Sociology - Examining plastic use in Australia

Running head: SOCIOLOGY
Sociology
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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Introduction
Plastic is one of the most harmful elements that are accumulating within the surface of
earth. There are very less awareness on the accumulation of plastic wastes. This is because of the
fact that majority of the fast food restaurants and the food cycle chains are the ones that have the
habit of disposing off without any kinds of treatment (Gilbert et al., 2016).
Large scale dumping of untreated plastic wastes into the water bodies and the other landfill area
is increasing pollution and also leading to a large scale plastic pollution everywhere.
Examining plastic use in Australia
There are many countries or areas in Australia that is actually being impacted due to the
large scale dumping of the plastic wastes. However there are many different surveys that are
actually being conducted everywhere in the world. A 2016 report from NSW EPA estimates the
figure stands at around 75 percent. It must be made sure that Australia is no exception in this
aspect. This is mainly because of the fact that the fast food centers and the restaurants are
actually responsible for making the land and water polluted.
Definition of the problem
The problem is the rising amount of plastic wastes accumulation at different places. This
is one of the very concerning issues that must be taken care of immediately. This is because a
large scale accumulation of plastics on land and also on the water bodies like drains, rivers and
sea is causing a great harm to the natural flora and fauna on one hand and also to human beings

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on the other. This is mainly because of the fact that there is lack of proper awareness among
people and also among the other members of the population because they are not getting
sufficient amount of resources in order to take care of the natural resources and also of the
different water bodies and the other bar age dumping areas as well. There has be much more
awareness shown by
Government so that they are able to make sure that sufficient efforts are being taken up for
reducing the amount of plastic that is getting accumulated on a daily basis (Landon-Lane, 2018).
Description of the problem
Plastic accumulation is increasing at a very rapid rate and people must be made aware about the
different ways in which they can actually control the same (Vince & Hardesty, 2017).
Problem importance
This problem is important because plastic pollution is increasing at a very rapid rate. Sashay
(2018) is also of the opinion that recycling and re using processes is not being done properly.
This is because of the fact that people are having less awareness on this matter and sufficient
efforts are not being undertaken for the overall welfare of the planet (Smith et al., 2018).

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Focus on cause
-what is the actual problem
-Who are stakeholders why?
Stakeholders are Government as they have to set the policies for controlling pollution.
Restaurant outlets for contributing in the pollution as they use plastic bags, bottles, containers
and others
Where/how did it start?
It has started from a long time and no particular dates can be assigned to mark the
beginning of plastic pollution (Critchell et al., 2019). It can be said that with the arrival of
urbanization in 21st century there has been a huge surge in population and also their individual
needs and demands. It is do this reason that plastic usage also increased at a very rapid rate.
Effect
-What impacts does it have?
One of the major impacts is the death of fish and the other aquatic animals sure to the
plastic dumping in the water bodies.
1) Environmental

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Environmental pollution is one of the major effects of large scale plastic accumulation.
This is because of the fact that the Plastic is a polymeric material. It is because of this reason that
they take a very long time to degrade. They often remain within the earth’s atmosphere and
cause huge issues. People can suffer from much skin disease and also develop some kinds of
health impacts like the breathing troubles and others.
2) Health and social
Untreated discharge of plastics wastes into the land and water bodies cause a huge issue
for the health aspects of people. If the environment is damaged at such a faster rate then there
will be social degradation and this will not be suitable for the mind and body of people.
3) Economic
If there is such a huge damage being caused to the water bodies and also the aquatic flora
and fauns the country will suffer on an economic scale. This is because tourism will suffer and
they will not be getting sufficient amount of money that they used to get earlier from tourism or
from reporting any fish products or other such aquatic products.
Conclusion
Therefore it can be conclude that in order to take care of the environment people will
have to control pollution. Pollution can be best controlled once the sources of pollution are
recognized and people are able to understand their own responsibilities towards the same.

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Government must be more responsible towards this aspect and try to arrange for sufficient
amount of funds for controlling pollution. All the people at different layers of society will have
to be trained properly and made sure that they are taking up their responsibility for keeping the
environment clean. Plastic bags must be banned at all the outlets and they must be displaced with
the cloth materials.

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References
.
Gilbert, J. M., Reichelt-Brushett, A. J., Bowling, A. C., & Christidis, L. (2016). Plastic ingestion
in marine and coastal bird species of southeastern Australia. Marine Ornithology, 44, 21-
26.
Critchell, K., Bauer-Civiello, A., Benham, C., Berry, K., Eagle, L., Hamann, M., ... & Ridgway,
T. (2019). Plastic pollution in the coastal environment: current challenges and future
solutions. In Coasts and Estuaries (pp. 595-609). Elsevier.
Landon-Lane, M. (2018). Corporate social responsibility in marine plastic debris governance.
Marine pollution bulletin, 127, 310-319.
Smith, S. D., Banister, K., Fraser, N., & Edgar, R. J. (2018). Tracing the source of marine debris
on the beaches of northern New South Wales, Australia: The Bottles on Beaches
program. Marine pollution bulletin, 126, 304-307.
Sahay, N. (2018). Plastic Pollution, A study of Knowledge, Attitude and Practices Among
Students. Indian Journal of Public Health Research & Development, 9(10).
Vince, J., & Hardesty, B. D. (2017). Plastic pollution challenges in marine and coastal
environments: from local to global governance. Restoration ecology, 25(1), 123-128.
greenpeace.org.au. (2017). Greenpeace Australia Pacific. Availabale from
-https://www.greenpeace.org.au/blog/australias-plastic-problem/