Matching Items (10)
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- All Subjects: environment
- Creators: Minteer, Ben
- Creators: The Design School
Description
Protein is an essential macronutrient in the human diet, but the source of this protein has both human health and environmental impacts. Health complications can result from protein deficiency, but the practices by which protein sources are raised, grown, or harvested have environmental consequences, potentially reducing biodiversity, essential habitat, and crucial stocks of natural resources. Terrestrial cultivation encroaches on natural habitats and consumes resources inefficiently, while overfishing has greatly depleted wild fishery stocks. These environmental factors, along with concerns about nutrients, contaminants and the ethics of animal protein has led to confusion about weighing the risks and benefits associated with alternative sources of protein. Providing consumers \u2014 and policy makers \u2014 with a comprehensive account of major protein sources and their impacts in an understandable form is crucial to reducing environmental degradation and improving human health. Here I provide a general framework to compare the health and environmental impacts of livestock, seafood, and plant protein, and illustrate the application of this framework with case studies for each of these categories.
ContributorsGeren, Sarah Lindsey (Author) / Gerber, Leah (Thesis director) / Smith, Andrew (Committee member) / Minteer, Ben (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
College and university campuses can play an important role in a student’s life, and campus outdoor spaces have the ability to positively impact various aspects of student health and well-being. It has long been understood that natural environments can promote health and well being, and in recent years research has begun to examine the impact of parks and landscapes in urban settings on subjective well-being (SWB). Subjective well-being (aka “happiness”) refers to
one’s self-reported measure of well-being and is thought of as having a high level of positive affect, low level of negative affect, and high degree of life satisfaction (Diener, 1984).
This study was conducted to assess the interrelationships between affective experiences, SWB, and usage of campus outdoor spaces in order to learn how outdoor spaces on the Arizona State University (ASU) Tempe campus can be enhanced to increase SWB and usage. In total, 832 students completed a survey questionnaire 1,140 times for six campus outdoor spaces. The results showed that students experience the greatest amount of happiness in the Secret Garden
and James Turrell ASU Skyspace, relaxation/restoration is the affective experience most strongly related to SWB, and SWB is negatively correlated with frequency of visits but positively link with duration of visits. To improve student happiness and usage of outdoor spaces on campuses, planners and designers should work on increasing the relaxing/restorative qualities of existing
locations, creating new spaces for relaxation/restoration around campus, reducing the perception of crowding and noise in large spaces, increasing fun/excitement by adding stimuli and/or opportunities for activity and entertainment, and adding equipment necessary for students to perform the activities they want. In addition to the ASU Tempe campus, the methodology and
findings of this research could be used to improve outdoor spaces on other college and university campuses and other types of outdoor environments.
one’s self-reported measure of well-being and is thought of as having a high level of positive affect, low level of negative affect, and high degree of life satisfaction (Diener, 1984).
This study was conducted to assess the interrelationships between affective experiences, SWB, and usage of campus outdoor spaces in order to learn how outdoor spaces on the Arizona State University (ASU) Tempe campus can be enhanced to increase SWB and usage. In total, 832 students completed a survey questionnaire 1,140 times for six campus outdoor spaces. The results showed that students experience the greatest amount of happiness in the Secret Garden
and James Turrell ASU Skyspace, relaxation/restoration is the affective experience most strongly related to SWB, and SWB is negatively correlated with frequency of visits but positively link with duration of visits. To improve student happiness and usage of outdoor spaces on campuses, planners and designers should work on increasing the relaxing/restorative qualities of existing
locations, creating new spaces for relaxation/restoration around campus, reducing the perception of crowding and noise in large spaces, increasing fun/excitement by adding stimuli and/or opportunities for activity and entertainment, and adding equipment necessary for students to perform the activities they want. In addition to the ASU Tempe campus, the methodology and
findings of this research could be used to improve outdoor spaces on other college and university campuses and other types of outdoor environments.
ContributorsDavis, Kara (Author) / Cheng, Chingwen (Thesis director) / Cloutier, Scott (Committee member) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / The Design School (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Lithium ion batteries are quintessential components of modern life. They are used to power smart devices — phones, tablets, laptops, and are rapidly becoming major elements in the automotive industry. Demand projections for lithium are skyrocketing with production struggling to keep up pace. This drive is due mostly to the rapid adoption of electric vehicles; sales of electric vehicles in 2020 are more than double what they were only a year prior. With such staggering growth it is important to understand how lithium is sourced and what that means for the environment. Will production even be capable of meeting the demand as more industries make use of this valuable element? How will the environmental impact of lithium affect growth? This thesis attempts to answer these questions as the world looks to a decade of rapid growth for lithium ion batteries.
ContributorsMelton, John (Author) / Brian, Jennifer (Thesis director) / Karwat, Darshawn (Committee member) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
With issues such as environmental degradation, climate change, and mass extinction looming, a growing coalition of activists, policymakers, lawyers, scholars, and everyday people are calling for the Rights of Nature to be legally recognized in order to create systemic changes in environmental policy. This thesis traces the history of the Rights of Nature movement, examining key developments around the world and analyzing the historical and ethical underpinnings of these provisions, and how the Rights of Nature can be applied to the Endangered Species Act in the United States. Evoking the language of legal rights has pragmatic value in U.S. environmental policy, explicitly stating the non-anthropocentric position of intrinsic value of nature in an effort to push for a broader value shift within a predominantly anthropocentric legal system.
ContributorsVenkatraman, Kavya (Author) / Minteer, Ben (Thesis director) / Rojas, Christopher (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2023-05
Description
Environmental ethics is often described on a continuum of anthropocentrism to biocentrism. Pet ownership has been shown to correlate with biocentrism. This study aims to answer how strong the correlation is between pet ownership and biocentrism and how pet owners react when pets' needs conflict with the environment. Findings from the study confirm previous research that pet owners lean biocentric, but their biocentric beliefs end when their pet's well-being misaligns with environmental concerns.
ContributorsCrawford-Paz Soldan, Esme (Author) / Wynne, Clive (Thesis director) / Minteer, Ben (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
Food production and consumption directly impacts the environment and human health. Protein in particular has significant cultural and health implications, and how people make decisions about what type of protein they eat has not been studied directly. Many decision tools exist to offer recommendations for seafood, but neglect livestock or plant protein. This study attempts to address these shortcomings in food decision science and tools by asking the questions: 1) What qualities of a dietary protein-based decision tool make it effective? 2) What do people consider when making decisions about what type of protein to consume? Using literature review, meta-analysis, and surveys, this study attempts to determine how the knowledge gained from answering these questions can be used to develop an electronic tool to engage consumers in making sustainable and healthy decisions about protein consumption. The data show that, given environmental and health information about the protein types, people in the sample of farmers market shoppers are more likely to purchase wild salmon and organically grown soybeans, and less likely to purchase grain-fed beef. However, the order of preference among the six types of protein did not change. Additional results suggest that there is a disconnect between consumers and sources of dietary protein, indicating a need for improved education. Inconsistency in labeling and information regarding protein types is a large source of confusion for consumers who participated in the survey, highlighting the need for transparency. Results of this study suggest that decisions tools may help improve decision making, but new ways of using them need to be considered to achieve this.
ContributorsGeren, Sarah (Author) / Gerber, Leah (Thesis advisor) / Minteer, Ben (Committee member) / Wentz, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Arvai, Joseph (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
An exploration of green spaces in urban environments, the mental health impacts of these spaces, and the successfulness of their integration into the city fabric. This project culminates in a video that compares a nature walk through an urban environment to a walk through an urban park.
ContributorsVan Buren, Gabriella (Author) / Underhill, Michael (Thesis director) / Hejduk, Renata (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / The Design School (Contributor)
Created2022-05
ContributorsVan Buren, Gabriella (Author) / Underhill, Michael (Thesis director) / Hejduk, Renata (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / The Design School (Contributor)
Created2022-05
ContributorsVan Buren, Gabriella (Author) / Underhill, Michael (Thesis director) / Hejduk, Renata (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / The Design School (Contributor)
Created2022-05
Description
As general awareness and concern for environmental issues has increased over time, so has the growth of environmental artwork. Artworks in this genre have been used with the intent to motivate conservation action and environmental justice action, as well as spread broader environmental awareness. Different approaches to environmental messages may have varying impacts on viewers’ beliefs and attitudes related to the environment. Yet this topic is still not widely studied. Using a combination of survey and interview techniques, this thesis examines the intersection of art, ethics, and the environment by eliciting the reactions and responses of Arizona State University students to various environmental artworks. The study design presented groups of students with differing imagery, one set categorized as environmentally hopeful or positive, the other as environmentally gloomy or negative. The New Ecological Paradigm scale (NEP) was used as a measure for ethical views. After exposure to the artworks, students showed shifts in their NEP scores in both directions, and some had no change. Between positive and negative artworks, there was no significant difference in change in score on the NEP scale. The results of the thesis inspired a suggestion for a new scale to describe an emerging environmental ethic that is evidenced by the artworks, artists statements, and student reactions in this project: the Social And Ecological Paradigm (SAEP). The paradigm abbreviation includes the letter A to emphasize the importance of considering both the social and ecological implications of human activity. This mindset addresses environmental justice concerns, positive human interactions with the environment, and sustainable human communities. At the core, it is a basic human right to live in a healthy and safe environment, and a positive societal relationship with the environment is necessary to guarantee this right for all. Art is a way for people to connect with the environment and can give insight into the way society’s environmental ethic is ever shifting.
ContributorsCrawford-Paz Soldán, Elise (Author) / Minteer, Ben (Thesis director) / Sale, Gregory (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Art (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2022-05