Let’s dispose of the use of disposables.

It’s 7 a.m. and school starts in 30 minutes. A coffee shop is right by and a little caffeine could be exactly what a student needs to be energized for the rest of the day. However, after drinking that cup, what’s left? A disposable cup, disposable lid, and a disposable straw.

Plastic may be a convent medium but also is a harmful component to the planet. It is composed primarily of petrochemicals, fossil fuel-based chemicals.Throughout time, the sun breaks up this plastic, leaving microtics that the eye can’t detect. When these micro plastics are left, they emit these chemicals, wrecking the balance in the ecosystem. 

In a world where plastic use and production is growing at a rapid rate, climate change is also rapidly getting worse. Climate change is the long-term shift in temperature and weather patterns. This shift is detrimental to all living life and natural resources. Life as humans know it would be permanently changed if change is not done. 

The quickest and easiest way for everyday citizens to do their part is drastically reduce their plastic use. “I understand that it is hard for people to cut out the use of plastic, but I think they need to understand how harmful it really is,”  sophomore Esperanza Esparza, a Society for a Better Earth supporter, states. “If we don’t change how much disposable products we consume, we are harming all living creatures like animals,” she continues. 

Plastic and disposable products are embedded so deeply into society that today’s people live in that it may seem unimaginable to go without it. Senior Diana Silva Esparza, fellow environmentalist, speaks on her struggles. “I always try to lecture my mom to stop purchasing plastic water bottles, but then I go and find myself using them everyday. It can be hard to turn away from what we know.”

In the end, change can not be made until people fully understand the magnitude of what is truly going on. Everybody can make a difference, even if that something is small. “If I use plastic, I do my best to try and recycle.” Esparza states. 

“I try to not use plastic starts!” Silva adds. 

Maybe it’s time people put down that paper plate and go grab the ceramic one.