Gurrola 1

Anabella Gurrola

Ms. Cunningham

British Literature: Period 4

February 10, 2019

Annotated Biblilography

Erwin, Caitlin. “List of Biodegradable, Everyday Products.” LIVESTRONG.COM, Leaf Group,

10 Feb. 2019.

<www.livestrong.com/article/219138-list-of-biodegradable-every-day-products/>

In the article, List of Biodegradable, Everyday Products,” author Caitlin Erwin speaks of

the many biodegradable products we can use everyday that can take over plastic. She begins her

argument by stating that everyday we use biodegradable resources such as toilet paper, coffee

grounds, paper towels, newspaper, paper plates, etc. Yet, some of our everyday biodegradable

products are not friendly towards our ocean because it is hard to break down items in a flowing

stream of water so we need to be cautious where we throw our products away. Erwin wanted to

inform our people that there is always two options to a product, such as a paper plate to a plastic

plate or a plastic toothbrush to a wood toothbrush. There are always two options, encouraging

others and promoting that there is always another option to a product is something that will help

me in my capstone. The author provides items that are biodegradable that are better than non

biodegradable goods which helps me understand that better choices make a better person because

you know that you are making a difference. I mainly want to take away that doing something

small can go a long way for the bettering of our ocean and I hope to take that with me as I

embark on a journey of becoming eco- friendly.

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“Good News and Bad News About Ocean Plastics.” Design News, Sept. 14. 2014, p. 22. Student

Resources In Context, 8 February 2019.

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A419410436/SUIC?u=rive31076&sid=SUIC&xid=f45ec03

In a article, “Good News and Bad News About Ocean Plastics,” a combination of bads is

built up to show how damaging the overuse of plastic can be for our present and the look of our

future. In a report done by the United Nations Environment Programme, a scientific search was

done to provide that ocean going plastic waste causes at least a $13 billion of damage to our

oceans marine ecosystems each year which overtime builds up to show the dying our our coral

reefs and our sea life. The author exposes the truth of why plastic debris is constantly flowing out

into our oceans; improperly managed landfills, tourist attractions, littering, and fisheries and all

of the world's population excessively using unnecessary plastic. Overall, the author informs that

our oceans are daily being filled with plastic debris that becomes very harmful towards the

animals and ecosystems in our sea. The plastic debris is often broke down to smaller pieces that

become look-alikes with plankton and small fish and other animals eat the plastic and it causes a

deformation in their body, and the plastic slowly moves up the food chain and onto our plates.

The article provides the common knowledge of what I need to know going forth with my project;

knowledge such as why plastic becomes so harming towards us, and sea life.

“Marine Plastics.” Ocean Portal | Smithsonian, Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural

History, 18 Dec. 2018. 8 Feb. 2019.

<https://ocean.si.edu/conservation/pollution/marine-plastics>

In the article, “Marine Plastics,” the author shows high numbers of how much waste has

covered our seas and the number will only increase overtime if we do not stop overusing
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unnecessary plastic everyday. As of 2016, 335 million metric tons of plastic are made every year,

half of that number is made up of plastic straws. The author includes a study that was made in

2014, the examination of the sea was in trail and it was estimated that 5.25 trillion particles of

plastic was floating in the ocean. A later and more recent search in 2017, it was founded that

79,000 metric tons of plastic was found floating in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, showing that

collectively overtime plastic grows tremendously in oceans harming our nature. Ultimately, the

article provides a view of how much trash really is found in our oceans and how in a matter of

just 3 years, part of that 5.25 trillion was founded in just a single area of the ocean. The data

from this article will contribute to my project because it will let me give the audience a better

understanding of how harmful plastic is. I wanted to know an estimate of how much plastic is

founded in our oceans and I was able to succeed that question so that I can give the audience

even more of a reason to limit their use of plastic waste.

Parker, Laura. “You Can Help Turn the Tide on Plastic. Here's How.” National Geographic,

National Geographic, 16 May 2018. 9 Feb. 2019.

<www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/06/plastic-planet-solutions-waste-pollution/>

In the article, “You Can Help Turn the Tide on Plastic,” author Laura Parker helps guide

the world in a more positive direction of using plastic the proper way and ways to restrict a

person's use of plastic. The author begins her argument by stating that using biodegradable will

not help limit the flow of plastic, it will increase it because it is labeled “biodegradable,” making

people litter more. She follows her argument with ways we can better ourselves and our oceans

by simply giving up plastic bags, skipping the straw, pass up plastic bottles, and avoiding plastic

packaging. Parker wanted to inform the audience on simple ways they can improve our world,
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explaining six simple changes a person can make in their daily life to make a change. The article

provides specific ways to become eco-friendly without causing any pain or damage to us,

helping me develop new habits for my project and understanding that something simple can go a

long way.

“Plastic Pollution Guide - Ocean Pollution Facts & Figures.” SLO Active, 29 Jan. 2019. 8 Feb.

2019.

<https://sloactive.com/plastic-pollution/>

In the article, “Plastic Pollution Guide- Ocean Pollution Facts & Figures,” a finding of

the most commonly found and most harmful plastic is polystyrene terephthalate. After

discovering what was the most commonly found product in oceans (plastic bags, bottles, and

straws), the author discovered that the most harmful type of plastic is polystyrene terephthalate.

Plastic bottles and bags are the most frequently found plastic in all the animals because turtles

often mistake a floating bag as a jellyfish, and plastic bottles break down overtime creating

microplastics which are eaten every second by small fish and other creatures. The author wants

to inform that the most commonly found plastic is polystyrene terephthalate because it may

influence a single person in the audience to limit their use of plastic and one person can really

help change our oceans. Overall, the author speaks of a certain kind of plastic that is the most

dangerous towards our ocean, making known that even if one person limits their use of plastic

bottles, straws, and bags then the world will slowly follow. As I have pledged to not use anymore

plastic straws, now that I know that polystyrene terephthalate is the most popular plastic I will

try my best to limit plastic bottles and bags. As my project is to collect plastic to show the world

how much plastic the average person uses weekly, I will now keep one bin of just polystyrene

terephthalate plastic and another of the other kinds of plastic waste.

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