11/4/16

Dear President,

By the Jersey Shore, in a little part by the Glimmerglass, there is a draw bridge. Every time the bridge goes up, in the muck and in the reeds, all you see is plastic water bottles. It is a very beautiful river, and a very picturesque place, but all of the bottles make it not look as good. We do not want our community to be remembered as having plastic water bottles everywhere.It is critical that we stop using plastic water bottles, which wind up in our landfills. They should be replaced with reusable water bottles. This is a small change that will make big difference, and you as president have the power to promote this!

The ocean environment is being harmed by plastic water bottles. The plastic from the bottles leach, and they pollute the oceans. When the oceans are polluted, it puts everything in it in danger. When you use the bottle more than once, plastic leech breaks down into micro plastics. SeaTurtles.org made a claim that “Sea Turtles and many other marine creatures mistake the plastic and other garbage as food (such as jellyfish.)” This mistake causes blockage with their digestive system, and eventually death. Approximately 100,000 marine creatures die from plastic. Also, plastic kills lots of sea animals because it takes so long to disintegrate. Since the animals eat the plastic that means that we are eating the plastic too because of the food chain.We do not want to be eating plastic. Large amounts of plastic debris have been found in habitats of endangered Hawaiian monk seals. They are the most endangered seal. Ocean Future Society team observed that a monk seal contained three and a half pounds of plastic in her stomach. Other animals are being affected by eating the plastic too. According to Biologicaldiversity.org they claim that “When seabirds eat plastic, the plastic ingestion reduces the storage volume in the stomach causing birds to consume less food, and ultimately starve. ”When plastic water bottles come into the ocean environment they could be blocking an animal's home, so the animal would not be able to get in. The water bottles are just not good for the ocean environment.

So much of the plastic water bottles we drink end up on landfills. According to google a landfill is “ A place to dispose of refuse and other waste material by burying it and covering it over with soil, especially as a method of filling in or extending usable land.” Out of 5 plastic water bottles only 1 makes it in the reclingling bin. That is not a lot, considering how much water bottles americans use each year. Plastic water bottles are NOT biodegradable. They take thousands of years to biodegrade, and they just sit in our landfills. We, as americans, need to try to do a better job of recycling our water bottles. If we all just have a reusable water bottle, the number of bottles will decrease, and the problems will diminish.

Some critics may argue that people will lose their jobs if we stop using plastic water bottles. My answer is that in everything in life we have to make difficult decisions . If we limit the amount of plastic water bottles we drink, it would be better for everyone in America. Since the economy is changing,and the job market is growing, they will be able to find other jobs.Years down the road banning single plastic water bottles would be for the better. Poland Springs, and all the other big water companies, will have to find new business opportunities that are more environmentally friendly. Not using plastic water bottles would be a difficult change that would take some getting used to.

Some people may argue that they do not have clean water where they live. That is a legitimate statement ,however, we still need to try to stay away from the single water bottles. Instead we should be buying the big gallon water bottles or water filters. The big gallon waters are more expensive, but they are better for America, and the water filters can be expensive too, but the government could subsidize the cost in areas that do not have clean water. Everybody drinks so much water everyday. If they used the single plastic water bottles, so many of the bottles would end up in our landfills. They should have been buying the big gallon waters .One example is Flint, Michigan, they got filters after their water crisis. According to npr.org they state that over 40% of the people who are living in Flint Michigan are in poverty. They can't worry about the environment because they have to worry about their own clean and safe water.. Most people in Flint, Michigan could not afford it, so the filters were subsidized by the government. Our government could help more places like this who would need bottled water to have access to clean water that is good for our environment. This would be a solution to help our communities and environment.

We need to stop using single plastic water bottles. In the long run they will take over our country. They are bad for the environment in all different ways. We must stop the use of plastic water bottles before the problem gets worse.

A Loyal American Citizen,

Rebecca Witkin