From my English Composition final, a persuasive paper.
Inland Impact: Recycle for our Oceans
The
sun sets every day on the beautiful shores. His rays gently caress the flat
line of the fickle sea off in the distance, before the bright solar star of the
sky itself gives its first kiss to the horizon. Finally, the sun nestles into
its blue blanket of its bed so it can rise in the early morning. Nocturnal moon
eventually chases him, after a night admiring the dancing stars. The moon
stares down at the vast ocean that covers 71 percent of earth. She fondly
shines on the mysterious creatures that dwell beneath the waters, like the sea
of phosphorous jellyfish disturbed by the ethereal and graceful whale. Magic
lies beyond the shores, where dolphins play with chunks of seaweed floating
adrift the sea. But one dolphin catches onto something that’s not a piece of
kelp; something not of their world. This creature finds his snout ensnared by a
piece of plastic with six unforgiving circular bands. He fights, he struggles,
his friends try and assist to no avail. The more he struggles, the more the
sharp ends slice into his snout and refuse to give way. Peaceful blue gains
streaks of violent red. The plastic tightens despite the will to live, the need
to eat. Eventually, he is unable to sustain himself. The dolphin weakens,
tires, and finally perishes.
That
one piece of trash could be yours. It doesn’t matter that you live inland, away
from the shores. Trash travels, so carelessly thrown away. It doesn’t even need
to be by your hand. Sure, you threw that soda ring into the trash bin instead
of off I-15, but where did that piece of plastic go after that? Perhaps, as an
inland dweller, you wouldn’t think that we have an effect on our oceans. Yes,
you can try to remember to cut apart things like soda rings, shred a grocery
bag, or animal-proof a bottle or jug. Still, the waste more often than not ends
up slipping into the ocean no matter your location as an individual. That
hungry young sea turtle might be curious that a piece of shredded plastic is a
tasty new snack. Not to mention septic, pesticides, oil pollution, waste water,
and industrial waste. No, this is about you, the reader. This is about the
impact you can make on the seas, the impact you already unknowingly make; or
perhaps don’t care. Our oceans and lakes control climate and weather,
supporting the life of around 50 percent of all species on earth, and helps
sustain life by providing 20 percent of animal protein, and 5 percent of all
protein in the human diet. One of every six jobs in the US alone is
marine-related (NOAA.gov par1). The ocean provides a chunk of transportation,
offers recreation for humans to have fun and relax. Water skiing, parasailing,
surfing, body boarding, scuba and free-diving, sailboats, yachts, cruise lines,
fishing, and so many more activities. Not to mention the cure to many diseases
may be waiting within the resources of the ocean (NOAA.gov par2). There’s more
you can do to help the oceans than try to ocean-safe your trash. Recycle.
There
are many ways to cut back on plastic pollution. Not only with recycling, but by
replacing commonly used items such as plastic straws, lunch bags, and drinking
bottles. “Two million plastic beverage bottles - the number used in the US
every five minutes. —Charles Moore” (saveourseas.com par1). I want you to think
of the impact you can make every five minutes. I will share with you some
insight and inspiration, as well as ideas that will supply you with alternate
means in order to lessen the amount of trash making it to sea.
First
and foremost I will talk about recycling, a simple act you can start taking part
in now. After reading my paper, walk the few extra steps to throw your soda
bottle in the recycle bin. As often as you can, go the extra effort to put each
plastic into a recycle bin. Many neighborhoods offer curb-side recycling and
each house is given a blue bin specifically for paper and plastics; my parents’
home is one of such homes in a recycling neighborhood. If your neighborhood
doesn’t have curbside recycling, you can buy any size bin and utilize it as a
recycling bin. If you wish to make it obvious it is for recycling, you can have
fun decorating it. Get a blue bin and paint a recycle symbol on it to clarify
to yourself and to guests. Involve your children in painting earth supportive
images such as aquatic life, trees, or animals. At your workplace, you can
arrange the same method where you bring in a large bin for company plastics and
papers. Ink toners and cartridges are recyclable as well. No matter where you
keep your bin, you can take your waste to a Drop-Off Recycle center. In your
schools, you can talk to staff about bringing in a recycle bin, and create
campus wide awareness to have as much support as possible to recycle at school.
With all the plastic bottles, straws, lunch bags, discarded paper, ink cartridges,
etcetera that are frequently thrown away, schools are a great place to involve
in recycling! At greenchoices.utah.gov there is an extensive list that shares “How
to Set Up a Recycling Program at Your Workplace or School“ (greenchoices.utah.gov
par2). Did you know that you can tell what materials are recyclable by the
symbol on the item? The numbers in the center also define what kind of material
is composed of your discarded waste. “Check with your city, they usually
indicate which types of plastic they will recycle (many places only take 1 and
2)” (brokensecrets.com par11). A 1 means the plastic is polyethylene
terephthalate or PET/PETE, which is used in items such as soft drink and water
bottles. Number 2 is high density polyethylene or HDPE, used for plastics such as
milk jugs and juice bottles. There are 7 different variations of plastics used
altogether.
Straws,
something that can be easily overlooked but so commonly used in so many places.
From home, to school, to restaurants and fast food. “Plastic Straws are always
in the top 10 of number of items collected during beach cleanups… as of March 2008, McDonald’s serves an average
of 52 million meals PER DAY! (Per their
website)… enough plastic straws are produced annually to fill over 46 THOUSAND
full sized school buses” (glassdharma.com par5 - 7). This wonderful company,
Glass Dharma, hand creates beautiful and durable borosilicate glass straws, not
unbreakable but as strong as possible. They come in a variety of sizes, some
bent and some have decorative colored bubbles to add your own splash of
personality. You can buy special brushes to clean your new straw and 100
percent hemp sleeves to transport them to places such as McDonalds and your
favorite restaurant. They are a fair price at $6.50 – $12 depending on size and
style. Imagine the conversations you could spark up if you commonly use a straw
such as a Glass Dharma.
Did
your mom pack you lunches to school in brown paper bags? How often did you
bunch up your bag and carelessly throw it across the cafeteria to nail your
friend in the back of the head for fun? When you are at the checkout line, do
you think that saying paper is the eco-friendly choice? Think again. “Each
year, Americans use about 10 billion paper bags… Four times the amount of
energy is used to manufacture paper vs. plastic bags… 98 percent more energy is
used to recycle paper vs. plastic bags… Brown paper bags are recyclable, but
only 10 to 15 percent are being returned to recycling plants. ... brown paper
bags utilizes very little recyclable material” (earth911.com par3 & 5).
Instead ask for plastic at checkout so you can recycle bags back to the store;
most stores have places you can return your bags. For your child’s lunch pack
their meal in a reusable lunch sack or tote.
Bottled
water is a readily available drink to take on the go, but such a wasteful item.
It costs so much more than just drinking tap water. Yes, it is convenient and
very helpful to store for emergencies. Take a look at some of these facts, for
you may well decide to cut back. “38 million plastic bottles go to the dump per
year in America from bottled water (not including soda)... 90% of the cost of
bottled water is due to the bottle itself... 80% of plastic bottles are not
recycled” (greenupgrader.com par2). That is enough to make your mouth drop,
that means over 30 million plastic bottles are not being recycled. An alternate
from plastic bottles should be in order. I use a plastic cup with a straw and
comfort grip, shaped like a cup from fast food restaurants. It is reusable,
drip free, spill proof, and lasts for a very long time. Or, you can use
canteens or travel mugs if you prefer. These travel cups and canteens can be an
expression of your personality from color to design. Tap water costs pennies to
the gallon, so it could potentially save you a lot of money to switch to
reusable containers.
So
look out for our oceans, for our earth. Break the mold and begin to discard waste
in the recycle bin. Try out a glass straw and show off your unique conversation
piece. Tell your cashier you want plastic rather than paper. Give your child a
reusable tote to take their lunch to school with. Pitch in, promote the
awareness, pick up outsiders to join in to your local cause. Even on inland America,
you can make a big difference; positive or negative. I hope I have opened your
eyes to point out any negative impact, and push you to take a positive approach
to recycling and caring for our oceans and earth.
