HINS CHOO Class: 3/1
Good morning teachers and fellow Riversidians. My name is Hins Choo and I am the chairperson of the Environment Club. It has come to my attention that the usage of straws has been increasing rapidly in our school and I am here to stop it. Walking around the school, I realise that straws are ubiquitous as you can find them in classrooms and even on the canteen floor. I am here to fight for our environment and I am here to make sure that everyone has a part to play in ensuring the reduction of overall plastic waste.
The reason I am talking about the usage of straws is because straws can harm the environment and I want everyone in this school to be part of a collective action to save the environment and make the environment a better place to live in not only for you and me but also the animals that are affected. You may wonder, how can a thing like straws harm the environment? Even tiny pieces of plastics can harm the environment! Most plastic straws make it into the ocean because they are either left on the beach, dropped on sidewalks and streets, fall off of boats or are blow out of trashcans and transport vehicles. All it takes is a gust of wind or rainstorm to push these straws into waterways and into the ocean. Marine animals might think that the plastic straws are food and end up choking on them. This causes blockages within their digestive system and eventual death.
Firstly, in order for us to reduce the usage of straws, we should ban them its use. There will be benefits for the environment. If we are to keep using plastic straws and not dispose them properly or worse, dispose them directly into the sea, there will be more plastics than fishes in our oceans by the year 2050! If we do not take action as soon as possible, the environment will be in great danger. One day I was walking around in school and I saw a group of Riversidians throwing their rubbish onto the floor. Do you even care about the environment? Today you might throw rubbish onto the floor. Tomorrow you might throw the very rubbish that might kill the last of our marine animals.
Secondly we can upcycle the waste materials. Upcycling is different than recycling as upcycling lets you use your own creativity to refashion items like plastic bottles, tyres and such into something else. What used to be old will be new again. You can make plastic bottles into flower pots and even use tyres to make a table. Not only upcycling is fun and creative, it can also help save the environment by reducing wastes.
In conclusion, we should play a part in saving our environment and school and making it a better place to live in. I am sure if work together as a community, we can make this happen. Thank you for listening to me.
Writers by the River 