Filtering by
- All Subjects: Entrepreneurship
- All Subjects: Sustainability
- Creators: Computer Science and Engineering Program
- Member of: Theses and Dissertations
- Status: Published
When examining the average college campus, it becomes obvious that students feel rushed from one place to another as they try to participate in class, clubs, and extracurricular activities. One way that students can feel more comfortable and relaxed around campus is to introduce the aspect of gaming. Studies show that “Moderate videogame play has been found to contribute to emotional stability” (Jones, 2014). This demonstrates that the stress of college can be mitigated by introducing the ability to interact with video games. This same concept has been applied in the workplace, where studies have shown that “Gaming principles such as challenges, competition, rewards and personalization keep employees engaged and learning” (Clark, 2020). This means that if we manage to gamify the college experience, students will be more engaged which will increase and stabilize the retention rate of colleges which utilize this type of experience. Gaming allows students to connect with their peers in a casual environment while also allowing them to find resources around campus and find new places to eat and relax. We plan to gamify the college experience by introducing augmented reality in the form of an app. Augmented reality is “. . . a technology that combines virtual information with the real world” (Chen, 2019). College students will be able to utilize the resources and amenities available to them on campus while completing quests that help them within the application. This demonstrates the ability for video games to engage students using artificial tasks but real actions and experiences which help them feel more connected to campus. Our Founders Lab team has developed and tested an AR application that can be used to connect students with their campus and the resources available to them.
In 2018, the United States generated 37.4 million more U.S. tons of paper and cardboard material compared to in 1960 (EPA, 2020). As the United States produces a disproportionate amount of packaging waste every year when accounting for population size, it has become increasingly difficult to mitigate waste production, lessen the environmental impact of generating more paperboard materials, and move towards a more ethical circular economy. In efforts to adopt the principles of a green economy, deviate from the linear supply chain model, minimize packaging waste, and encourage more sustainable lifestyles, we developed a business centered around a circular, service based model called Room & Cardboard. Our initiative collects cardboard waste generated in and around the ASU community and repurposes it for dorm-style furniture available for students to rent throughout the school year. Using cardboard, we have built prototypes for two products (desk lamps and shoe racks) that are sturdy, visually pleasing, and recyclable. Our initiative helps to reduce cardboard packaging waste by upcycling cardboard waste into products that will increase the lifespan of the cardboard material. At the end of the product’s life span, in cases of severe damage, we will turn the product into a seed board made with blended cardboard paste that can then be used to plant a succulent we will make available to students to buy as dorm decor. The feedback on our initiative through online surveys and in-person tabling has generated enough traction for Dean Rendell of Barrett, the Honors College at Arizona State University to consider a test-drive of our products in the upcoming Fall semester.
Obesity rates among adults have steadily grown in recent decades all the way up to<br/>42.4% in 2018. This is a 12% increase from the turn of the century (Center for Disease Control<br/>and Prevention, 2021). A major reason for this rise is increased consumption of processed,<br/>high-calorie foods. People eat these foods at a young age and develop bad eating habits that can<br/>last for the rest of their lives. It is essential to intervene early and help adolescents form<br/>balanced, healthy eating habits before bad habits are already formed. Our solution to this<br/>problem is Green Gamers. Green Gamers combines adolescent’s passion for gaming with<br/>healthy eating via in-game rewards for healthy eating. People will be able to purchase healthy<br/>food items, such as a bag of carrots, and on the packaging there will be a QR code. They will<br/>then be able to scan the code on our website, and earn points which will unlock in-game items<br/>and other rewards. Video game rewards act as effective motivators for you people to eat more<br/>healthy foods. After the solution was formulated, a preliminary survey was conducted to<br/>confirm that video game related rewards would inspire children to eat more healthy foods.<br/>Based on those results, we are currently in the process of running a secondary market research<br/>campaign to learn if gift card rewards are a stronger motivator. Our end goal for Green Gamers<br/>would be to partner with large gaming studios and food producers. This would allow us access to<br/>many gaming franchises, so that rewards are available from a wide variety of games: making the<br/>platform appealing to a diverse audience of gamers. Similarly, a relationship with large food<br/>producers would give us the ability to place QR codes on a greater assortment of healthy food<br/>items. Although no relationships with large companies have been forged yet, we plan to utilize<br/>funding to test our concept on small focus groups in schools
The goal of this research was to analyze the impact of consumer behavior on the sustainability of the fast fashion industry, specifically in regards to the framework of the Triple Bottom Line. First, a review of relevant literature investigating the three aspects of the Triple Bottom Line (environmental, social, and economic) as it pertains to the fast fashion industry was conducted to provide context for this research. Research methods utilized scholarly articles and journals along with companies’ CSR reports to determine the course of development of the fast fashion industry over time. Additionally, the impact of consumer behavior was investigated and linked to trends observed in the production and business practices of the industry over time. Based on the analysis of the influence of past consumer behavior on the industry, it was clear consumers play a major role in the industry and its sustainability in terms of the Triple Bottom Line. This suggests that the unsustainability of the fast fashion industry is due in part to consumer behavior and the retailers themselves, which is important to understand for the industry going forward as it aims to improve overall sustainability.