Mining is a key component of both the Brazilian and Chilean economies and accounts for an outsized share of these countries’ exports. Yet, it is a common target for environmental criticism, especially due to its impacts on local populations and ecosystems. Brazil and Chile have adopted markedly different trade strategies over the past three decades, most notably with regards to their involvement in international trade agreements. This paper investigates how these differences in trade policy since 1990 have affected the sustainability of each country’s mining sector by identifying and comparing the channels through which free trade agreements influence the environmental impacts of resource extraction.

New Leaf was founded with the mission to address the environmental, health, and sustainability consequences of paper production today. We explored the sourcing and foundations of paper needs, supporting our assumption that paper can be created from agricultural waste. We solidified a business plan using agricultural waste after considerable sourcing research and expert and consumerism input. We determined that using forest foliage that is a potential fire hazard from a national forest could be used as a source to make alternative paper as well as contribute to sustainability efforts.

New Leaf was founded with the mission to address the environmental, health, and sustainability consequences of paper production today. We explored the sourcing and foundations of paper needs, supporting our assumption that paper can be created from agricultural waste. We solidified a business plan using agricultural waste after considerable sourcing research and expert and consumer input. We determined that forest foliage, a potential fire hazard, could be sourced from national forests and used to make alternative paper as well as contribute to sustainability efforts.

New Leaf was founded with the mission to address the environmental, health, and sustainability consequences of paper production today. We explored the sourcing and foundations of paper needs, supporting our assumption that paper can be created from agricultural waste. We solidified a business plan using agricultural waste after considerable sourcing research and expert and consumerism input. We determined that using forest foliage that is a potential fire hazard from a national forest could be used as a source to make alternative paper as well as contribute to sustainability efforts.

New Leaf was founded with the mission to address the environmental, health, and sustainability consequences of paper production today. We explored the sourcing and foundations of paper needs, supporting our assumption that paper can be created from agricultural waste. We solidified a business plan using agricultural waste after considerable sourcing research and expert and consumerism input. We determined that using forest foliage that is a potential fire hazard from a national forest could be used as a source to make alternative paper as well as contribute to sustainability efforts.

This study explored the consumer response and behavioral patterns in relation to sustainability marketing on food packaging. Following a global trend towards sustainability, there has been a recent explosion in the amount of sustainability labels consumers can find on product packaging, though it is not necessarily an indicator of growth of sustainable products in terms of market share. Many marketing factors, such as, price or quality, can influence dietary decisions individuals are making for their households. In the same way, labels that advertise qualities, including ethical production or minimal environmental impact may persuade consumers to buy a product, regardless of whether or not certifications are accurate. The question arises whether individuals are more likely to buy a product that has a sustainability label. More specifically, does this still hold, even if they do not know what that label actually represents? During this study, a variety of household shoppers were surveyed to gather data on consumer awareness, intentions, and overall attitudes towards the credibility and importance of these labels.

This thesis will examine possible connection points between the health of a local environmental/climate news ecosystem and that local community’s belief in and vulnerability to the effects of climate change in Central Appalachia and Northern Virginia. The three counties that will be studied in Virginia are Arlington, Buchanan and Wise Counties. This research will be mainly a hypothesis-generating descriptive analysis of data, coupled with both interviews with researchers and local experts, in addition to observations from relevant literature about the possible connections between availability of environmental news with climate change, institutional belief and climate vulnerability data. The local history of resource extraction will also be explored. The point of this thesis is not to prove that a lack of access to strong, locally focused climate and environmental news increases vulnerability to the effects of climate change (although it does raise this as a possibility). Rather, it is to continue a conversation with journalists, media professionals and climate professionals about how to approach understanding and engaging groups left out of the climate conversation and groups who've been traditionally underserved by news media when it comes to climate information and appeals for institutional trust. This conversation is already happening, especially when it comes to the importance of the health of local, community focused news in general in Appalachia, but given the urgency and scale of the climate crisis, merits continuation and some inquiry into environmental news.

This paper focuses on the impacts of climate change on the Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and/or Questioning, Intersex, Asexual (2SLGBTQIA+) population. The paper seeks to fill in the current gap within research in this particular area. I utilize a decolonial and intersectional framework to determine how to achieve queer climate justice. In doing so, I conduct interviews with different climate activists and review current research to come up with possible responses.