Plastics may pose a greater threat than climate change

This is a letter to the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Mr John Key.

Dear Prime Minister, (Mr John Key)

I have an issue to bring to your attention. This letter is all about plastic being a problem, and how it may pose a greater threat than climate change in New Zealand. People around NZ don’t know the effects that plastic has on this Earth and the sea, but I do. Hopefully this letter will put the thought in your head that plastic may pose a greater threat than climate change.

A huge amount of the ocean is full of rubbish. Plastic is commonly mistaken as food for sea creatures and other animals. Once they eat it they get very ill and eventually die. This reduces the amount of animals on wonderful planet and it’s sad to hear it. We all love animals, but we never notice that the reason why they die most of the time is because of us.

Plastic bags are very inexpensive in New Zealand, which is one of the reasons why people buy it. At Pak’n’save they are just 10 cents per bag. If you compare it to Scotland, you will realise that they have banned plastic bags, due to the amount of pollution. I personally think we should also ban plastic bags as well, so stores will be forced to sell recyclable bags or paper bags.

Aotearoa or ‘the land of the long white cloud’ is known for its clean green surroundings. We are known for our sweet honey and also our woolly sheep. So in order to keep this amazing reputation going we need to ban plastic bags.

Did you know it takes 1000 years to break down a polyethylene bag? Because of this there has been an alarming rubbish rate in the pacific. In the North Pacific Ocean rubbish is turning into a gyre twice the size of Texas. The North Pacific Ocean is just above New Zealand!

So Prime Minister, please keep our country clean and green. When people come to our county, they expect to see beautiful nature and animals. If you don’t take action now the pollution rate will rise and become higher. With my proposal, we can make NZ a better place.

Yours sincerely

Jordan

Pt England School