The problem we are trying to solve or reduce is the amount of plastic on other material that is dumped into the ocean. Our solution is somewhat non-specific to coastal communities, but will benefit them either way. Our plan draws from an idea that was implemented in Germany called the "Green Dot" system. In Germany, companies' products received a green dot if they were working towards greener packaging, and companies were taxed for packaging that was deemed to be too excessive.
Our plan is to tax packaging that has the worst impact on the environment, encouraging companies to switch to cleaner solutions. The cleanest packaging material that we researched was PET Plastic. Because we didn't want to just simply say "use more plastic", we also included that the government should subsidize companies who reuse their own packaging.
Our solution will hopefully have an impact on the amount of harsh plastics and packaging that is used, and overall reduce excess waste that ends up in the ocean. Additionally, our MIT Solve group split in two, and part of the money we received from taxes we pledged to fund our other groups idea of a bin that catches trash (similar to Seabin).
