Plastic is overall extremely detrimental to the environment. The manufacture of plastic, as well as its destruction, pollute the air, land, and water, and exposes workers to toxic chemicals. Plastic packaging is a source of landfill waste and is eaten regularly by marine animals. If we were to reduce the use of plastic and reuse bags and water bottles, it would have a significant impact on the environment for the better.

Sammi, I absolutely agree with you. Around the world, steps are already being taken to reduce the amount of plastic produced and used. For example, the United Kingdom is proposing to ban plastic straws, plastic stirrers, and cotton swabs with plastic stems. In Kenya, things are being taken a step further where people are actually being punished with jail time and fines for using or making plastic bags. These are only two examples, albeit very different ones, of measures being taken to lower the amount of plastic that gets made and eventually ends up in our oceans. What do you think of these different approaches to reducing plastic use?
Source: https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way … tton-swabs

I agree with both of you and believe serious measures should be taken in order to decrease the amount of plastic that gets thrown away annually. For many years, I have heard about the so-called "plastic island" that has developed in the Pacific ocean to supposedly be twice the size of Texas. In this case, out of sight, out of mind has gone too far. It is easy to ignore the environmental impact of plastic when it is not affecting one directly, but filling our oceans and landfills with plastic can greatly harm the future of our planet. I was curious what measures can be taken on a smaller scale, and I found this website listing different ways to reuse plastic. I think easy projects could be the first step to getting a hold of the massive plastic problem. Find ideas here: https://www.budgetdumpster.com/blog/diy … recycling/
Information about "plastic island" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pac … bage_patch

I totally agree. Plastic is a huge polluter to our environment and it also gets littered all over our streets and ends up in the ocean, hurting animals. After reading an article (https://www.theoceancleanup.com/great-p … age-patch/) as well as learning about this in my eighth grade science class, I've learned that; It is estimated that 1.15 to 2.41 million tonnes of plastic are entering the ocean each year from rivers. More than half of this plastic is less dense than the water, meaning that it will not sink once it encounters the sea. The great pacific garbage patch covers an estimated surface area of 1.6 million square kilometers, an area twice the size of Texas or three times the size of France. So, not only is the making of plastic emitting greenhouse gases into our atmosphere and adding to the blanket of heat warming up our planet, but after it is used, most of the plastic gets thrown on the streets, harming our oceans and the animals living in them.