Question

Pro 2: Single-use plastic bans work. Period.
A Jan. 2024 study that examined single-use plastic bag “bans in five states and cities that cover
more than 12 million people combined” found those bans to “have cutsingle-use plastic bag
consumption by about 6 billion bags per year. That’s enough bags to circle the earth 42 times.”
Similar bans, suggests the study, could reduce single-use plastic bag usage by about 300 plastic
bags per person per year on average. [21]
“The bottom line is that plastic bag bans work. Millions…have realized that it’s easy to live without
plastic bags and get used to bringing a bag from home or skipping a bag when they can. That means
less waste and less litter. For our children to inherit a less polluted earth, that’s exactly what we
need,” says Faran Savitz of the PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center. [22]
Bans on single-use plastic bags reduce waste, litter, and pollution, and encourage sustainable
alternatives. The logic follows that bans on other single-use products would be as successful. [23]
In fact, bans on plastic straws have also been wildly successful. Journalist Harvin Bhathal explains,
“Plastic straw bans are alive and well today, with new proposals still cropping up at the state and
city levels. But eliminating plastic straws is no longer the go-to goal of the anti-plastic movement.
Part of that is the result of the existing bans’ success: For many consumers, the absence of plastic
straws has become normal, even mundane.” [17]
Single-use plastic bans, explain advocates, are not meant to solve the world’s plastic problems in
one broad stroke. Instead, as Sophie Lewis of Seaside Sustainability notes, the bans are “certainly a
start to reducing the amount of future pollution. It is important for people to start to drop their
plastic habit, which means decreasing the amount of it in circulation.” [24]


Then type or write: the author's point of view, purpose, and one example of supporting evidence from the article.

Answer 1

**Author's Point of View:** The author advocates for the effectiveness of single-use plastic bans as a necessary and successful strategy for reducing plastic waste and promoting sustainable alternatives.

**Purpose:** The purpose of the article is to highlight the positive impacts of single-use plastic bans, providing evidence that such measures decrease plastic consumption, waste, and pollution, while encouraging behavioral change among consumers.

**Example of Supporting Evidence:** The author cites a January 2024 study that found single-use plastic bag bans in five states and cities reduced consumption by about 6 billion bags per year, which is enough to circle the Earth 42 times.