A hat tip to Mark Seccombe for suggesting these resources on the externalities of plastic waste - very timely as many teachers get stuck into aspects of market failure and sustainability with their AS students.

I came across this video which would be a good little clip to introduce negative externalities on both the production and consumption side. It would also reinforce the difficulties of putting monetary values on externalities. The first half is better for Economics, the second half drifts into sociological comment.

It could be supported by this cracking site on plastic bag usage. This article considers plant based plastics as a way forward, it could be good example of weighing up costs and benefits – the second-to-last paragraph has some good stuff from a business point of view.

Video