Essay Sample on Pollution

Pollution in the air and land is getting out of hand and hurting the earth more then you know. The emissions from vehicles and the use of plastic bags are just some of the many problems with pollution. A couple solutions would be to switch to fully electric vehicles, get rid of plastic bags entirely and going to fully reusable bags at stores. A short-term goal for cutting down on pollution would be plastic bags because they are cheaper and easier, but a long-term goal to cut down on pollution would be switching to electric cars.

Car pollution and plastic bags are killing the environment. The writer of “The Preposition to Ban Plastic Bags in Texas” states that “[w]hen plastics, including plastic shopping bags, enter the ocean, they are broken down by sunlight into smaller particles called microplastics, which are then ingested by animals. These animals are then eaten by other animals or are caught and eaten by humans, where in the toxins leached from the plastic enter the human food chain” (Brewster 2). This is emphasizing how plastic bags can not only majorly affect the animals in the ocean but humans as well. Plastic is a main cause of death for marine wildlife in the ocean, lakes, and rivers. This is a huge ongoing problem not only in the US but in the whole world we are killing the animals in our oceans. Another huge problem for the world is vehicle emissions polluting the air. The writer of the article “Study on Gasoline Vehicle Emissions” said that “the quantity of emission accounted for 65.5% of the total emission of vehicles” (Guo 3). These emissions going into the air have very negative effects on the environment. If people are more informed of the effects of plastic bags and vehicle emissions, then a change can be made to better our communities. 

A main solution for addressing the vehicle emissions problem would be switching fully to electric cars. This solution is very environmentally friendly and saves people a lot of money overtime. The author of “Makin the Electric Switch” provided a study that says “[e]electricity is taxed less than gas and the researchers found that maintenance costs were found to be cheaper for electric vehicles due to less wear on the brakes and fewer moving parts”. This is a proven statement that it is better to switch to electric vehicles. Professionals have proven that diesel engines are more prone to giving off pollution since diesel is not refined. The no refined fuel in diesel is a main reason for the air pollution mostly in the southern states of the Unites States. Another reason to switch to electric is gas prices are through the roof currently in the whole United States. Major companies are starting to realize the lasting effects that gas or diesel vehicles have on air pollution. So, companies such as Ford, Nissan, Honda, and Tesla have all released fully electric or hybrid vehicles for sale. There have been countless studies done by many colleges one being Rice University that shows many charts and graphs on how much pollution really comes out of gas and diesel vehicles. Which is a problem that could simply be fixed by switching to electric vehicles fully.

Plastic bags are killing more aquatic life then you know. It has been estimates that plastic products kill around 100,000 marine animals a year. A huge solution that some states are currently or have already introduced is eliminating plastic bags from stores. Also, some states such as California and New York are starting to make people pay per shopping bag they use at the store for there items. Plastic bags have always been a major problem in the pollution effects for the world. In the article “Elastic thought” they stated that a “[n]ew surveys report that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, mostly made up of plastic refuse from packaging and fishing, has reached 617,000 square miles, twice the size of the state of Texas, and is still growing” (Clark 1). This is a crazy number for being made up mostly of plastic products. This is a stat that is controlled by humans that could be cut down a lot if we got rid of plastic bags. In the same article they say “[t]he American Chemical Society reported in May that the average American consumes more than 70,000 plastic particles a year; bottled water drinkers much more than that” (Clark 2). This just shows that by people using plastic products including bags is not only hurting marine life, but it is hurting humans as well. Plastic pollution is a problem that humans can fix, it just takes time and effort to clean up the environment. 

Both switching fully to electric vehicles and getting rid of plastic bags are great solutions to helping cut down on pollution, but the most efficient solution to cutting down on pollution would be getting rid of the plastic bags in stores etc. Both share a great common factor in cutting down on pollution. Switching to electric vehicles does this buy eliminating all the emissions that come out of a gas or diesel vehicle which is very good for the environment. Getting rid of plastic bags and other things does this by eliminating all the plastic particles and plastic in general out of the ocean because it is killing humans and marine life. In contrast, getting rid of plastic bags would be a very cheap solution to cutting down on pollution, while switching completely to electric vehicles would cost all car manufactures millions if not billions of dollars to switch too. For comparison, a company like TESLA started as all electric, and for a company that produces gas or diesel vehicles to switch would cost billions because they must re do all of there factories and come up with designs for new vehicles etc. A goal of getting rid of plastic bags in stores would eliminate most ¾’s of the oceans pollution. As the article “The Lasting Impacts of Plastic Bags” says “… plastic bags make up most of the pollution in the ocean” (Brewster 4). This is a problem that will be everlasting unless people start taking action. Overall, getting rid of plastic bags is a lot more cost effective and also are a lot easy to get rid of then making all new electric vehicles.

Cutting down on pollution needs to be one of the nation’s priorities. Unfortunately, many animals pay the ultimate price because of humans and manufactures actions. Without change the environment and ocean life will be ruined and will be no fixable. Currently states are already taking stand against pollution like California and making customers pay to use plastic bags in stores. So far both switching to electric cars and cutting out plastic bags is seeming to make a dent in the amount of pollution we have in this nation. But hopefully other states follow what California is doing and charge people to use plastic bags or get rid of them entirely. So that we can all help save the world together.