Lucy Bremberg Rhetoric Writing II Midterm Timed Essay 12/18/23 Start time: 1:50 End time: 2:55 This work is my own work. I have not used outside aids, including but not limited to any AI application, internet search engine, or material other than the assigned essay. Lucy Bremberg Plastic: The Polluter with no Other Options The oceans are being invaded by plastic. The insane amount of plastic going into the oceans is devastating, particularly for the sea creatures that inhabit these oceans. As Charles J. Moore says in his essay “Choking the Oceans With Plastic,” “it’s choking our future in ways that most of us are barely aware.” Something needs to be done. Moore points out that bans have been placed on the use of plastic in many places and he seems to believe that this is a good thing. However, given the current economic climate, this is not the way to do it. Plastic is a huge part of life for the average citizen. It is cheap and abundant. Removing it would be detrimental to American society in this current time. In the future, that may change. Right now, Americans need to be warmed up to the idea of using less or recycling plastic. The answer to the pollution problem right now is for the government to take responsibility and to carefully ease the public away from plastic, not try and put the use of it to an abrupt and enraging halt. The first step on this slower path to less plastic pollution is empathy. Using less plastic is very difficult for the middle and lower class of America. It is everywhere. It is very hard to escape the use of plastic. So the responsibility should not be pushed on citizens. They are working with what they have in front of them. There are more environmentally friendly resources in existence, but those are not as widely available and as cheap as their plastic counterparts. So the next step is to make a plastic free world worth it to those types of citizens. Bringing home dinner for the family in a plastic tub is more important to them than keeping a bit of plastic from choking a turtle. It is sad that the turtle, and other sea creatures, are badly affected. However, life is tough on everyone, human or animal. Safe creatures are not worth losing plastic. Recycling is tiresome when it comes to schedules and making sure everything is in its proper place and a ban on plastic would not be worth it at all. But what could be worth the time and energy now? Simplifying recycling would be a bit of an easier shift for people. But the biggest, but most rewarding, shift would be options. Make more options. This is where the government needs to take responsibility. Businesses and industries, particularly the aquaculture industry. Moore pointed out that “the problem is compounded by the aquaculture industry.” The rich owners of these industries are not likely to do much about the pollution crisis, as having plastic is cheap and easy, and their workers are not going to push back because they have to put food on the table. The government will need to step in and work it out. Not only to try to lessen the mass use of plastic, but always change what it used in the first place. No should be denying that plastic is not good for the environment. It is the most common pollutant and that is no laughing matter. However, there is not much the average person could do without options. Everyone should try their best, but at the end of the day, with the economic state being what it is, there is only so much regular people can do. It is the people who are keeping the plastic pollution alive, the big industries, and particularly the aquatic industry, that need to make change. That change may be slow, but that is probably for the best. Abrupt change causes anger and chaos. Slow, but sure, change causes acceptance and an actual step forward.
