Temple Environmental Impacts Between Reusable and Disposable Diapers Questions

For those questions, you get zero points if you do not answer the question, 5 points if you answer the question but do not clearly explain your answer, and 10 points if you answer the question and explain your answer. Other questions require you to provide correct answers and are also graded zero, 5 or 10 points: zero points if you do not answer the question, 5 points if you answer the question incorrectly, and 10 points if you answer the question correctly.

1. (0, 5, or 10) When governments impose pollution fees or taxes on polluting firms, it increases the costs of those firms which in many cases results in the firm raising its prices. Do you think it is appropriate that the consumer bears part of the burden of pollution fees in the form of higher prices? Why or why not?

2. (0, 5, or 10) A few years ago we became aware that disposable diapers were a major item being put into U.S. landfills. Some communities discussed banning disposable diapers from their landfills. There were protests from parents groups whose members found disposable much more convenient than cloth diapers. Rationally evaluate this policy from both the community environmentalists and the parents groups’ viewpoints.

3. (0, 5, or 10) A community planning on charging a fee for trash pickup might structure the fee in any of several ways. It might, for example charge a fixed amount per can, an amount per pound of garbage, or a flat fee per month regardless of the amount of garbage.

a) How would each of these (a fixed amount per can, an amount per pound of garbage, or a flat fee per month) affect the amount and type of garbage produced?

b) Which system would lead to increase in the use of trash compactors?

c) Which would lead to the most garbage?