Lindsey Johnson Plastic Pollution
When thinking about my involvements in environmental issues, I remembered that when I was a part of a Girl Scout Troop in middle school we had to complete the Take Action activity. This activity earns a Girl Scout a very important badge. We were required to create a plan to improve a local issue and then work to implement that plan. My troop decided to focus on single-use plastic pollution within the school. The hot lunches would always be served in excessive plastic. Sometimes plastic containers would be inside plastic bags and then handed to the students. We decided to make a presentation for our principle explaining the bad effects plastic pollution has had on the planet, especially on marine life. We also introduced an alternative to the plastic containers, which would be cardboard or paper-based containers for hot lunches to reduce plastic waste. We included in our presentation the cost to switch from single use plastic to something more environmentally friendly. The principal loved the presentation and agreed to work on implementing our plan. However, nothing ever changed. As far as I am aware, the project was never adopted. My troop and I were very upset that we created a plan that could have helped the environment and were given promises by school administrators that changes would be made, only for them to never follow through. Fourteen million tons of plastic enter the ocean every year, killing thousands of marine animals. It is sad that the school would rather continue to pollute the environment when the cost of implementing the program is insignificant in comparison to the lives it could save. This is a reflection of how many companies across the globe operate. It is important that these companies take steps to preserve the environment because even a small change could have significant positive effects.
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