Theses and Dissertations
This collection includes both ASU Theses and Dissertations, submitted by graduate students, and the Barrett, Honors College theses submitted by undergraduate students.
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- Creators: School of Sustainability
Description
This paper explores patterns of declining sense of community found in many modern-day neighborhoods and maintains that this phenomenon presents a level of vulnerability to our society that has been overlooked. It investigates this by examining four modern environments within the U.S.: two primarily low-income, immigrant communities in or near the Tempe area, and two middle-income class communities in downtown Mesa and on the South Texas border, respectively. It uses a multi-methods approach to understand how sense of community could manifest itself at varying levels depending on the type of community establishedamong different types of communities. The locations studied were fundamentally different in nature, and, therefore, could not be subject to comparative analysis. However, the study gives evidence of weaker sense of community and general relational connection among moderate to upper-class environments. Literature review utilized in the two low-income immigrant neighborhoods revealed that residents experience high sense of community, as well as high satisfaction with their environments. Qualitative analyses consisting of interviews approached through an assets-based community development perspective, as well as forms of coding employed in the South Texas neighborhood, revealed that the two middle to upper-income communities experience low to moderate sense of community, and corresponding satisfaction with their environments. This paper suggests that trends of decreasing sense of community, such as these, create unnoticed vulnerabilities for our modern environments that present disadvantages for sustainable development. It also suggests that we can learn from the former two communities, and proposes that strong communities are critical for our society on many levels, as well as advantageous for the future of sustainable development.
ContributorsMeador, Keily (Author) / Cloutier, Scott (Thesis director) / Eakin, Hallie (Committee member) / School of Sustainability (Contributor, Contributor) / School of Earth and Space Exploration (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-12
Description
Food waste is a growing global issue that exemplifies an unsustainable system of resource loss in landfills which eventually breaks down into the greenhouse gas of methane. Approaching landfill diversion of food waste on the local level requires innovative solutions based on public and private partnerships. This thesis project explored how the City of Tempe's Grease Cooperative could provide a model of restaurant partnership and third-party service to tackle not just restaurant grease waste in water, but food waste in the solid waste stream. This used other city-run food waste collection systems as examples, and it relied on the input and support of multiple municipal stakeholders in its design. Using an existing food waste collection service in the Phoenix metropolitan area, the research was collected during a month-long observational pilot study of four Tempe restaurants, where data ranged from trash bin differences to kitchen staff sizes. The results of the pilot were compiled for the benefit of the collection service, the City of Tempe, and the involved restaurants to demonstrate potential obstacles to a currently small, but scalable, collection service, and potential solutions that will make the service more efficient and attractive to new customers. Future research goals include expanding the pilot's reach and information through stronger partnerships and collaborative data collection in Tempe, providing a guide to a food waste collection cooperative within Tempe, and promoting large scale diversion of food waste from restaurants both through prevention and nutrient recycling. The final paper was submitted for publication to the Solutions journal, as an example of "On the Ground" implementation of solutions.
ContributorsAndersen, Annika Emmaline (Author) / Cloutier, Scott (Thesis director) / Eakin, Hallie (Committee member) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
The ecological benefits provided by trees include improving air quality (Nowak, et. al., 2006), mitigating climate change by sequestering carbon (Nowak, 1993), providing animal habitats (Livingston, et. al., 2003), and reducing heat (Edmonson, 2016), among others. Trees also provide numerous social benefits, impacting urban sustainability in particular by improving human health (Salmond, 2016), aesthetically and economically improving neighborhoods (Torres, 2012), and contributing to thriving communities by creating gathering spaces and even reducing crime (Abraham, et. al., 2010). Because of the tremendous potential of trees to provide social and ecological services, particularly in urban areas, tree planting has become an important facet of many sustainability initiatives. This thesis assesses one such initiative aimed at planting trees for the diverse benefits they provide. Valley Permaculture Alliance (VPA), a nonprofit based in Phoenix, Arizona, is known for its Shade Tree Program. The author conducted an internal, quantitative assessment of the program between August and December of 2015. The assessment included evaluation of several indicators of ecological and community health related to the presence of shade trees, culminating in a report released in 2016. This paper evaluates the use of sustainability indicators in the VPA assessment as well as their value in different types of organizations. It culminates with an assessment of VPA's strengths, challenges faced by the organization, and suggestions for its future development.
ContributorsJones, Michaela Martine (Author) / Larson, Kelli (Thesis director) / Eakin, Hallie (Committee member) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / American Indian Studies Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
Intensive global animal agricultural practices have proved to be a cause for concern, resulting, in part, from consumer preferences and an increasing global demand for protein, especially meat. Countries like Argentina, contribute to Greenhouse Gas emissions substantially through their livestock sector. Improved resource management can help to promote sustainable agriculture by reducing the amount of water and energy used to produce livestock, and improve livestock practices in order to reduce GHG emissions. The integration of resource management between food, energy, and water systems can help to decrease livestock-based emissions, through efficiency improvements targeted towards animal agricultural practices. This paper can act as a reference for other researchers studying the FEW nexus, to increase their understanding of how to improve coordination across water, energy, and agricultural sectors by using Argentina’s livestock sector as an example. Furthermore, policy and decision makers in Argentina can use information about FEW systems to make informed decisions about the allocation and prioritization of integrated management between food, energy, and water sectors, to help them implement integrated mitigation strategies within their livestock sector to help reduce GHG emissions.
ContributorsGregorio, Gisselle Marie (Author) / White, Dave (Thesis director) / Eakin, Hallie (Committee member) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-12