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Parth Thaker
Simone Sessolo
Writing 100
November 6, 2012
Plastics: Your Formidable Enemy
For this paper, I chose to analyze the article “Plastics: Your Formidable Enemy” written
by Jan Lundberg for Wired News. In this article, Lundberg claims that plastic pollution and
waste is a severe problem for the environment and is negatively impacting wildlife in the ocean
and on land. On top of this, he says that simply using plastic in our daily lives can be harmful
due to some of the toxins many plastics contain. Lundberg then uses numerous rhetorical
strategies to influence the reader to agree with his views. He uses casual, intimate language to
relate to the reader, uses photos and language to influence the reader’s emotions, and makes sure
to use reliable, logical evidence to support the claims he makes. Thus, Lundberg is able to
successfully employ several rhetorical strategies to effectively argue his opinion.
I found this article on the website of Culture Change, a non-profit organization founded
in 1988 by the Sustainable Energy Institute. The Sustainable Energy Institute is an educational
organization dedicated to improving public awareness and understanding of the world’s future in
terms of energy. Recently, this organization began focusing on clean energy. This organization is
led by respected and knowledgeable scholars from many fields, including our own Thomas
Gladwin, Professor of Sustainable Enterprise and Director of the ERB Environmental
Management Institute at the University of Michigan. He and the many other leaders of this
organization are highly qualified, having doctorates in the relevant areas. Jan Lundberg, the
author of this article, is an independent oil industry analyst at the Lundberg Survey and eco-
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activist. This shows that the author and the source are both reliable places that provide reliable
information. The organization Culture Change is part of an organization that is led by a group of
qualified people. In addition to that, the article being analyzed is also being written by someone
who is knowledgeable when it comes to energy and the environment.
The article discusses the dangers of plastic pollution on the environment and wildlife.
Plastics contain poison that can kill living things, including people. Lundberg compares the
plastic problem to a “permanent, toxic oil spill” (Lundberg). Although the danger of plastic has
been ignored for many years, the increasing awareness that plastics are killing sea animal and
birds is finally allowing the health issue for humans to be raised. However, Lundberg says,
people will still “cling to their plastic-dependent lifestyles” (Lundberg). He also says that plant
based plastic and recycling is not feasible.
Plastics are also a danger if they have been in contact with your food or water. The
chemicals in many plastics, such as lead, mercury, dioxins, and dioxins, and other cancer causing
petrochemicals are all toxic to the human body (Lundberg). Some of the chemicals in PVC
products, such as blood-storage bags and IV tubing, can cause problems in the male reproductive
organs (Lundberg). This shows the many negative effects plastics can have on the body.
Another large problem is the impact of plastics on life in the ocean and on land. There is
a ton of plastic debris and minute plastic particles floating in the ocean that are poisoning birds
and fish. Plastic from petroleum is an even bigger problem because it does not biodegrade, but
break down with UV radiation into increasingly smaller particles, making these toxins easier to
ingest (Lundberg). In addition to this, many land animals, such as turtles, eat trash such as
balloons and gloves. Clearly, plastic is a problem whether on land or in water (Lundberg).
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According to Lundberg, the solution to these problems may lie in alternative resources,
biodegradability, and genetic engineering. However, each of these options has drawbacks. An
obvious alternative to cars is the bicycle. It does not use fuel and the tires used to be made from
the rubber plant (something that needs to recommence), which is not a plastic (Lundberg).
Biodegradability, however, has a hidden cost. The biological breakdown of plastics releases
“carbon dioxide and methane, heat-trapping greenhouse gases” into the atmosphere,
compromising air quality (Lundberg). The only real solution, according to Lundberg, is
“fundamental change” (Lundberg). The best alternative to pollution caused by oil, lead, and
plastic in cars is to simply stop using cars, because even “clean cars are monumentally polluting”
(Lundberg). The best way to fight plastics is to decrease petroleum consumption everywhere.
This means no cars, refrigerators, or computers. Lundberg says, “We cannot wait for reforms
when the pace of modern life makes us miss opportunities to survive” (Lundberg). By opening
our minds to a new way of living we will free ourselves from the need to have plastics and the
thought that they can be “safe enough"(Lundberg).
The article written by Lundberg is targeted towards a specific audience. It has a situated
ethos. The people who are likely to read this article are those who are already familiar with his
work and are probably also sympathetic and in agreement with many of his ideals. The audience
the article seems to be targeting is consumers and environmental activists. To accomplish this,
Lundberg tries to relate to us, the average consumer. He describes one of the days at his office,
talking to co-workers about the dangers of petroleum based plastic (Lundberg). In this section, he
uses a very informal, intimate tone to identify with the reader and be more persuasive.
The article also makes use of visual and linguistic pathos. It immediately catches the
attention of the audience with a bold statement that shows his emotion toward the plastic
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pollution: “A Formidable Enemy” (Lundberg). In addition to this, it pulls at the reader’s
emotions by showing pictures of dead albatrosses lying on a beach with plastic bottles caps and
other objects visible inside their decomposed carcasses. The reader will naturally be saddened by
the sight of an innocent bird being killed by consuming plastic that has been thrown into the
ocean and beaches by people. On top of this, the bird is a baby, which further saddens the reader
and increases the guilt they feel. This makes them more sympathetic to the author’s claims and
will be more likely to take step to change their lifestyle as Lundberg encourages. He shows more
images that will play with the reader’s emotions such as an x-ray image of a turtle with a glove
in its stomach. Thus, the article is able to successfully employ visual and linguistic pathos to
influence our emotions to make us feel guilty and responsible in an effort to convince the reader
to believe Lundberg’s claims (Lundberg).
The use of visual images as a pathos is a common tactic in many articles. The website,
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), uses visual pathos in a similar way to make the
reader feel sad and guilty. In the article “Plastic Pollution in our Oceans”, there are many images
of animals that have been harmed by plastic waste (Plastic Pollution in our Oceans). There is a
picture of a baby seal that has been choked by a plastic bag (Plastic Pollution in our Oceans).
The article also shows a picture of a dad fish that died due to the amount of plastic it consumed
(Plastic Pollution in our Oceans). Just as in Lundberg’s article, the NRDC uses these images to
make the reader feel guilty and responsible and sympathize with their beliefs. Thus, both articles
are able to use this type of visual pathos to great effect.
Lundberg also employs logos by creating a logical argument that is supported with
evidence from reliable sources. His argument consists of three parts. He claims that the use of
plastic products and plastic waste is harmful to not only wildlife on land and in the ocean, but
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also humans. He supports this claim from his own experience as an oil analyst and eco-activist.
He also met with Captain Charles Moore, a well-known and reputable oceanographer who wrote
about the floating plastic debris that he found in the ocean and its harmful effects on the
surrounding life. He also shows visual evidence of the harmful effects of plastic on birds and
fish. Thus, by using these different types of evidence, he is able to convince the reader that
plastic pollution is harmful to life and that something must be done to prevent further harm.
In his article, “Plastics: Your Formidable Enemy”, Jan Lundberg makes the claim that
plastic waste is a significant problem due to its negative impact on the environment, wildlife and
human health. He is able to successfully convince the reader that plastic is a problem that cannot
be solved without a drastic change in our lives. Through the numerous rhetorical strategies that
Lundberg uses, he is able to effectively convey his point and will definitely influence the
reader’s opinions and cause them to alter their lifestyle to lessen the problem of plastic pollution.
Works Cited
Lundberg, Jan. "Plastics: Your Formidable Enemy. “Culture Change. Sustainable Energy
Institute. Web. 11 Nov 2012.
"Plastic Pollution in our Oceans." Natural Resources Defense Council. Natural Resources
Defense Council, 27 March 2012. Web. 13 Nov 2012.
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