1. Todd bases this essay around the work of Chelsea M. Rochman and Mark Anthony Browne, whose short and provocative proposal to label plastic hazardous was intended to get other scientists and commentators to explore the issue further. Do you feel that Todd does a good job exploring and researching the issue? What further evidence does Todd provide to support his proposal?

2. Look into some of the laws and regulations that Todd discusses at the very end of his proposal. What would happen if these laws or regulations were passed in your own country? Pick one of the laws and discuss how it might affect your daily life. (For more help with research, see Chapter 38, “Finding Print and Online Sources”.)

3. MULTIMODALITY — PUBLIC AWARENESS POSTER: Create a public awareness poster that might be put on garbage cans across your campus to warn students what happens when they throw plastics in the trash instead of recycling. Use words and images carefully to grab people’s attention and to persuade them. (For help with thinking about design and images, see Chapter 50, “Designing Print and Online Documents”.)

4. WRITING: Create a list of products that you consider “hazardous.” The products could be hazardous to health, or they could be hazardous to self-esteem, or they could pose dangers to families and relationships, or to society more broadly. Write a proposal that suggests a way to “label” one of these products so that people fully understand its danger and can either avoid it or develop ways to use it more carefully.