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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

    I remember last year when I took a trip to Srinagar with my uncle, we saw a very huge garbage spreaded all over the place. So I felt so very bad why people are throwing that garbage. If they don't throw garbage in their personal homes, then why are they destroying their public spaces. Public spaces is also like our private homes. It's our duty to clean them and to make sure it's tidy and clean. So I decided to clean that also. I took some local people with my uncle and started to clean that place. So after that, the place got very beautiful and it was very nice looking. So after that class, we have given message to that public that it's our duty to not destroy this place by throwing waste materials like or throwing garbage. Instead, we should throw them in the dustbin which is nearby, which helps us to maintain clean in the society. So yeah, that's what I have done when I go to Srinagar. It was a very beautiful trip. Other than that, we saw beautiful landscape like Aru Valley. It's also called Minnesota land in India.

    Band 6-7

    So, there are countless number of times I've seen plastic waste. In fact, today morning while traveling to the exam center, coming in the cab, I could see plastic being, you know, thrown all over the floor on the sideways of the road. There's nothing much I could do but to observe the plastic being there, though if plastics are near my house, I've always picked up and thrown it, but if it's a public place, I'm not sure if it's contaminated or not. I always wonder why people do this. There are designated dustbins and trash cans kept around the streets of Chennai. Nevertheless, people throw the plastic down onto the ground. I don't see why they don't get the civic sense to do so. And I believe it could be because the government has not urged enough to the citizens to properly dispose the plastics. And people should understand the environmental damage it does, along with destroying the aesthetic beauty of our city. I've always felt furiated whenever I see someone deliberately throwing a plastic trash out their car window or after, you know, having or consuming a product. I've in fact went to people and told them to pick it up and throw it into a trash can. It makes me mad, but it also makes me feel sad about the fact that people aren't understanding the negative impact it causes to our city and to the country. It also sets a wrong example to the younger generation. As they grow up, they should understand the need to throw plastic into the trash cans and not just litter it all over the area.

    Band 6-7

    Recently I visited Kokan beach where I saw a lot of plastic waste because especially in monsoon season lot of tourists visit beaches to enjoy their vacation and when they visit beaches they bring cold drink to the beaches they also bring food and other things such as caps raincoats and all the things and after their use they left those plastic bags and all the stuff on beach hence it will lead to the garbage and after that along with sea waves the garbage was going inside the sea making water pollution as well as land pollution. When I saw the garbage the first thought came in my mind was why peoples in the vicinity can't install dustbins there if there was a proper dustbin so the problem of garbage was reduced to most extent and there should be volunteers to collect garbages I saw one video when one man was cleaning beach and collecting all the garbages then he recycled and make very beautiful things such as drawings paintings from the leftover canvas and he also made dustbin from bottles and leftover pots and cans after that he donated the things he made from waste to the local beach and when the things was kept on that beach the beach was

    Band 6-7

    It's been a year ago, me and my friends planned to enjoy the environment and a peaceful place. So we just selected a destination to Kodaikanal and we just travelled by car itself. We reached there and we just picked up some specific sports to enjoy the Kodaikanal. It was a cool climate which is more preferable for everyone that can enjoy the nature. Suddenly we reached to a spot called Kuwarni which is a famous place in Kodaikanal itself. It's a hilltop place and there is no permission to go inside because it's restricted from the forest department. I saw that most of the people are just not aware of what they are restricted and just got into inside. While I was observing too close, I saw that so many waste has been thrown through the area after their use. Even discharged from a small plastic to a big plastic waste itself. I just reported to the forest office about this and I feel hectic environment in that side because I don't think this is a good way to treat the environment.

    Band 6-7

    Yes, indeed I went for a summer vacation last time and on a beach in Goa and we were just passing by the beach and I saw a heap of plastic over there. There were bottles, there were wrappers of chocolates, chips and also there were vendors selling the things in plastic plates and I was very tensed about that so I was with my mother and we walked around throughout the day on the beach telling the people about the consequences of this plastic if it was thrown in the water which is usually done and how it was harmful to the marine animals. So after two days of hard work we went around the beach, we circulated circulars and all just to make the people realize that how the things could become worse if the marine animals ate the plastic or consume the plastic and how it can affect our earth. So finally after two days of hard work we got five people who were ready to help us with the help of government and we brought cranes and other things which could help to remove the plastic and seeing us many other people joined us and they also realized that yes it was harmful for the marine animals and we took out that plastic waste and we threw it in the lorry and then it went.

    Band 6-7

    Very very often in the summer at the beach you can see a lot of plastic bottles spread on the sand. It is worse during the high season in Cyprus as there are a lot of tourists visiting the island. Therefore the beach is always very very busy. The last time I saw a very big mess in the beach especially with rubbish and plastic bottles around was after a very big festival that took place in my hometown. In the morning when we went for a swim we saw that the place was covered of plastic. It really made me feel disgusted. It also made me feel very very sad. Furthermore it was really uncomfortable to even walk or even sit anywhere around the beach. It was a time that I realized that our environment is really getting affected very much by the human element. At that time my kids were quite young still so when I went home I told them that we're going to go on a small escapade on the next day. So we woke up

    Band 6-7

    Two months ago when I was travelling by the train, when I reached, as soon as I reached Wadala, I saw a huge amount of plastic waste that was piled up in the ground and people just living around the corner of that street. That time I wondered how can people can live in such an unhygienic condition and what was the reason of the waste. Sooner I realized that it was not done by the people themselves, it was that people, not only people but also the government used to dump the waste on that street. Later I decided to join Young India Unchained Club which is a club consisting of youth generation who conduct several activities to safeguard our environment, children and women. So I raised this thing in the community meeting that why shouldn't we just work on our environment and work on reducing wastage. Nevertheless people agreed with me and we conducted a seminar in the locality of that place and thus we were able to reduce the waste of that place.

    Band 6-7

    A couple of years back, I went to Rishikesh, which is a city in Uttarakhand, for a trip with my family. And I was completely mesmerized to see the serene view of mountains along with Ganga Valley. I was lost in the beauty of the city Rishikesh. We were walking on the Goa beach and then we decided to go at the backside of the hill. But unfortunately, I was immensely shocked to witness such a dirty environment over there. There was a huge hill of garbage lying and it was stinking so badly. Moreover, it was having a lot of plastic waste in it, which was being burnt by people. That was not only harming the environment, but also I was having pernicious repercussions on humans as well as animals. I was unable to stand there because of the air pollution it was leading to. Then we decided to move from there and go back to the hotel. But I was not able to overcome the fact that such a tourist attraction like Rishikesh was not clean enough to keep with clean environment and it was harming the health of tourists as well as the ecological life there. So my father decided to complain about it to an IAS officer residing nearby. And since my father has a lot of contacts and moreover, he is a very environmental friendly person, so we decided to visit the nearest IAS officer and we complained regarding this issue and he promised us to take a step immediately as soon as possible to remove the garbage from behind the hill so that the visitors of the city do not have to face such consequences of harming their health.

    Band 6-7

    Today, I would like to describe a time when I saw a lot of plastic waste which was on beach. A couple of years ago, me with my family visited Ganapati Puri temple, where we visited a temple and took darshan of Lord Ganesha. After taking blessings from Lord Ganesha, we gathered on the beach to have some fun. So when we reached on the beach, we saw there were too much plastic on the beach. Even under few centimeters of the sand, there was a plastic. So me and my family along with the people around us decided to clean the beach so that the beach will look good and even if another tourist will come here or visit here, then they will see the beauty of the temple and the beauty of beach. So when we started to clean the beach, there were a lot of local people who helped us. They gave us a broom and they gave us a bag to collect all the garbage or plastic. When we started to clean the beach, many people joined us in our work and we took before and after pictures of that beach. So after cleaning the beach, we saw a huge difference in aspect of cleanliness around the temple and it was a good decision by our family and the people who helped us in this work. After the cleaning, after cleaning the beach

    Band 6-7

    I usually go for my evening exercise into my nearby park and the park is a public place so there's there are always people around it and so they come and eat everything there or just hang out with their friends and whatever reasons they came to the park it's a public place and there was a lot of plastic I saw that people left behind they don't carry their waste with them whenever they leave so there were there were a lot of plastic accumulated all over the park so I got the idea to clean the park for our children to have a safe have a clean space to play and for me to have my fresh exercise and my with my fresh mood so when I when I posted it about online people volunteered and we hold this one day cleaning drive to clean the park and it was very satisfying felt like I was doing something right for the people around our society and for myself as well I feel the sense of responsibility and I think people need to learn that that we cannot litter the place where we hang out or where there is a common place for people to feel free or feel fresh but the government should take a little bit of initiative about this but it was a beautiful drive and whenever I see that it's happening again I hold this campaign or drive I ask people online and they volunteered every time it's very one of the beautiful things that we do together to clean our society or to keep our space
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