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ContributorsJordan, Brendan (Author) / Boyer, Mackenzie (Thesis director) / Bronowitz, Jason (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Sustainable Engineering & Built Envirnmt (Contributor)
Created2023-12
Description
The post-industrial era ushered in significant advancements in global living standards, largely driven by technological innovations. The events of the 20th century shaped how these innovations implemented themselves into American culture, particularly influencing consumption habits. The broad shift to reliance on single use materials led to concerns about resource exploitation

The post-industrial era ushered in significant advancements in global living standards, largely driven by technological innovations. The events of the 20th century shaped how these innovations implemented themselves into American culture, particularly influencing consumption habits. The broad shift to reliance on single use materials led to concerns about resource exploitation and environmental sustainability. Recycling stands as a vital tool in mitigating these concerns, while maximizing sustainable goals and circular material life cycles. While recycling stands as an important concept in material reuse, the United States recycling infrastructure faces some major inefficiencies that prevent it from achieving its optimal benefits. Investigating the growth of curbside recycling and the consequences of China’s ban on recycling materials reveal failures within the recycling system. Once identified, further analysis of recycling failures emphasizes the use of concepts such as industrial ecology to visualize how industrial materials are influenced by broader multi-dimensional systems. One such level of analysis involves investigating the shortcomings of current recycling technologies and their implementation. However, to provide a fuller explanation of these inefficiencies, analysis of cultural, economic, and political dimensions is necessary. Case studies of recycling systems in different types of U.S. cities such as San Francisco and Surprise, provide insights into the effectiveness of these dimensions at highlighting core failures. Analysis of these failures also provides a framework in which to engineer possible solutions for recycling systems that emphasis the growth of cohesive recycling infrastructure and leveraging legislation to influence the recycling rates and the production of more renewable materials.
ContributorsJordan, Brendan (Author) / Boyer, Mackenzie (Thesis director) / Bronowitz, Jason (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Sustainable Engineering & Built Envirnmt (Contributor)
Created2023-12
Description
Phoenix, Arizona is a city characterized by intense urban sprawl: low-density, spread out, and disconnected development. Within the Phoenix Metropolitan Area comes a new development, Culdesac, that creates car-free living geared towards alternate transit methods. This new neighborhood offers a more sustainable urban form that contrasts Phoenix and has potential

Phoenix, Arizona is a city characterized by intense urban sprawl: low-density, spread out, and disconnected development. Within the Phoenix Metropolitan Area comes a new development, Culdesac, that creates car-free living geared towards alternate transit methods. This new neighborhood offers a more sustainable urban form that contrasts Phoenix and has potential to increase walkability in the city. After examining case studies of Vauban, Germany; Masdar City, Abu Dhabi; and Fruitvale, California as examples of sustainable development with a focus on alternate transit, this paper compares these examples to the future of Culdesac. A list of principles of walkability including public participation, scale, creativity, adherence to principles, government cooperation, and transportation help to guide this comparison and determine whether Culdesac is a possible method to increase sustainable urban form in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area.
ContributorsKelly, Gracie (Author) / Kelley, Jason (Thesis director) / Jamme, Hue-Tam (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor)
Created2023-12
Description
Sustainability is a significant and widespread issue in the global fashion industry. This thesis details some of the current practices the fashion industry carries out as well as the laws that specifically govern the fashion industry and the practices it can take to be more sustainable. It also explores consumers’

Sustainability is a significant and widespread issue in the global fashion industry. This thesis details some of the current practices the fashion industry carries out as well as the laws that specifically govern the fashion industry and the practices it can take to be more sustainable. It also explores consumers’ perceptions, values, and behaviors relating to sustainable products in both the general consumer market and specifically in the fashion industry. The conclusions of this thesis are that the green consumer group expands into many different consumer categories, they consider sustainability as part of a set of other attributes while fashion shopping, and they may need help with identifying green products. To cater to this large segment of consumers, fashion brands should clearly and transparently identify their sustainable product offerings while considering their target market’s values and behaviors.
ContributorsEngel, Emily (Author) / Eaton, John (Thesis director) / Mokwa, Michael (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor)
Created2023-12
ContributorsEngel, Emily (Author) / Eaton, John (Thesis director) / Mokwa, Michael (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor)
Created2023-12
ContributorsEngel, Emily (Author) / Eaton, John (Thesis director) / Mokwa, Michael (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor)
Created2023-12
Description
Climate change is a well-known global threat to societal systems; however, its effects on the health of individuals are often less evident. Physicians who aim to properly treat patients holistically must be educated on the various forms of illness and disease projected to be exacerbated by climate change. Without this necessary climate education,

Climate change is a well-known global threat to societal systems; however, its effects on the health of individuals are often less evident. Physicians who aim to properly treat patients holistically must be educated on the various forms of illness and disease projected to be exacerbated by climate change. Without this necessary climate education, physicians run the risk of being unable to fulfill the most sacred charge of the Hippocratic oath: Do No Harm. To ensure that physicians moving forward are prepared to face this new global health threat, the prevalence of climate change in current medical school curricula must be examined. Content analysis of publicly available medical school curricula in the Southwest U.S. was done using ChatGPT to track the frequency of climate health search terms. Medical school curricula analyzed included mandatory degree programs as well as optional dual degree programs or pathways for medical student education. Researchers found that medical schools within the Southwest region of the United States are not sufficiently preparing students to mitigate the regional effects of climate change on the health of patients. Mandatory medical degree curriculum does not sufficiently educate on climate health issues, nor is it present in Utah, New Mexico, or Colorado. Optional degrees and pathways are available to medical students to enroll in and may be sufficient to educate a medical student, but are not enticing enough to sufficiently educate all medical students. Some medical schools have recently conducted revisals of their mandatory curriculum and still show a lack of education available about climate health issues. The lack of educational resources for future providers could lead to detrimental health outcomes for patients, and medical schools in development should take the lead in educating their students about climate health issues.
ContributorsGutierrez, Sean (Author) / Jamieson, Ann (Co-author) / Vanos, Jennifer (Thesis director) / Lobo, Jose (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies, Sch (Contributor)
Created2023-12
Description

The purpose of this thesis was to understand the importance of supply chain visibility (SCV) and to provide an analysis of the technology available for achieving SCV. Historical events where companies lacked efficient SCV were assessed to understand how errors in the supply chain can have detrimental effects on a

The purpose of this thesis was to understand the importance of supply chain visibility (SCV) and to provide an analysis of the technology available for achieving SCV. Historical events where companies lacked efficient SCV were assessed to understand how errors in the supply chain can have detrimental effects on a company and their reputation. Environmental, social, and governance standards within the supply chain were defined along with the importance of meeting the legal and consumer expectations of a supply chain. There are many different organizations dedicated to helping companies meet ESG standards to achieve ethical, sustainable supply chains. Examples such as the Responsible Business Association and the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development were considered. A government solution to SCV, called the Freight Logistics Optimization Works Initiative, considered the importance of data sharing for large companies with complex supply chains, and this solution was assessed for understanding. Current companies and technologies available to achieve SCV were examined for understanding as to how the issue of SCV is currently addressed in the industry. A case study on the company Moses Lake Industries looked at how their complicated chemical manufacturing supply chain has adapted to achieve SCV. This included understanding supplier location, manufacturing processes, and risks. Future technologies that are currently being developed which could further benefit the supply chain industry were considered. Other future considerations, such as the movement of manufacturing out of high risk areas and the need for centralization of SCV solution, were also discussed.

ContributorsWhite, Lily (Author) / Bronowitz, Jason (Thesis director) / Grumbach, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2023-05
Description

The policy design process in the United States has been guiding policymakers for decades. In order to keep up with the developing sustainability challenges that the US is facing, a new method of policy design needs to be determined for long-lasting, sustainable change. Human-centered design principles provide a new, unique

The policy design process in the United States has been guiding policymakers for decades. In order to keep up with the developing sustainability challenges that the US is facing, a new method of policy design needs to be determined for long-lasting, sustainable change. Human-centered design principles provide a new, unique perspective for analyzing sustainability challenges. Through the integration of human-centered design principles into policy systems, a new framework for policy design can be created. Through this project, a new framework that allows for the adaptation to new technologies, scientific information, and developments in the sustainability crisis to be accounted for and adequately addressed in future policies has been created.

ContributorsFish, Risa (Author) / O'Flaherty, Katherine (Thesis director) / White, Dave (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Watts College of Public Service & Community Solut (Contributor) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor)
Created2023-05
Description
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia is one of the world’s coldest capital cities with roughly 1.5 million residents. About fifty percent of the city’s residents are off the electrical grid and millions continue to live nomadic lifestyles, raising livestock for food. Problematically, residents often turn to raw coal - Mongolia’s largest export -

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia is one of the world’s coldest capital cities with roughly 1.5 million residents. About fifty percent of the city’s residents are off the electrical grid and millions continue to live nomadic lifestyles, raising livestock for food. Problematically, residents often turn to raw coal - Mongolia’s largest export - as a means to cook food and stay warm. Project Koyash is a philanthropic engineering initiative that was founded in the Arizona State University Program Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) to combat the air quality crisis plaguing the ger districts of Ulaanbaatar. Koyash has already deployed 13 fully functional and autonomous units consisting of a solar powered air filtration system in Ulaanbaatar. Koyash innovated a solution of solar panels, air filters, batteries, inverters, PCB Arduinos, and other necessary components for providing crucial humanitarian services. The team is working to send more units and develop a local supply chain for the systems. This thesis project explores the development of Koyash, assesses the human health implications of air pollution, and reflects on the entire process.
ContributorsYavari, Bryan (Author) / Hartwell, Leland (Thesis director) / Schoepf, Jared (Thesis director) / Diddle, Julianna (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2024-05