Plastic Bags, Plastic Bottles And Plastic Packaging Are Bad For Environment | Band 7 IELTS Essay Sample

Plastic bags, plastic bottles and plastic packaging are bad for environment. What damage does plastic do to the environment? What can be done by governments and individuals to solve this problem?

Here is a band 7.5 IELTS essay on this topic written by one of our students. Need help with IELTS writing? Get your IELTS essays, letters and reports corrected by me.

Band 7.5 IELTS essay sample

The use of plastic products like bags and bottles has increased over the years. In the upcoming paragraphs, I shall highlight some adverse outcomes of plastic pollution on our ecosystem and provide some practical measures that can help to resolve this problem.

It is irrefutable that the development of technology has brought a number of positive outcomes to us but at the same time there are some negative consequences as well. Most of the people are unaware of the effects of plastic on the whole ecosystem. Individuals pollute the environment by throwing hand bags and flexible bottles on the roads and later on this garbage is disposed into oceans and other water bodies. This has disastrous consequences for marine life. These plastic wrappers and bags are often ingested by aquatic animals as they mistake them for food. Eventually it leads to infection and death. Additionally, the decaying rate of the plastic is very slow and it takes hundreds of years to decay and at the end of it the harmful effects still remain in the soil. The accumulation of plastic in the soil prevents it from getting properly aerated. As a result, the fertility of the soil reduces.

Solutions are not simple but with the joint effort of government and individuals, plastic pollution can be reduced. Firstly, locals should be made aware of the impact of plastic on the environment. Actors and influencers can be roped in to encourage people to reduce their use of plastic. Secondly, the government should allocate funds for installing dust bins on the streets and local parks. This can bring about a drastic reduction in pollution caused by plastic. For example, in the developed countries, they have separate bins for plastic, metal, paper and biodegradable waste. These are then disposed of in the appropriate recycling facilities. Last but not least, local people should be encouraged to use cloth bags to reduce plastic usage.

In a nut shell, plastic reduces the fertility of soil, increases air pollution and harms marine life. Limiting the use of plastic by turning to alternative packaging materials and promoting its recycling are the most effective ways to combat this problem.

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