Question: If plastic is so harmful to the planet then why does everyone use so much of it daily?

Jack Saunders answered on 12 Nov 2019:

Plastic is really useful because it can be very resistant to a lot of chemicals such as fizzy drinks, water and oil. It is also very easy to shape into different shapes, and can be very difficult to break. This means it is useful for the outside of things like computers, calculators, pens. It protects what’s inside. However, what makes it good for these uses also makes it very slow to degrade and this is why it harms the planet. It sticks around for a very long time and ends up in places it shouldn’t be like the ocean. But if you had a material that degrading more quickly, it wouldn’t be much use as a fizzy drinks bottle as it would leak and not keep the drink inside.

However, if we are really careful with where we put our plastic (like in the recycling bin) then it can be reused and it isn’t so bad for the environment.