Answers

Answers

__Key Question: What does plastic do to the environment?__

Every day thousands of plastic products are produced and then thrown out. We do this without thinking about the effects this has on the environment, both short and long term. Plastic is a non biodegradable product, which means once it is thrown out it will not decompose for up to 1000 years. In most cases plastic (especially plastic bags) are not Re usable or recyclable, which means that once you use it you have no choice but to throw it away and since plastic will not decompose for up to 1000 years we have to keep allowing more space in our landfills for this waste full product. Soon our land fills will be bigger than ever and they will keep getting bigger until we do something about it. The environment is not the only thing that suffers from our actions. Around 100 000 animals are killed every year from plastic bag litter alone. Many marine animals often mistake it for food, such as jelly fish and it gets caught up in either their digestive system, causing a slow and painful death. It also gets caught around their bodies which can stop them from eating, flying or swimming.

__Sub Question: Why is plastic so bad compared to other rubbish?__

Plastic is one of the worst types of rubbish since it takes 1000's of years to break down in landfills. Since plastics are not bio-degradable they clog up our landfills and one day were going to run out of space to put all of our rubbish. What are we going to do then? The kitchen is the main source of plastic waste. Things like food containers, plastic cups, food wrapping and drink bottles also take a very long time to decompose. The first year that items were made out of plastic was 1868. Since then more and more items have been made out of plastic and will continue to be unless we do something about it.  __Key Question: What are the worst types of rubbish in our world?__

Used cigarettes: 1–5 years Metal cans: 15–50 years Plastic soda bottles: 5–10 years Plastic bags: 1000–2000 years Gum: 20–25 years Aluminum cans: 80 to 1 million years Polystyrene chip wrapping: 90 years Glass bottles: 1 million years.  