Essay 168 – Responsibility to reduce the amount of packaging

GT Writing Task 2 / Essay Sample # 168

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

Some people say that supermarkets and manufacturers have a responsibility to reduce the amount of packaging on products they sell. Others believe that it is the consumer’s responsibility to avoid buying products which have a lot of packaging.

Discuss both views and give your opinion.

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Write at least 250 words.

Model Answer:

Opinions are divided as to whether the onus of scaling down the over-packaging of products should be shouldered on the ‘supermarkets and manufacturers’ or the ‘consumers’. The essay will expound both of the views, but in my opinion, both should take responsibility as it is directly related to the environment.

It goes without saying that supermarkets and manufacturers are the main producers of consumer products, and therefore the real cause of this issue lies in them. They use unnecessary packaging on a large amount so as to make the consumer goods attractive which have no association with the quality of the products. Rather, it causes damaging impacts on the environment. For example, supermarkets tend to wrap fruits in Styrofoam trays covered with foil paper or toothpaste manufacturers have been choosing the tube in extra boxes. These common practices contribute substantially to the production of plastic as well as disposals in landfills. Thus, the opinion that manufacturers, as well as large markets who sell the products to the end-users, should take the responsibility to reduce the amount of over-packaging is justified.

On the other hand, consumers are the mainstay of any business. To put it another way, the more people are likely to buy goods with over-packaging, the more they are manufactured. In contrast, if consumers lower the purchase of such items, it would definitely decrease their production. A recent campaign for biodegradable packaging led by environmentalists is a perfect example of how consumers make decisions that have dramatically reduced the production of plastics. The campaign aims to raise public awareness of environmental issues of plastics, and therefore people boycott plastic packaging. So, in the same token consumers can prohibit the prevalent practice of over-packaging as manufacturers and sellers would be bound to follow what consumers prefer and want.

To conclude, supermarkets and manufacturers should have the onus of curtailing the over-packaging of consumer goods since they are the prime producer of over-packaging products. But consumers have to be proactive as well to prevent the over-packaging of goods as it harms the environment.