Matching Items (19)
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- All Subjects: environment
- All Subjects: Well-being
- Creators: School of Sustainability
Description
Soiled: An Environmental Podcast is a six episode series where common environmental topics are discussed and misconceptions surrounding these topics are debunked.
ContributorsKuta, Tiffany T (Co-author) / Jones, Cassity (Co-author) / Turner, Natalie (Co-author) / Boyer, Mackenzie (Thesis director) / Ward, Kristen (Committee member) / Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Eng Program (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
ABSTRACT The major hypothesis tested in this research is that the psychological well-being and life satisfaction of elderly adult individuals can be predicted from religiosity (organizational and non-organizational religious beliefs and behaviors). The sample consisted of 142 adults between the ages of 65-90, with the majority in the 65-70 age group (48%) (SD = 1.176). The entire sample resides in the state of Arizona, in both urban and rural communities. Participants were administered a questionnaire which requested demographic information, and three instruments: the Duke University Religion Index (the DUREL), and the Affect Balance Scale and the Life Satisfaction Index - Z (LSIZ). Correlational and Multiple regression analyses were used to examine the relation between these adults' psychological well-being, life satisfaction and their religiosity. Independent t-tests were also used to examine possible sex, ethnic and religiosity effects on psychological well-being and life satisfaction. Findings revealed that psychological well-being and life satisfaction are higher when religiosity is higher, regardless of sex or ethnicity. These findings are consistent with those of previous research in this field.
ContributorsMoreno-Weinert, Inez (Author) / Moore, Elsie (Thesis advisor) / Nakagawa, Kathryn (Committee member) / Ladd, Becky (Committee member) / Cohen, Adam (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
A large section of United States citizens live far away from supermarkets and do not have an easy way to get to one. This portion of the population lives in an area called a food desert. Food deserts are geographic areas in which access to affordable, healthy food, such as fresh produce, is limited or completely nonexistent due to the absence of convenient grocery stores. Individuals living in food deserts are left to rely on convenience store snacks and fast food for their meals because they do not have access to a grocery store with fresh produce in their area. Unhealthy foods also lead to health issues, as people living in food deserts are typically at a higher risk of diet-related conditions, such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Harvest, a sustainable farming network, is a smartphone application that teaches and guides people living in small spaces through the process of growing fresh, nutritious produce in their own homes. The app will guide users through the entire process of gardening, from seed to harvest. Harvest would give individuals living in food deserts an opportunity to access fresh produce that they currently can’t access. An overwhelming response based on our user discussion and market analysis revealed that our platform was in demand. Development of a target market, brand guide, and full-lifecycle were beneficial during the second semester as Harvest moved forward. Through the development of a website, social media platform, and smartphone application, Harvest grew traction for our platform. Our social media accounts saw a 1700% growth rate, and this wider audience was able to provide helpful feedback.
ContributorsTobey, Anna Elisabeth (Co-author) / Raimondo, Felix (Co-author) / Balamut, Hannah (Co-author) / Byrne, Jared (Thesis director) / Givens, Jessica (Committee member) / Satpathy, Asish (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
South Mountain is the largest municipal park in the nation. It is a bundled amenity, providing a series of linked services to the surrounding communities. A dataset of 19,209 homes in 155 neighborhoods within three miles of the park was utilized in order to complete a hedonic estimation for two nearby urban villages, Ahwatukee Foothills and South Mountain Village. Measures of access include proximity to the park, trailhead access, and adjacency to the park. Two regressions were estimated, the first including lot characteristics and subdivision fixed effects and the second using the coefficients for each subdivision as the dependent variable. These estimates describe how the location of a house in a subdivision contributes to its conditional mean price. As a result they offer a direct basis for capturing amenities measured at the neighborhood scale on home values. Park proximity, trailhead access and adjacency were found to significantly influence the price of homes at the 5% confidence level in Ahwatukee, but not in South Mountain Village. The results of this study can be applied to issues of environmental justice and park access in determining which areas and attributes of the park are associated with a high premium. Though South Mountain was preserved some time ago, development and future preservation in the City of Phoenix can be informed by such studies.
ContributorsRamakrishna, Saritha Kambhampati (Author) / Abbott, Joshua (Thesis director) / Smith, V. Kerry (Committee member) / Schoon, Michael (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
In this study, the packaging and labeling of milk and coffee was compared between Walmart and Sprouts. The pricing, the sourcing, the certifications and the overall shelf presence of the items was taken under consideration. After studying the packaging of both, a new design incorporating the applicable labels, customer appeal and appropriate green marketing was created for both the commodities.
ContributorsBhatt, Rashi Hitesh (Author) / Collins, Shari (Thesis director) / Keahey, Jennifer (Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Earth and Space Exploration (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
With the overall health of the environment rapidly declining \u2014 mostly due to human behaviors, solving the problem of nature deficit disorder and getting more children interested and aware of nature could be paramount to improving the environmental health of our planet. In this study, the relationship between children's learning and emotion is explored. Pre- and post-tests were given to children attending a week-long summer freshwater ecology camp; their knowledge of and emotional connection to different ecological concepts were measured. Two separate ecosystems were tested \u2014 a freshwater ecosystem that was taught over the course of the week, and a marine ecosystem for comparison. Increases in knowledge and emotion were seen in every freshwater ecosystem concept. Additionally, the knowledge and emotion scores were correlated, suggesting a positive relationship between them. The marine ecosystem did not show improvements in concrete knowledge, but showed increases in abstract learning, indicating that the abstract concepts learned about the freshwater ecosystem were able to transfer to the marine. Overall results show the ability of a hands-on learning experience to foster an emotional connection between a child and the subject matter. However, long-term studies are needed to track the relationship between children and their knowledge of and emotional connection to the subject matter.
ContributorsMossler, Max Vaughn (Author) / Pearson, David (Thesis director) / Smith, Andrew (Committee member) / Berkowitz, Alan (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
This thesis looks at the theory and empirical evidence that surrounds the debate between environmentalists and economists regarding the link between trade liberalization and environmental degradation. The main points of the theory are the scale, composition, and technique effects which, when aggregated, are ambiguous as the harm or benefit of trade's effect on the environment. The empirical evidence studied ranges in time periods from the early 1990s to 2011 and mainly focuses on the existence or absence of an environmental Kuznets curve for certain pollutant. However, the data still proves to be inconclusive. The debate about the possible link between trade and the environment is as important as ever, especially in regards to carbon dioxide emissions. Going forward, it is extremely important that international cooperation regarding emissions targets and abatement goals increases. Trade will prove to be an invaluable tool in this endeavor as it provides a mechanism for the spread of green technology as well as can be used as a method of environmental policy enforcement.
ContributorsCotterell, Emily Claire (Author) / Mendez, Jose (Thesis director) / McDaniel, Cara (Committee member) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
The objective of this study was to evaluate sustainability knowledge and practices in place at university-associated food pantries across the United States. A survey was sent to university- associated food pantries and responses were collected at a rate of 25% (n=84 of 326) to assess the knowledge and practices of this topic. The pantries surveyed were chosen solely based on ability to contact through email (emails were retrieved from online sources) and about 50% of the 680 university-associated pantries in the United States were sent the survey. The data was analyzed by quantifying the qualitative responses to the 9 sustainability- rated questions addressing zero- waste practice, barriers to offering sustainably sourced foods, types of sustainable donations, desire for sustainable products, and client demand for sustainable products and practices were posed to pantries. Results from this study provided insight into awareness of sustainability in these pantries and also assessed what sustainability practices are already being practiced by these pantries. Among those surveyed, a low percentage of university-associated pantries actually provide sustainably sourced foods (9.5%), but given the choice about a third (38.1%) would choose to offer these foods. It was reported that availability and cost were perceived as main barriers to providing sustainably sourced foods and that a small proportion of pantries teach their clients about zero waste practices, compost, and recycling. There is little client concern about this issue. Most pantries reported recycling more often than composting and also reported participating in some zero-waste practices. These results are unique to this study as not much research has been done in this area to assess environmental sustainability awareness in university-associated food pantries. Further research is required to further evaluate pantries across the nation as this sample size is approximately 12% of all university- associated pantries in the United States.
ContributorsCrowe, Alexandra B (Author) / Bruening, Meredith (Thesis director) / Payne-Sturges, Devon (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
This paper explores Grace Logan and Emma Zuber’s understanding of how edible green spaces are mediums for emotional and social well-being. Our research aims to answer these questions: How are different populations benefitting in terms of their emotional and social well-being in similar and different ways from edible green spaces in Phoenix, Arizona? How does accessibility to garden spaces as well as time, in both frequency and duration, impact personal and communal connection? To answer these questions, we surveyed volunteers from four different garden populations - Sage Garden at Arizona State University (ASU), Desert Marigold School (DMS), TigerMountain Foundation (TMF), and Growhouse Urban Agriculture Center (GUAC). Before the volunteer surveys, we interviewed a garden leader or founder to gain a better understanding of their intentions for the space and their perspective on how the garden impacts emotional and social well-being benefits in their community. The results of the survey included some variance in subpopulation answers but, overall, volunteers answered similarly. This led us to determine that gardens do bring emotional and social benefits to people, but the degree of these benefits prove difficult to truly determine due to the complexity of personal needs across different subpopulations. As well, our research on time and access proved too limited in this study to make a definitive conclusion on how it impacts personal and communal connections, but the research does suggest that time could be a determining factor for subpopulations. This study also made recommendations based on our findings, so that policies could be enacted to ensure people can access green spaces to improve their overall well-being.
ContributorsLogan, Grace Ann (Co-author) / Zuber, Emma (Co-author) / Eakin, Hallie (Thesis director) / Bernier, Andrew (Committee member) / Scott, Cloutier (Committee member) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
"If we really believe in food, we must do something about it, for our voices should be raised above the rest," James Beard said. Today, the word "sustainable" is being linked to almost every facet of our lives. Everything from restaurants to cars to school supplies are marketed as green or sustainable. Businesses have a lot to gain if they are environmentally conscious (Friedman, 2017). Companies that genuinely care about the planet cultivate positive reputations. Needless to say a company's brand and reputation are arguably the most important differentials amongst its competition. Additionally, a company's social responsibility goes hand in hand with talent retention. Companies that care about their staff and the community are more likely to recruit employees that will be advocates of the product and business (Friedman, 2017). A healthy work culture encourages productivity, recruitment and retention. Unfortunately some businesses stretch the truth and make bold sustainability claims in order to reap the above benefits. When it comes to the food service industry, which restaurants are actually living up to the claim of being sustainable? I embarked upon a journey to find the restaurants and chefs that are creating exquisite dishes while protecting the environment and preserving the food chain system. Initially I developed a list of 30 prospective restaurants based upon published material bringing awareness to their environmentally conscious initiatives. Ultimately I selected three diverse restaurants from the list that successfully met the sustainability requirements. I utilized criteria established by The Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) as my guideline to evaluate the establishments (Our Sustainability Framework). I immersed myself in the restaurants, camera in hand, to discover more about the ecofriendly food movement in Arizona. I created a YouTube channel where I posted all of my edited film in order to heighten awareness of these socially and environmentally responsible establishments. The vlog series features a different restaurant in each episode highlighting the sustainable culinary and business concepts as well as the savory items on the menu. During this quest I discovered how these restaurants have remained successful while minimizing their ecological footprint. These establishments can serve as a guide to other chefs and business owners who are looking to accomplish the same feats.
ContributorsRandock, Nicole (Author) / Vogt, Christine (Thesis director) / Stephens, Glen (Committee member) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Communication (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-12