In: Economics
Because plastic is non-biodegradable, this means that when we use and dispose of plastic bags they will be taking up space in our landfills (or become a part of the giant island of plastic waste in the Pacific Ocean) forever. Show and explain why a ban on plastic grocery bags is inefficient (Hint: think of grocery stores (and by proxy grocery store shoppers) as being on the demand side here and plastic bag manufacturers as being on the supply side). Now think about the market for cotton tote bags. Do you think people consume the efficient quantity of cotton tote bags? Show and explain why or why not.
Draw the graphs.
The inefficiency in the plastic grocery bags market can be shown with the help of the following diagram: