SAMPLE OF FINAL PREPARATION OUTLINE

(CORRECTED AFTER LECTURER’S COMMENTS)

ELC590
PREPARATION OUTLINE
PERSUASIVE SPEECH

Student’s Name :
Matric Number :
Faculty / Group :
Lecturer’s Name :

Title : Recycling Is Important

General purpose : To persuade
Specific purpose : To persuade my audience to make recycling a habit.
Central idea : The excessive amount of garbage is filling up our landfills and therefore
we must make recycling a habit or face environmental problems.

INTRODUCTION

I. Look at this picture. What do you think this is? If you say it is a mountain, you are
correct. This is actually a mountain of rubbish at a landfill.
A. Shocking isn’t it? As urbanization increases, urban waste increases too.
B. In 1900, 220 million population produced 300,000 tonnes of rubbish.
However, 10 years later in 2000, 2.9 billion people produced 3 million tonnes
of solid waste per day.
C. That is a lot of rubbish.
II. I have done some research on this issue. Even in my house more than 2 plastic bags of
garbage are produced in just one day.
A. If one house produces 2 plastic bags of garbage per day, imagine the amount
of garbage 10 million houses can produce in a day.
B. That will be 20 million garbage bags in a day! If we keep producing rubbish at
this rate, our planet will eventually be filled with garbage.
III. So that is why we should change our mindset about waste.
A. We need to recycle because sometimes waste can be used for other purposes.
1. We can recycle the waste and change it to become new products.
2. Recycling is a process of turning waste and used items into new, useful
material or product. This not only gives the old items a new lease of
life, it also reduces amount of raw materials used to make new product.
3. Although recycling is a good thing to be done by our community, some
people still do not recycle.
IV. So today, I would like to persuade everyone of you here to make recycling a habit
because it not only reduces our landfills but can provide us with a better environment.

Updated: 5 March 2018

(Transition: Now, you may say to yourself “What is the problem? Why do I need to recycle?
Why can’t I just throw my rubbish in the garbage bin?”)

BODY

I. Well ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you why you need to recycle.
A. The more we throw our rubbish, the more landfill we will need.
1. Our landfills are eventually filling up with our garbage and this will
lead to the need for more landfills in the future.
2. The fact is, waste is not easily degraded.
a. According to 2016 article in New Straight Times, “studies have
shown that even biodegradable products that are environmental-
friendly do not degrade in landfill”.
b. This is because waste needs oxygen and light for the degradation
process to occur but the element of a landfill that has too many
layers of rubbish and very little light, do not allow for
degradation process to occur fast enough.
c. Hence, the more rubbish we throw away, the more landfill we
will need.
B. The second problem is the type of waste itself.
1. As our society becomes more and more urbanise and affluent, we are
producing more solid waste.
a. Solid wastes are non-biodegradable. The types of solid waste
produced by urban communities consist of plastic bags,
packaging materials, electric wastes like used batteries and
broken toys, to name a few.
2. All these wastes are non-biodegradable and over time will fill our
landfill.
a. Hoornweg et al. quoted World Bank Report that by the year 2025,
we would have produced 6 million tonnes of solid waste in a day.
b. Now, that is a lot of non-biodegradable waste that is filling our
landfill and worse still, these solid wastes are not degradable.

(Transition: Now that you know the problem of not recycling, you may be asking yourself
these questions: “How do I make recycling as part of my routine?”)

II. There are several ways you can make recycling a habit.
A. Firstly, you need to raise your understanding and awareness on what recycling
means.
1. According to Conserve Energy Future (CEF) in an article titled
Importance of recycling, “When you think of recycling you should
really think about the whole idea; reduce, reuse and recycle. Think
about it; if you don’t need it, don’t get it. If you have to get it, get
something that can be used again and if you get something that needs
to be recycled by the professionals, put it in the recycle bin”.
2. Besides understanding what recycling means, going to recycling
campaigns can also increase awareness.
a. This may sound unconventional but lack of awareness on how
recycle products are generated from items that are thrown away
is one of the reasons people do not recycle.

Updated: 5 March 2018

 b. When you do not see how consumers’ goods are generated
from recycled items, you will not see the importance of
recycling.
c. For example, if you can see that recycle bottles can be made
into park benches and steel can be recycled into household
appliances, you will be more inclined to recycle.
d. Only after we understand what recycling means can we practice
recycling ourselves and make recycling a habit.
B. Another way of making recycling as part of your habit is to begin at home.
There are several simple steps that you can take.
1. First of all, avoid using plastic bags and plastic paper.
a. These items are not only non-biodegradable and non-
environmentally friendly but they also tend to stay in the
landfill longer.
b. Instead of using plastic bags replace it with other bags that can
be reuse whenever you go shopping.
c. According to May 2016 News Strait Times, it is not the plastic
bags that is polluting our earth but the people who throw plastic
bags indiscriminately who are polluting our earth.
d. So by avoiding using plastic bags you can help to reduce
pollution and waste.
2. Secondly, when you go shopping, look for products that have less
packaging.
a. This will help in reducing the amount of waste and garbage that
are sent to the landfill.
b. Remember, less packaging is good. Less packaging means less
waste. Less waste means less garbage that goes to our landfills.

(Transition: So imagine that you do not recycle. What will happen?)

III. Well, let me tell you what will happen to the environment in the future if you don’t
recycle.
A. First of all there will be more waste sent to landfills.
1. Our landfills will be full and we most probably will need to have more and
more landfills.
2. This will result in our planet straining from the result of our waste.
B. With more landfills, there will be many environmental problems.
1. According to Conserved Energy Future landfills pollute the environment
and destroy the beauty of the city.
2. Landfills can also affect the health of people who live there. Toxic air
pollutions from landfills can lead to respiratory problems.

CONCLUSION

I. As a conclusion recycling can give us a better environment.

II. We will get a clean environment to live on and we also will get a healthy life
because there is no pollution around us.
III. Our lives will become happier when we see clean and beautiful environment.

Updated: 5 March 2018

 IV. So to achieve this target we should raise our awareness about the environment and
make recycling a habit.
V. Start recycling now. Stop using plastic bags and buy products that have less
packaging.

REFERENCES:

Bouw, B. (2015). Marketing, Recycling Campaign Gives a Glimpse into The Afterlife.
Retrieved from http://www.marketingmag.ca/advertising/recycling-campaign-gives-a-
glimpse-into-the-afterlife-149633

Conserve Energy Future (n.d.). Importance of Recycling. Retrieved from

http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/Importance_of_Recycling.php

Conserve Energy Future CEF (2016), What is Environmental Degradation?

Retrieved from http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/causes-and-effects-of-
environmental-degradation.php

Hoornweg, D., Bhada-Tata, P., & Kennedy, C. (2013). Environment: Waste Production Must
Peak This Century. Nature. Retrieved from http://www.nature.com/news/environment-
waste-production-must-peak-this-century-1.14032

Kok, B. L., (2016). Littering, Not Packaging, Pollutes. New Straits Times Online.
Retrieved from http://www.nst.com.my/news/2016/05/143617/littering-not-packaging-
pollutes

Updated: 5 March 2018