PERSPECTIVE: A child writes about how the daily usage and improper disposal of plastic can eventually result in the substance ending up within our digestive tracts via the food we consume.

Here, we have reproduced the child's essay from The Birthday Book Jr (2019) titled "Plastic in Your Poop".

Mothership and The Birthday Collective are in collaboration to share essays from the 2019 edition of The Birthday Book Jr.

The Birthday Book Jr is a collection of 55 essays featuring young Singaporeans from various walks of life.

Apart from showcasing the diversity of young voices in Singapore, these essays also discuss our collective future as a nation.

By Meredith Tan Shi Ning, 11

Can you imagine if one day you find plastic in your poop?

This is because of us. You see, we use plastic in our everyday lives. When you go to the grocery store, you use plastic bags to carry your items, such as vegetables.

Even the egg trays are made out of plastic. Just take a look around your home and you can see at least five plastic items.

Most plastic isn’t recycled and it takes months for plastic to break down.

So what is the easy way out of it? Just dump it in the ocean, no one notices anyway.

When we throw plastic in the ocean, sea creatures eat the plastic, for example, we eat fish and the fish eat the plastic that we throw in the ocean.

According to an article, scientists are finding plastic in our poop, from the fish that we consume when the ocean is littered with plastic.

We might not notice it but we are not the only ones living on earth. There are other living things and by using and throwing plastic inconsiderately may make things worse.

I appeal to you to say no to plastic. These are some ways that you can do so. Firstly, you can use stainless steel or bamboo straws instead of plastic ones.

Secondly, bring your own recycling bags to the grocery store when you buy vegetables or reduce the plastic bags by bringing your own bag.

I hope you can say no to plastic so that global warming will not increase more than it should.

If you happen to be in the education space and think this essay may be suitable as a resource (e.g. for English Language, General Paper or Social Studies lessons), The Birthday Collective has an initiative, "The Birthday Workbook", that includes discussion questions and learning activities based on The Birthday Book essays. You can sign up for its newsletter at bit.ly/TBBeduresource.

Top image from Reuters.