My topic of choice is: plastics bans in US states. My plan is to research different US states, and when and why they implemented plastic bans. My research question is: Why are plastic bans only statewide, and have the federal government not created a policy to ban plastic bans nationally? Furthermore, I would like to add a section which would go into a relationship between COVID-19 and plastic bag bans. Sources like https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/26/climate/plastic-bag-ban-virus.html have gone into why plastic bag bans may be lifted due to the COVID-19.
https://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/50034.html This link goes into the Bag Waste Reduction Law in New York. This is one of the examples of the statewide bans on plastic bags. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/02/learning/should-plastic-bags-be-banned-everywhere.html This article from the New York Times goes into the question “Should Plastic Bags Be Banned Everywhere?”, and this will be an article that I will use in my research, to help answer my overall question. To be able to have arguments both for and against plastic bag bans, I have looked at https://greenliving.lovetoknow.com/Why_Should_We_Not_Ban_Plastic_Bags which is an article that is backed by different studies, and argues that plastic bags might not be the worst thing to use. An article that shows both sides of the story a bit clearer is from Dumpsters.com: https://www.dumpsters.com/blog/plastic-bag-bans. This article will be good to include in my study, because it is a debate between pros and cons of plastic bags. A very important determinant on whether to ban plastic bags or not, would be to do the cost-benefit analysis for them. https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/hdp.au.prod.app.vic-engage.files/1915/0580/1564/Plastic_Bags_Ban_Options_-_Cost_Benefit_Analysis_Report.pdf This is a study done by financial and economic consultants in Australia. I hope to apply some of the data found in this study, and see whether or not it can be used in the US. Lastly https://www.clf.org/blog/proposed-plastic-bag-ban-would-benefit-environment-and-economy/ is an article that will help support my claim that plastic bag bans should be nationwide, and maybe even worldwide due to not only environmental benefits, but also for economical gain.
https://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/50034.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/26/climate/plastic-bag-ban-virus.html
https://greenliving.lovetoknow.com/Why_Should_We_Not_Ban_Plastic_Bags
https://www.dumpsters.com/blog/plastic-bag-bans.
https://www.clf.org/blog/proposed-plastic-bag-ban-would-benefit-environment-and-economy/
