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- All Subjects: Sustainability
- Creators: Byrne, Jared
I address these research gaps in three essays that explore the research question of (1) how design features of sustainability programs vary across US local governments, (2) which factors influence variations in program design, (3) how these factors are related to environmental quality outcomes in communities. By assessing US local governments’ sustainability programs, I found that even for local governments that adopt a same number of sustainability programs, they design their programs differently, especially across the breadth of environmental issues that local governments address in their sustainability programs and the breadth of policy instrument that are used in their programs. Findings suggest that pressures from external stakeholders and variations in local governments’ organizational capacities are related to local governments’ decisions to purse different types of sustainability strategies. Finally, I find that local governments that design their programs more comprehensively are likely to have greater environmental performance outcomes in their community. My dissertation expands existing research in a significant way by focusing on the importance of program design and its link with improved environmental performance, thereby providing important implications for distinguishing among local governments’ sustainability strategies.
Using social cognitive theory as the research framework, this study examined internal and external motives and their influence on small business participation in sustainable tourism certification and sustainability practices. Incentives for behavior, modeling of other businesses, company values, and self-efficacy were examined as motives and barriers. Regression analysis and independent samples t-tests were used to examine statistical relationships.
This study partnered with the Alaska Travel Industry Association (ATIA) to study businesses that hold Adventure Green Alaska sustainable tourism certification or are viewed as prospects for certification. From a list of 77, 44 Alaska tourism businesses responded to an online questionnaire to participate in this study. Businesses were categorized into those with certification (n = 31) and those without (n=13). Results indicated participation in sustainability practices to be higher among certified businesses than non-certified. Internal motives indicated to be more significant than external motives for participation in sustainable practices and certification. Company values were of high importance to both certified and non-certified businesses in implementing sustainable practices and certification. Consumer interest and marketing benefits were important incentives for participation in sustainability strategies. These findings have implications for tourism industry associations and organizations interested in the operationalization and development of sustainable tourism. This study is expected to aid in marketing and retention efforts for sustainable tourism certification programs, as well as future direction for development of sustainable tourism certification.
Waste pickers are the victims of harsh economic and social factors that have hurt many developing countries and billions of people around the world. Due to the rise of industrialization since the 19th century, waste and disposable resources have been discarded around the world to provide more resources, products, and services to wealthy countries. This has put developing countries in a precarious position where people have had very few economic opportunities besides taking on the role of waste pickers, who not only face physical health consequences due to the work they do but also face exclusion from society due to the negative views of waste pickers. Many people view waste pickers as scavengers and people who survive off of doing dirty work, which creates tensions between waste pickers and others in society. This even leads to many countries outlawing waste picking and has led to the brutal treatment of waste pickers throughout the world and has even led to thousands of waste pickers being killed by anti-waste picker groups and law enforcement organizations in many countries. <br/> Waste pickers are often at the bottom of supply-chains as they take resources that have been used and discarded, and provide them to recyclers, waste management organizations, and others who are able to turn these resources into usable materials again. Waste pickers do not have many opportunities to rise above the situation they are in as waste picking has become the only option for many people who need to provide for themselves and their families. They are not compensated very well for the work they do, which also contributes to the situation where waste pickers are forced into a position of severe health risks, backlash from society and governments, not being able to seek better opportunities due to a lack of earning potential, and not being connected with end-users. Now is the time to create new business models that solve these large problems in our global society and create a sustainable way to ensure that waste pickers are treated properly around the world.
With the rise of fast fashion and its now apparent effects on climate change, there is an evident need for change in terms of how we as individuals use our clothing and footwear. Our team has created Ray Fashion Inc., a sustainable footwear company that focuses on implementing the circular economy to reduce the amount of waste generated in shoe creation. We have designed a sandal that accommodates the rapid consumption element of fast fashion with a business model that promotes sustainability through a buy-back method to upcycle and retain our materials.
Utilizing ASU’s cardboard waste to build furniture products for students living in residence halls will assist in solving multiple problems for students, the university and the environment. Our business will alleviate the problems of excessive cardboard waste in the dumpsters, the lack of certain furniture items which are not provided by the residence halls at move-in, and ultimately address the lack of low-cost, up-cycled furniture products on the market.
This thesis project has been conducted in accordance with The Founder’s Lab initiative which is sponsored by the W. P. Carey School of Business. This program groups three students together and tasks them with creating a business idea, conducting the necessary research to bring the concept to life, and exploring different aspects of business, with the end goal of gaining traction. The product we were given to work through this process with was Hot Head, an engineering capstone project concept. The Hot Head product is a sustainable and innovative solution to the water waste issue we find is very prominent in the United States. In order to bring the Hot Head idea to life, we were tasked with doing research on topics ranging from the Hot Head life cycle to finding plausible personas who may have an interest in the Hot Head product. This paper outlines the journey to gaining traction via a marketing campaign and exposure of our brand on several platforms, with a specific interest in website traffic. Our research scope comes from mainly primary sources like gathering opinions of potential buyers by sending out surveys and hosting focus groups. The paper concludes with some possible future steps that could be taken if this project were to be continued.