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Student capstone and applied projects from ASU's School of Sustainability.

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A Healthier Future: Replacing Plastics in Healthcare

Description
This paper recounts a project journey that was taken to explore how replacing plastics with less harmful materials can drive positive environmental impact. The project examined the scope and impacts of plastic pollution attributable to healthcare delivery and the adverse impacts it has on population health. Identifying potential options to…

This paper recounts a project journey that was taken to explore how replacing plastics with less harmful materials can drive positive environmental impact. The project examined the scope and impacts of plastic pollution attributable to healthcare delivery and the adverse impacts it has on population health. Identifying potential options to replace plastics was accomplished by obtaining access to one of the world’s leading materials databases. This access enabled identification of several alternative materials with documented uses as plastic replacements. Evidence of successes that have been achieved in replacing plastics with less harmful materials was gathered by conducting interviews with international materials experts and senior executives from several different industries. These examples are combined with the research findings on alternative materials to construct a case that taking action can yield financial benefits while doing less harm to people and the planet. The completed project presents a framework that can be followed in future efforts to replace plastics. While the scope of the project focused on the plastic pollution problem from a healthcare perspective, the framework that was created is portable and can be adapted for use in any organization or industry seeking to replace plastics and drive change to create a healthier future.
ContributorsO'Brien, Patrick (Writer of accompanying material)
Created2019-12-03

The Environmental, Social, and Economic Impacts of Remote Work

Description

COVID-19 brought so much uncertainty into the world and has molded this project into what it is today. The first project journey that was chosen was meant to show the impact of how much plastic waste was being produced at Starbucks. Then due to COVID-19 yet again, it changed into…

COVID-19 brought so much uncertainty into the world and has molded this project into what it is today. The first project journey that was chosen was meant to show the impact of how much plastic waste was being produced at Starbucks. Then due to COVID-19 yet again, it changed into how much paper waste there was within the State of Washington Department of Licensing (DOL) Business and Professions Division (BPD). DOL BPD is a state agency division that licenses over forty plus professional and business licenses to the residents of Washington state. Due to the pandemic, the project transformed into how the three pillars of sustainability impacts remote work within BPD. BPD is in this new and unique paradigm where the deliverable that was brought forth as this project completed are, “The 9 Benefits of Sustainability through Remote Work” (Appendix D) where this specifically showed DOL why remote work is sustainable and how it should be implemented even further throughout the agency. This list was put together with the benefits that best fit DOL BPD.
ContributorsReynolds, Jordan (Writer of accompanying material)
Created2021-02-11