stumble to the shower, dress, brush your teeth, and run a comb through your
hair. There’s just enough time to grab a cereal bar and a bottle of orange juice
before the school bus rolls down your block. Throwing your binder, folders, and
a bag of chips into your backpack, you race out the door.
2.You’ve been awake for barely an hour, but you’ve already used or touched
plastic dozens of times. The material is a huge part of our lives; it’s in
everything from electronics and food packaging to medical devices and
airplanes. Most plastic is humanmade, produced using oil and other fossil
fuels.
3.What makes plastic so popular? Unlike natural materials such as wood and
glass, plastic is lightweight. It’s also cheap and durable. But the very qualities
that make plastic so useful to us also make it incredibly dangerous to the
environment. Plastic doesn’t just go away. Instead, it breaks down into tiny
pieces over time. And those pieces will stick around for hundreds—or perhaps
even thousands—of years.
4.For decades, people have sipped from plastic straws and toted groceries in    
plastic bags without a second thought. And all that plastic—much of it used
only once—has added up. Worldwide, we’ve produced a staggering 9.2 billion
tons of plastic since the 1950s. (Think of it this way: One of the heaviest
statues in the United States, the Statue of Liberty, weighs 225 tons.)
5.Where does all our discarded plastic go? Only a small amount of it is ever
recycled. Much of the rest ends up in the ocean, threatening the lives of the
creatures that inhabit its waters.
6.The problem is massive—and projected to get worse. “The amount of plastic
produced is growing more and more rapidly,” warns Ted Siegler, a global waste
management expert. By 2050, it’s estimated that we’ll have created 13 billion
tons of plastic waste.
7.That’s why, around the globe, individuals, companies, and even entire
countries are working to reduce their plastic usage. But will those efforts be
enough?
Source 2: The Rise of “Throwaway Living”
448 million tons of plastic produced globally in 2015.
Published by National Geographic
1.Synthetic, or human-made, plastic was invented in the early 1900s, but
production started to soar during World War II (1939-45). Natural materials
were in short supply during the war, so people turned to plastic to help
construct lightweight planes, parachutes, and supplies.
2.Because plastic was cheap and plentiful, manufacturers continued to use it
after the war. Production really ramped up when companies began to make
household goods—such as plates, cups, and utensils—with the material. The
items were marketed as disposable and as a way to save precious time.
 
3.A 1955 Life magazine article titled “Throwaway Living” celebrated the plastic
revolution. The piece shows a smiling family tossing plastic plates and utensils
into the air, noting that those items would typically take hours to wash and dry
after use but now “no housewife need bother.” People could make their lives
easier by simply throwing out their family’s plastic ware after every meal. 
4.And in many ways, plastic has made our lives easier. More important, the
material actually saves lives every day. Plastic is in car seat belts and airbags,
in the helmets that firefighters and soldiers wear, and in the incubators that
help keep premature babies alive.
5.Such products are designed to last for years. But about 40 percent of all
plastic produced is meant to be used just once then thrown away. Items like
the sandwich bags that hold your lunch, the ketchup packets at your favorite
fast-food restaurant, and the packaging of just about anything you buy online
are all driving up the total amount of plastic waste we produce. 
6.It’s the plastic we use once and toss away, experts say, that is putting the
environment in crisis.

By the Numbers
448 million
Tons of plastic produced globally in 2015
Source: National Geographic
18%
Percentage of plastic recycled around the world annually
Source: National Geographic
 
Published by National Geographic 
Source 3: Asia’s Trash Problem
1.In your town, workers probably pick up garbage regularly and cart it off to a
landfill. But imagine if the trash in your neighborhood were never collected. All
that garbage would pile up.
2.In some countries—particularly certain island nations in Asia—that’s a fact of
life. They don’t have reliable trash collection or properly maintained landfills.
Instead, people leave their garbage in heaps on the ground or dump it into local
waterways, where it eventually is swept out to sea. Experts estimate that 9 million
tons of plastic end up in our oceans each year and that by 2050, we’ll have created
13 billion tons of plastic waste.
3.To make matters worse, people in these largely poor Asian nations have started
using more single-serve packets of things like condiments, detergent, and
shampoo. Many of them can’t afford to buy bigger sizes. All that non-recyclable
plastic packaging only adds to the problem.
4.In the Philippines, for example, some rivers are now so clogged with trash that 
people can hop across the water on piles of discarded plastic rather than cross by 
bridge.
5.When plastic waste ends up in the ocean, the results are often tragic. Last year,
rescuers found a sick pilot whale near the shore of southern Thailand. It couldn’t
swim. In fact, it could hardly breathe.

6.Later, as veterinarians tended to the animal, it vomited five plastic grocery bags.
The whale died shortly after. Tests eventually revealed that it had more than 17
pounds of plastic in its stomach, including another 80 or so plastic bags.

7.That’s just one example of how plastic can be deadly to animals. Nearly 700
ocean species—from zooplankton and fish to sea turtles and dolphins—have been
harmed by plastic. That damage ranges from eating it to getting stuck in it. For
example, some animals get trapped in plastic six-pack drink holders. Others,
including many bird species, suffocate inside plastic grocery bags.  
8.And, of course, many sea creatures—like the pilot whale—eat plastic. In the
ocean, the material gets broken down by sunlight, waves, and heat, resulting in
pieces that are often tinier than a pinkie fingernail. Those bits, called
microplastics, become coated with algae over time, making them smell like food to
many sea creatures. They stuff themselves with it, to the point that they don’t have
room left in their stomachs for any actual food. They die from starvation as a
result.

9.Eating plastic hurts animals in other ways too. The toxins in the plastic can
seriously affect their behavior and digestion, and the ecosystem as a whole,
says Matthew Savoca. He is a scientist who studies the effects of plastic on
marine life. “It affects not just the individual animals that eat plastic, but the
animals that eat those animals,” he says.

Source 4: How to Make A difference

Published by National Geographic

Putting Plastic in Its Place
1.Many people are trying to help solve the world’s plastic crisis. In the United
States, for example, plastic grocery bags are now banned or taxed in some
cities, including Seattle and Washington, D.C. And there is a nationwide
movement to encourage people to stop using so many plastic drinking straws.
Some countries are taking even bolder steps.
2.Global companies including Starbucks and Hilton Hotels recently announced
plans to reduce or eliminate their use of plastic straws. And earlier this year,
Alaska Airlines switched from plastic stirrers to paper ones on its flights,
thanks in part to one teen’s letter.
3.What’s more, last December the U.S. and 192 other countries passed the
United Nations Clean Seas agreement. The pact is a formal declaration of those
countries’ intent to stop polluting the oceans with plastic waste. 
4.Experts say such steps are promising as long as the efforts ultimately include
funding and the manpower to help developing countries manage their plastic
trash. “We need to develop waste-collection systems around the world that are
capable of managing the waste that is being generated,” Siegler says. “That’s
really the key issue.”
 
5. Individuals also have an important role to play. Experts advise focusing on
plastic that’s meant for one-time use, either using those items or avoiding
buying them in the first place.
6.“When I was a kid, Ziploc bags were a single-use item,” Savoca says. Now
when he and his family use plastic bags, they treat them like Tupperware. “We
wash them and reuse them and don’t get rid of them until they’re practically
destroyed. If more people do things like that, it will make a difference.”
Source 5:
Can We Save Our Planet from Plastic?   
 
The problem of plastic trash can seem overwhelming, but
many   people around the globe are working to solve it.
Here’s how you   can join them. 
1.Anna Du, 12, was walking along the beach one day in South Boston. She was
collecting sea glass to make jewelry. But then, to her shock, she noticed something
else scattered across the sand— something that wasn’t supposed to be there: tiny
pieces of plastic.  She picked one up. And then another. And another. It soon
became clear that thousands of pieces of plastic trash littered this beautiful beach.

2.Anna was horrified. She knew she had to do something.

But what?

3.This is a question that a growing number of people around the globe—from

kids like Anna to renowned scientists, corporate executives, and politicians—
are asking. And they’ve come up with some pretty exciting ideas to solve the
world’s plastic trash problem.

Here’s what they are doing and how you can help.
Tiny Pieces
4.After what happened on the beach that day, Anna decided to research the
problem of plastic trash. She learned that in the ocean, sunlight, waves, and
heat break down plastic into tiny pieces, from chips the size of a pinkie
fingernail to bits so small they’re invisible to the naked eye. These pieces are
called microplastics, and scientists estimate that trillions of them are scattered
throughout our oceans.

5.Anna also learned that microplastics are very difficult to get rid of. They are
often too small for humans to spot easily. What’s more, algae can grow on
microplastics, which makes them blend in   with other, natural particles in the
ocean. This is what makes microplastics so dangerous for marine animals,
many of which get sick or die after eating them.

6.Anna wanted to tackle the problem of detecting microplastics. So she decided

to construct a robotic device that could do what humans couldn’t. Anna’s
device uses a special infrared camera and different types of light to detect the
presence of   microplastics on the ocean floor. The lights spot colors in plastic
that make it stand out from sand and plant life. 

Rachael Lallensack/Smithsonian.com
Anna Du’s invention earned her a spot as a finalist in the Broadcom Masters, a
national STEM competition for middle schoolers. 
 
Ditch Plastic
7.Of course, finding and removing plastic already in the ocean is only part of
the solution to the problem. Experts say we must also seriously reduce the
amount of plastic waste we create. To do this, many cities, states, and even
entire countries are now passing laws banning certain plastic products. In the
U.S., 349 cities, counties, and states have banned or taxed the use of plastic
bags in stores. Thirty-two countries have plastic bag bans as well. Some cities,
including Seattle, Miami Beach, and several cities in California have banned
plastic straws in restaurants.

8.Businesses are joining in too. A new service called Loop is working to partner
with companies that make foods, personal-hygiene products, and household
goods. Loop will package and deliver items in reusable containers made of glass
or metal instead of plastic. It works like this: When, say, your shampoo bottle
is empty, someone from Loop will come pick up the used container and return
it to  the factory, where it will be cleaned, refilled, and sent out again. 
What We Can Do 
9.New laws, business practices, and high-tech robots are not the only things
that can make a difference. We can too. Indeed, there are many small changes
we can make in our everyday lives to reduce the amount of plastic we throw
away.  
Switching to a reusable water bottle instead of buying plastic ones, packing
lunch in reusable containers, and giving up plastic utensils are just a few of
the ways we can all help.
 
10.You can also be an advocate for change. In fact, several campaigns against
disposable plastic products were started by students. In 2016, Bella
Rossborough, then 12, helped pass a law that banned plastic bags in stores in
her hometown of Kennebunk, Maine. In 2017, Shelby O’Neil, then 16, reached
out to Alaska Airlines and convinced the company to stop using plastic straws.
Last year,12-year-old Chloe Mei Espinosa convinced leaders of her school
district in California to stop providing plastic straws in 33 school cafeterias.

11.There is no doubt that solving the world’s plastic crisis will be challenging.
But the key to progress will be persistence. If we all follow Anna’s lead and take
action, whether it’s by inventing a new technology or by reducing the amount
of plastic we throw away each day, change will come.
Read the passage set about “Plastic Trash” and follow the
instructions.
Writing Prompt
Write an informative/ explanatory essay about why plastic trash is a
problem and how this problem can be solved.

Your essay must be based on the ideas and information that can be found
in the “Plastic Trash” passage set.

Manage your time carefully so that you can

• read the passages;

• plan your response;
• write your response; and
• revise and edit your response.

Be sure to

• include a thesis statement in the introduction;

• address reasons and details in each body paragraph;
• make sure to explain and elaborate
• use evidence from multiple sources; and
• avoid overly relying on one source;

Your response should be in the form of a multi-paragraph essay. Write

your response in the space provided.