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Describe A Time When You Saw A Lot Of Plastic Waste: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • Where and when did you see the plastic waste?
  • Why was there a lot of plastic waste?
  • What did you do after you saw it?
  • And explain what your thoughts were about this.
Show all 92 answers

Cue 1:Where and when did you see the plastic waste?

  • Begin by describing the location where you encountered the plastic waste, such as a beach, park, or riverbank.
  • Mention the time of year or specific occasion, like a festival or holiday, to give context to your experience.

Example

I saw a lot of plastic waste last summer at Juhu Beach in Mumbai. It was during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival, a time when many people visit the beach to immerse idols. Unfortunately, after the celebrations, the beach was littered with plastic bags, bottles, and food wrappers.

Cue 2:Why was there a lot of plastic waste?

  • Explain the reasons behind the accumulation of plastic waste, such as lack of awareness or inadequate waste disposal facilities.
  • You can also mention the cultural practices that contribute to the problem, like the use of single-use plastics during festivals.

Example

The reason for the excessive plastic waste was mainly due to the large number of visitors who brought food and drinks in plastic containers. Many people were unaware of the environmental impact of their actions, and there were not enough bins available for proper disposal.

Cue 3:What did you do after you saw it?

  • Share your immediate reaction upon seeing the plastic waste and any actions you took.
  • Mention if you participated in any clean-up efforts or raised awareness about the issue.

Example

After seeing the plastic waste, I felt compelled to do something. I joined a local group that was organizing a beach clean-up the following weekend. We collected bags full of plastic and other debris, and it felt good to contribute to the environment.

Cue 4:And explain what your thoughts were about this.

  • Reflect on your feelings regarding the situation and the broader implications of plastic waste.
  • Discuss any changes in your behavior or perspective that resulted from this experience.

Example

Seeing the plastic waste made me really concerned about our environment. It made me realize how important it is to reduce plastic usage and promote recycling. Since then, I’ve started carrying my own reusable bags and bottles to minimize my plastic footprint.

Conclusion

    Example

    In conclusion, witnessing the plastic waste at Juhu Beach was an eye-opening experience. It highlighted the urgent need for awareness and action regarding plastic pollution. I believe that if we all take small steps, we can make a significant difference in protecting our environment.

    Following this structure will ensure you cover all the essential points while providing a clear and engaging response to the cue card topic.

    Tips to answer this Cue Card

    1: Vague Descriptions

    Using vague language can make your answer unclear. Avoid general statements that do not provide specific details about the location or situation of the plastic waste.

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    Tip

    Be specific about where and when you saw the plastic waste. Use descriptive language to paint a clear picture for the examiner.

    2: Lack of Personal Reflection

    Failing to share your personal thoughts can make your response less engaging. It's important to express how the experience affected you emotionally or intellectually.

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    Tip

    Include your feelings and thoughts about the plastic waste. Explain why it was significant to you and what you learned from the experience.

    Ignoring the Cause

    Not addressing why there was a lot of plastic waste can lead to an incomplete answer. Understanding the cause adds depth to your response.

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    Tip

    Discuss the reasons behind the plastic waste, such as local events or habits. This shows your awareness of environmental issues and enhances your answer.

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    All Answers

    Here are all the answers by real-users practicing speaking for IELTS Cue Cards on our IELTS Prep App.

    Band 6-7

    It was during 3rd year of my engineering degree that I encountered with such a situation in my life. Since it was mandatory to get enrolled in any of the clubs present in the university, I was enrolled in a club called Oikos, which is an eco club mainly concerned about environment and culture. So after 2-3 weeks of my enrollment, they had organized a campaign where we need to go to different places and pick up or clean the plastic waste which is present. In a group there was a total of 20 members and all of the people were divided into subgroups of 5 people and my group headed towards a beach. So when I entered that beach, it was really a shocking situation to see because everywhere there was plastic waste present and people were so careless that they used to eat, drink but they were least concerned to put that waste in the dustbin which is present. Due to this, the land and the water body both were polluted. So it was

    Band 6-7

    As I saw that there are various pollutants which pollutes our ecosystem and it creates a very detrimental effect in our environment and as well as in our personal health. But today I'm going to talk about one particular incident which took place a few days back when I was walking in a society garden which is nearby to my place. It's around 3 km far away where I reside. Moreover I usually go there to rejuvenate myself and to relax and do some gentle yoga as I'm a nature lover person. I love to explore nature and enjoy the mother nature. Moreover there are very disturbances incidents happened with me because when I was walking near in a track in a pathways in the middle of the garden I saw there are so many litters specially the waste bottles and plastics are all scattered around the garden and it makes very bad impression and as we know that these plastic waste are not recycled and this waste generates lot of pollutants which is very harmful for the ecosystem as well as the health of the human beings. Additionally when I saw I immediately went there at that place and I started collecting all the plastic in a big plastic in a box and I put there and I called the security guard over there and I explained all the incidents which happened and I asked him to put a dust bin and there.

    Band 6-7

    This is the time when I have gone to Shimla for a trip and I only imagined Shimla as a very scenic and a very beautiful place to go to. But I visited a slum when I thought it was not a part of Shimla at all. It was a different phase of Shimla altogether. And I saw a lot of garbage here and there, plastic here and there and it just broke my heart to the core. And the condition of the people living there was poor. The moment I saw that situation, I thought to myself one thing that not everything that is portrayed as beautiful is actually that beautiful. Everything has its own flaws as well and you will get to know about all of it only when you come and explore that place by yourself. And the fact that I thought Shimla would be very beautiful but then when I realized that it also has something, a face like this, it broke my heart and I couldn't do much about it because this has to be done in accordance with the government and the government has to intervene and has to bring up policies and it has to run some programs that would help people clean their places and also it has to do with the people who need to support the government with the policies and should keep their place neat and clean.

    Band 6-7

    yes to begin with last year when I was in a vacation when I was on a vacation with my friends and families for Delhi I saw that there was a lot of waste segregated on side of the roads and mostly it was always products of plastics my heart really felt bad I felt really bad I was not happy at all when I see all those ways and and the consequences that were caused and the reason and those people living living around there what their condition might have been I felt very bad and unfortunately to be honest I couldn't do anything because I was just a tourist there for a week so I just when I come back I just thought that we should everybody should contribute so that our environment and our social surrounding would be clean healthier for us to survive and it's all for us only so when I come back I thought that we should contribute we should start contributing even if it is a little bit of thing we should start conserving energies we should start using products and things with less plastic and more paper best and also I just narrated the whole thing the whole story to my family and I told I even advised them not to use much plastics and not to throw or them anywhere

    Band 6-7

    The time when I saw lots of plastic items or garbage, it was while I was travelling to a trip to Manali where there is like while leaving Delhi and reaching out to the border of Delhi there is this place Azad Mandi where all the trash of entire city Delhi is being collected over there where I could see literally a mountain of wastes which was so smelly it was so unhygienic there however that time I really got to think about like why I should stop using much of non-recyclable items I shifted to using you know paper bags instead of plastic bags I stopped using plastic bottles plastic water bottles I started using glass bottles or steel bottles which can actually help to the environment and eventually since then I personally have noticed I cannot say whether it is effective to the environment completely but yes my personal life has grown a lot in terms of more environment free personality and people also got influenced by looking at me my behavior it changed their mentality or perception as well to use more of recyclable items rather than non-recyclable

    Band 6-7

    the time when I saw a lot of plastic waste was around my building that was parking lot where one people started throwing bags or discarded his or her materials during after the completion of Ganpati festival and looking up to the one person rest day by day all the people started and there was a lot of waste which was collected there what was the suggestion which we collected we decide was to park a car instead and once we started that the waste stopped people stopped putting waste yeah that's it

    Band 6-7

    well I was visiting a beach few days ago and what I noticed at that beach is a very big and creepy waste of plastic so I asked people about it and they told me that it is a very serious issue in that particular area especially in beach area because when the tourists reached there they enjoyed a lot but they left their unwanted things as it is on the beach because there is no dustbin or any other facilities regarding waste management so I decided to start a movement regarding the waste management on that particular beach on social media and I got a very wonderful response from the local peoples along with some NGOs so I decided to organize a camp for collecting all the waste and dump it in proper place so that everyone can use the beach in proper way and it was finished two days ago and it was a very memorable day for me because that type of experience I never had in my life all the NGOs along with local peoples and some interested persons were also there and all the peoples are dedicatedly do their work, did their work at the site and they are like, they have the one goal in their mind that beach should be clean first and then we can enjoy at the beach so I think that is very memorable experience for me

    Band 6-7

    The last time I saw a lot of plastic waste was when I visited to the mall with my dad. There was this young little boy with his father and he was carrying a ton of plastic bottles. And I wondered what he was going to do with it in the mall. So we were just waiting in the queue for the lift and there was this machine which also looked like a vending machine where you insert the bottles. And the bottles go for recycling which is such a beneficial and essential machine in these days when global warming is seriously rising. I was so motivated after looking at that little young boy and that also had one more benefit that was that if you put more than 10 plastic bottles you are paid. So the government basically pays you for recycling which is truly and immensely a very smart concept invented by the authorities. I was really motivated to do it next time with my household plastics and seeing it done by a little young boy who had probably...

    Band 6-7

    I am a person who is obsessed to use plastic product as I am familiar with the drawbacks of using that but I preferably use it because sometimes I find it hard to carry some glass bottle or heaviest things so I prefer plastic bottle instead of rather than others but I do not think that I do not harm I don't harm society or the nature by wasting such kind of things here I would like to talk about a time that I saw a lot of plastic waste was occurred in my hometown itself it was a program that conducted by our church so it was based on the religious program as on Christmas time we had a wonderful night eve so we were mostly enjoyed the moment enjoyed the party and we just had food over there and we were very happy and we had a lot of things to entertain ourselves so we had fireworks firecrackers and we were entertaining by with some musical things or live concert so I believe that that was the moment then I realized that I can enjoy myself and even without any age group people were doing some entertainment over there but in the next day when we reached myself and my friends when we reached the church in the morning we saw lots of waste where I hope this waste were added in a area where we dispose all the things people were not aware about the water bottle the plastic cover so I just gathered most of my youth friends and we just collected everything and we handed over it to the panchayat or the public authority so that was the time which we feel more proud even the society or the people who were

    Band 6-7

    Well, I can never forget the day when I went to a trip to Himachal with my family and friends. And we were on the trip and suddenly after reaching the spot we realized that it was full of trash. All over I could see a lot of plastic bottles, plastic cups, mats and so many other things. I know Himachal is one of the tourist places. People from all over the world definitely come to that place to visit once in a while. And when I saw a lot of trash over there I was really disappointed. It was quite obnoxious at the very first scene. When I saw it was completely, I got so much blind that I could not even trust my eyes at how the beauty of nature has been completely destroyed by these plastic papers, plastic things. And also we know as plastic is non-biodegradable. It is not only polluting the environment but it is also responsible for the degradation of the forest, the soil and the beauty of the nature. When I saw it I was completely, I asked my parents that we should do something about it. And me and my family and especially my friends. We all wore our gloves, we all dressed up in a quite formal way, in a non-formal way and we just started clearing up the trash at that very moment. It took us completely two days to clean that place from all the trash paper which was available. And to be honest we had completely over 800 tons of plastic bag we collected that day. We gathered it and we sold it to the, we have sent that to the landfill. But to be honest if I could take such certain steps, why can't the people of India can do that? So what I really genuinely feel that it's not one responsibility, it is the responsibility of every individual to come forward and clean the environment.
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