School of Sustainability Graduate Culminating Experiences
Student capstone and applied projects from ASU's School of Sustainability.
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- Creators: Christensen, Jill E.
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 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
Description
The Carbon Reduction Transportation Initiative (CRTI) at Northern Arizona University (NAU) was created to improve both recruitment and retention
efforts while significantly lowering NAU’s carbon footprint. Through a collective subsidization between NAU and the City of Flagstaff, the CRTI would
be able to provide all NAU students and staff free access to public transportation. This initiative would also help to reduce the amount of traffic
congestion in Flagstaff’s downtown business district and free up valuable parking spaces both on and off campus. In addition, Flagstaff’s public bus
system, the Northern Arizona Intergovernmental Public Transportation Authority (NAIPTA) would become eligible to apply for larger grants with the
anticipated increase in ridership. This would then allow NAIPTA to increase both the number and the frequency of bus stops which would benefit the
entire Flagstaff community.
efforts while significantly lowering NAU’s carbon footprint. Through a collective subsidization between NAU and the City of Flagstaff, the CRTI would
be able to provide all NAU students and staff free access to public transportation. This initiative would also help to reduce the amount of traffic
congestion in Flagstaff’s downtown business district and free up valuable parking spaces both on and off campus. In addition, Flagstaff’s public bus
system, the Northern Arizona Intergovernmental Public Transportation Authority (NAIPTA) would become eligible to apply for larger grants with the
anticipated increase in ridership. This would then allow NAIPTA to increase both the number and the frequency of bus stops which would benefit the
entire Flagstaff community.
ContributorsChristensen, Jill E. (Writer of accompanying material)
Created2020-05-13