Theses and Dissertations

Within the last decade, it has become increasingly apparent that the effects of climate change are getting harder and harder to ignore. This fact has led to increased interest in sustainability and an increased pressure from consumers to have these ideals implemented into a variety of global industries. The fashion industry, in particular, has been facing this pressure toward the desire for sustainable products is the fashion industry. Over the last five years, sustainability has become a main focus within the fashion industry. Countless brands now include sustainability within their marketing tactics and a variety of fashion organizations release reports on the unsustainable practices that currently dominate fashion production. These misleading marketing tactics and enigmatic intensive reports lead to confusion on what sustainable fashion actually looks like for both consumers and suppliers alike.<br/> This report attempts to help tackle this problem by using sustainable fashion certifications as a tactic to prove sustainability within business procedures. To compare eight of the most common fashion certifications, this paper assumes a systems thinking approach to creating an assessment framework, which is then applied to said certifications. To back up the importance of the topic, this paper presents key points of the current issues related to this case, which then contribute to the integration of basic sustainability assessment criteria and case-specific factors into overarching core criteria. The application of this framework is utilized to determine which certifications cover certain aspects of the curated core criteria. This is then used to present consumers and manufacturers with a more accurate understanding of each of these certifications. This information is then followed up with a recommendation of certifications that align most within researched-based consumer and supplier desires.

The aim of this creative project was to explore the ideas of impermanence and transience through the lens of different, largely non-western cultural backgrounds, and to incorporate what I learned into my own work as a painter. As part of this, I focused on the materials, techniques, visual strategies, and philosophies that guided the creation of these works. The project consisted of a discrete research phase, during which time I gathered information and materials related to my topic, and a creation phase, when I focused largely on the production of oil paintings and ink paintings whose technique and/or subject matter pertained to impermanence. Research for the most part was conducted by utilizing online and physical collections of work to analyze the formal elements of the work along with the cultural context in which it was created. Ultimately the creative project resulted in a product of three oil paintings and five ink paintings.

The purpose of this study is to examine the social and communicative barriers LGBTQIA+ students face when seeking healthcare at campus health and counseling services at Arizona State University. Social barriers relate to experiences and internalizations of societal stigma experienced by sexual and gender minority individuals as well as the anticipation of such events. Communication between patient and provider was assessed as a potential barrier with respect to perceived provider LGBTQIA+ competency. This study applies the minority stress model, considering experiences of everyday stigma and minority stress as a predictor of healthcare utilization among sexual and gender minority students. The findings suggest a small but substantial correlation between minority stress and healthcare use with 23.7% of respondents delaying or not receiving one or more types of care due to fear of stigma or discrimination. Additionally, communication findings indicate a lack of standardization of LGBTQIA+ competent care with experiences varying greatly between respondents.

Though about 75 percent of American waste is recyclable, only 30 percent of it is actually recycled and less than ten percent of plastics disposed of in the United States in 2015 were recycled. A statistic like this demonstrates the immense need to increase recycling rates in order to move towards cultivating a circular economy and benefiting the environment. With Arizona State University’s (ASU) extensive population of on-campus students and faculty, our team was determined to create a solution that would increase recycling rates. After conducting initial market research, our team incentives or education. We conducted market research through student surveys to determine the level of knowledge of our target audience and barriers to entry for local recycling and composting resources. Further, we gained insight into the medium of recycling and sustainability programs they would be interested in participating in. Overall, the results of our surveys demonstrated that a majority of students were interested in participating in these programs, if they were not already involved, and most students on-campus already had access to these resources. Despite having access to these sustainable practices, we identified a knowledge gap between students and their information on how to properly execute sustainable practices such as composting and recycling. In order to address this audience, our team created Circulearning, an educational program that aims to bridge the gap of knowledge and address immediate concerns regarding circular economy topics. By engaging audiences through our quick, accessible educational modules and teaching them about circular practices, we aim to inspire everyone to implement these practices into their own lives. Though our team began the initiative with a focus on implementing these practices solely to ASU campus, we decided to expand our target audience to implement educational programs at all levels after discovering the interest and need for this resource in our community. Our team is extremely excited that our Circulearning educational modules have been shared with a broad audience including students at Mesa Skyline High School, ASU students, and additional connections outside of ASU. With Circulearning, we will educate and inspire people of all ages to live more sustainably and better the environment in which we live.