This essay was written in response to a prompt asking the writer to agree or disagree with a city requiring citizens to pay for pickup of nonrecycled trash. It is used here only for proofreading practice and not as an example of exemplary writing.
(1) Every citizen should be required to pay for trash he or she does not recycle. There are several reasons for this. First, our landfills are filling up fast and things that can be recycled should not be put in landfills. Also, recycling is the responsible way to deal with waste and helps make new things out of our trash. In addition, charging for trash would make people think before they decide not to recycle because they would get tired of paying all that money and they would want to recycle more, so they would.
(2)In todays world, we have so much garbage that the landfills are filling up fast. In some places, they are overflowing and communities are having to dig new ones. This hurts the environment by taking away natural areas for animals and birds. Also, the animals and birds are often harmed by the things people put in landfills.
(3) When people recycle, we can make new products out of trash, instead of using other resources. If we don’t use as many new resources, we will have more of them for future use. This will make the world a nicer place for the people who come after us, like our children and Grandchildren. This way, children can play outside in clean parks during the spring and summer months.
(4) Sometimes the only way to get some people to do the right thing is to charge them money for doing the wrong thing. This is sad, but it is just the way some people are. Some people do the right thing just because they are good people. Other people have to avoid a punishment, like paying money, in order to do the right thing. I wish things weren’t this way, but they are, and all people just aren’t going to recycle unless they are charged for throwing away trash. So, we need to charge people for throwing away trash. They will get tired of paying.
(5) Yes, there should be a charge for throwing away things as trash instead of recycling them. It would help us to clean up the environment and encourage people to be more responsible. It would also give us new products without depleting our natural resources to create them. New things that can be made are sleeping bags, boxes, and toys. I think a trash charge is the best way to go and that cities have every right to ask citizens to pay it. On the other hand, some people may not be able to afford to pay to throw away trash. Not all people have extra money for this type of expense.