The writer presents a well-rounded argument regarding plastic bans by using valid reasoning that considers multiple perspectives and the complexities of plastic pollution. They highlight the limited impact of certain planned bans, such as on plastic bags and straws, while emphasizing that fishing gear and microplastics are the main contributors to coastal pollution. The article also addresses the potential negative consequences of such bans, particularly for individuals with disabilities. By incorporating the insights of experts like Morton Barlaz, who suggests financial incentives instead of outright bans, and Charlotte Liboiron, who advocates for reducing oil subsidies, the writer effectively illustrates that addressing the plastic issue requires a nuanced understanding of both the products involved and their broader socio-environmental implications.
Plastic bags, a popular target for smaller-scale local plastic bans around Canada and the United States, make up less than 1 percent of the plastics Liboiron and her colleagues collect on shore. Likewise, plastic plates, coffee stirrers and cutlery don’t turn up in her samples. On Newfoundland’s beaches, the main culprits of plastic pollution are fishing gear and microplastics, Liboiron said. When deciding what to ban, the government said it will account for whether the products are necessary and whether affordable, effective alternatives exist. Plastics are vital for sterile medical and research supplies, as well as emergency food and water supplies. Those categories would likely not be affected by the proposed embargo. Meanwhile, restrictions on plastic straws have become popular and a symbol for activists looking to reduce plastic waste, but such bans place a burden on people with disabilities. Some argue plastic straw bans represent a step backwards in accessibility. The government said that accessibility would be taken into account as the bans are formalized. It’s not clear, at the moment, if or where evidence-based decision-making comes into this process, however. According to Liboiron, very little research has successfully tracked the movement of consumer products in the ocean, since their disintegration into microplastics makes them hard to identify. Do plastic bans work? Some data exists on the effectiveness of city-wide plastic bag bans — San Jose, California, for instance, cut plastic litter in storm drains by 89 percent — but this kind of large-scale ban has never been tried before. The closest predecessor to Canada’s plans will be the upcoming single-use product bans in the European Union. The Canadian government is likely to follow the same research and recommendations as the EU, the official said. But environmental engineer Morton Barlaz of North Carolina State University posits that bans might not be the best solution for our planet’s growing plastics problem. “Nothing works like an incentive better than money. Instead of banning bags, we could start charging for them,” Barlaz said. Under that strategy, the hope would be to avoid losing access to useful products like plastic bags and straws outright, and instead voluntarily cut their use. “Anything we’re talking about — a straw, a plastic bag, a piece of cutlery — it has a function consumers want. If we ban it, we need to think about the alternative and what that alternative does for people and the environment,” Barlaz said. If the alternative to a piece of plastic cutlery is a piece of biodegradable plastic that costs more fossil fuels to produce and is equally difficult to dispose of, not to mention costs more for the business selling it, it doesn’t solve any of the problems we associate with petroleum-based plastics. “Anytime you make a policy, somebody can come up with a legitimate, reasonable exception to that policy in about 30 seconds,” Barlaz said. “I have to wonder if incentives would get us most of the way there without these exceptions.” Liboiron has another alternative to plastic bans — reducing Canada’s oil subsidies, which have a value of between $7.7 billion and $15 billion. Because oil is the source of all petroleum-based plastics (as well as a major contributor to carbon pollution), Liboiron said, an increase in oil prices would decrease the cost-effectiveness of single-use plastics across the board. © NewsHour Productions LLC. All Rights Reserved. Question Use the article to answer the question. In 3–5 sentences, explain how the writer uses valid reasoning to develop an overall argument
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