The Washington Post
See page 2 for sports
Plastic Bags in Your Life
When you go shopping do you use your plastic grocery bags for only a single use , or do you use your plastic bags for multiple purposes? The most common answer for that question is single use, and they end up piling up one after the other in your cabinets. At first this invention was a big success but now Americans are addicted to this product.
We spend $10,000,000 dollars on plastic bags to send 100,000 tons of it into the landfill. There is many ways to reduce this problem, first of all you can use reusable bags not only can you fit more stuff in them but families who switched have found no significant problems. Another great plus is plastic bags range from $1 to almost nothing and you get $0.05 for each bag you use at a store. You can also reuse your bags for many other purposes like bringing them back to the store and use them instead of taking new ones or you could use them in the lining of a small garbage can for easy clean up. Only 3% of plastic bags get recycled into something new!
Lily
Are you using your plastic bags for single use?
Are all of these plastic bags piling up at your house?
Could you some how reuse them?
Sports
Everything now a days in sports is made of plastic. Cleats, helmets, seats, etc. What happened to the days when pads and helmets were made out of leather? Plastic was invented, that’s what. America's favorite sport to watch (football) is one of the most popular plastic users in the U.S., using plastic helmets for protection of the head. But Riddell changed that in 2014 with the new Riddell Speed Flex helmet. With a polycarbonate shell and a stainless steel face mask, this proves that everything made in sports does not have to be made from plastic.
The Speed Flex helmet for football is actually better than the plastic helmets. It is designed to reduce trauma, disperse energy, and with the InSite response system, alerts coaches when a player suffers a significant injury to the head. And today concussions happen so much in football they are considered "part of the game" so this makes a significant difference in the amount of concussions occurring each year, and the way people react to injury.Arkansas, LSU, FSU, Florida, ISU, and Tennessee are just some of the NCAA D1 football teams using Riddell Speed Flex.
If people were to go deeper into this, we could develop baseball and bicycle helmets or football pads that are not made of plastic. If we could create a world, not just for sports, where everything is not made of plastic, other industries ( like leather) would be more popular. The chemical building blocks that make plastic so versatile are the same chemicals that might harm the environment. It's time to move on from the plastic era and start a different era.
Aiden
Sports *continued
PLASTIC HAS TAKEN OVER SPORTS
It seems as if plastic is taking over everything and especially in sports. Did you know that the bottom of your sport cleats are made from plastic! That’s right. You're new NIKE Baseball Cleats can be made from an old plastic bottle!?
NIKE has released their new line of cleats and sporting the reusable plastic bottle. The new cleats are made from an old plastic bottle and turned into something different, the bottom of cleats.
NEW FOOTBALL HELMETS COULD BE COMING YOUR WAY
Plastic Football Helmets have been around for a while now but, a change could be on its way. Stainless Steel helmets have been introduced to many teams like the Minnesota Vikings, Seattle Seahawks, and the Oregon Ducks. Plastic helmets aren't as safe as Stainless Steel helmets but are a lot more expensive and that’s why we see more plastic helmets than stainless steel helmets in the game of football.
Cole
We all live in a world of plastic. But do we know why it was invented? Cheap, easy and convenient was what we were going for, and we got it.
My news team and I interviewed Alexander Parkes about his invention of plastic that was a mistake! He said, “It was an amazing invention! It was moldable, cheap, and replaced tons of other materials that were expensive and sometimes hard to work with. Of course, like many great inventions..” He said, chuckling, “It was an accident!” Even though Alexander’s invention could have taken off as a huge success, it didn’t. Instead, it took off in the 1940’s, during World War II, because soldiers needed a material that was cheap and convenient. Like Alexander mentioned, plastic replaced lots of materials, like wood, stone, bone, leather, metal, and glass. For example, in the wars beforehand we had to use tin cans that were hard to produce. During WWII, we could use quick, one time use plastic ones. When I went to find out what plastic was made out of, I was overwhelmed with information. I had my tech crew summarize it and all I got was plastic is made out of polymers.
While plastic had been an awesome invention at the time, we took advantage and overused the product. Now, it may be hard to think of life without plastic, but it has to be done. The harms it proposes to our environment should NEVER overpower our want for convenience.
Cole
Joey
Foster
Kole
Advice
Dear Mr.Blackman,
I have WAY too many plastic bags in my sink drawer and I don’t know what to do with them! I don’t want to throw them away, but it would be bad for the environment… How can I get rid of my bags but still help the environment?
~Panicked
Dear Panicked,
There are many ways to get rid of your plastic bags without hurting the environment! For one you could give the plastic bags back to your local grocery store and they will take it from there. Now you can get rid of your plastic bags without hurting the earth! I hope this helped you.
~Mr.Blackman
Dear Mr.Blackman,
I’m trying to decide if banning plastic bags are wrong! People say if we do it could help save the earth but if we don’t it could still help the earth. What is your point of view on all of this?
~Confused
Dear Confused,
I think that plastic bags should not be banned. Our landfills are being over filled and its adding pollution to our sea waters. It’s hurting the animals and fish the more we use. We may be damaging the earth but we don’t have to stop using plastic bags. All we need to do is use moderation. Instead of taking a plastic bag why not use a reusable one? Or take the bags you use and reuse them! That way they won’t fill our landfills and hurt the earth. But this is just my opinion so don’t let me pick for you!
~Mr.Blackman
Dear Mr.Blackman,
Hi! I myself do not use plastic bags at all but I still want to do my part! Is there anyways I can help the earth in ways? Thanks!
~Helpful
Dear Helpful,
Well, for one thank you for using not using plastic bags! The earth and I applaud you. Number two: You can help the earth even if you already are. Like for one, you can clean up your local beach or go around town picking up plastic bags. Or, you can go to people or the plastic bag producers and tell them the harmful things they do and ways they can reduce the plastic bags they use to help the earth. I hope this helped you!
~Mr.Blackman
World news
Everyone has heard controversial talk about plastics and whether they’re good or bad. This article is going to cover how plastic bad for our world and what might happen in the future if we use plastic.
Plastic uses a non-renewable resource called oil. Oil powers our cars and many other things.So, if we keep using up our oil on plastic then we won't have any cars or trucks and all the other appliances in every day life.
It doesn't just hurt humans, it hurts are wildlife! Plastic kills one million seabirds and harms 100,000 species of marine wildlife annually from all kinds of plastic.It hurts our soil and beaches. Drifting plastic leaves little plastic particles at beaches. In our soil it pollutes our water quality in the ground. Please take the information I gave you and reduce your use on plastic things.
Eli
Protecting Animals From Garbage
Have you ever guessed how many plastic bags there are in the world that are on beaches, lands, parks, and landfills? Have you ever tried to stop animals from eating plastic? You are probably thinking, how is plastic affecting animals and what can we do to stop it?
It is now believed that there are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic floating around in the ocean, and more than 180 species of animals have been documented to eat plastic because they mistaken it for food. For example, turtles mistake plastic bags that are floating in the ocean for jellyfish. Ten of thousands of whales, birds, seals, and turtles are killed every year from plastic bag litter in the marine. In The North Pacific Gyre, there is about 100 million pieces of garbage floating around, and scientists say that it is the biggest trash pile. Walk along any beach and I guarantee, you'll find plastic wash up on the shore. Plastic is usually thrown away on land or at beaches and has been carried away by wind or tide. If you want to help stop the litter and killing animals, stop throwing away plastic bags and re-use it. You can also help by picking up garbage, like for example if you see trash wash up in the shore or on the beach, please pick it up. My purpose for this paper is to stop the littering and save animals from plastic.
Madeline