Persuasive Essay Example and Template (Annotated)

(1) Introduction. Walk past any campus recycling bin at the end of a lecture day and you will see the same thing: plastic bottles, many still half full, piled above the rim. Each one was bought a few meters from a free water fountain. Our university has committed publicly to reducing its environmental impact, and students increasingly choose universities partly on that commitment. Ending the sale of single-use plastic bottles on campus is one of the simplest, most visible ways to show the commitment is real.

(2) Logos: cost and practicality. A ban is more practical than it may first appear. The campus already has water fountains in most buildings, and adding refill stations in the remaining ones is a one-off cost. Catering outlets can sell reusable bottles and offer canned or carton alternatives for other drinks. Several universities have introduced similar policies, and the main adjustment has been signage and a short transition period, not lost revenue on a scale that threatens catering budgets. Because waste collection is charged by volume, fewer bottles also means lower disposal costs over time.

(3) Ethos: who supports it. This proposal is not a fringe demand. The students' union passed a motion supporting it, the sustainability office already runs a refill campaign, and the university's own environmental policy sets a target to reduce single-use plastics. A ban would align practice with stated policy, protecting the university from the charge that its commitments are only words. It would also give the sustainability office a tangible success to report.

(4) Pathos: what it means. For many students, the climate is not an abstract issue. They will spend their careers dealing with its consequences, and they notice when institutions act and when they do not. A first-year student filling a reusable bottle at a new refill station on her first day receives a quiet message: this place takes the future seriously, including hers. Small, daily signals like that shape how students feel about where they study.

(5) Objection and response. Some will argue that a ban restricts choice, or that individual bottles make little difference compared with energy use or travel. Both points deserve a fair hearing. Choice remains: students can still bring any drink they like and buy alternatives on campus. And while bottles are only a small part of the university's footprint, they are among the most visible, which is exactly why acting on them matters. Visible changes build support for the larger, harder decisions that follow.

(6) Conclusion and call to action. Ending single-use plastic bottle sales is practical, supported across campus and consistent with the university's own policy. It costs little, saves on waste and tells every student that the university's commitments are real. I urge management to approve a one-year phase-out, beginning with refill stations in every building next term, and to report the results to students at the end of the year.

Dear Councillor Reed,

Every school morning, around forty children cross Mill Road to reach Brookside Primary, at a point where the speed limit is 40 mph and there is no crossing. As a parent and a member of the school's governing body, I am writing to ask the council to approve a 20 mph zone and a zebra crossing outside the school in this year's road safety budget.

The case is practical. The road is the only direct route from the new housing estate, so the number of children crossing will grow as families move in. A crossing and a lower limit are among the most common, lowest-cost safety measures councils use near schools, and the council's own road safety plan names school routes as a priority.

The governing body, the head teacher and the residents' association all support the request, and more than two hundred local residents have signed a petition. We would welcome the chance to show you the crossing point at drop-off time, so you can see the problem for yourself.

I would be grateful if this request could be considered at the transport committee meeting next month.

Yours sincerely,
[Name]