Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The Effect Of Consumerism And Regulation On Household Solid Waste Management In The United States And Germany: A Comparative Study, Amir Vafa

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Private household recycling is a significant aspect of consumerism in economically developed countries and the inevitable question of household waste management has gained more importance among municipalities in recent years. The present study examined the effect of regulation on household solid waste management. Within a comparative, qualitative framework, the study explored and evaluated the pro-regulatory effects in Germany and the anti-regulatory policies in the United States by means of comparing two similar communities, Lincoln, Nebraska and Augsburg, Germany. By examining the present legislations, official documents, legal and operational procedures, and other relevant artifacts, laws, regulations and the degree of their …

Solar Technology Innovation Meeting Summary, Solar Innovation And Technology Center

Meetings (SI)

On December 11, 2009, Senator Harry Reid and President Neal Smatresk (UNLV) conveyed a group of approximately 60 people (see attached lists) from the public and private sector to provide input on the structure, focus, and need for a Solar Innovation Technology Center. At this meeting, there were small group discussions followed by a larger group discussion on the needs in the areas of Workforce / Training, Marketing and Finance, Economic and Policy Making, Infrastructure and Manufacturing, Technology Transfer and Commercialization, and Research. The notes below summarize the major comments from the group. This represents individual comments and in other …

Interview With Jim Quinn, Metro's Hazardous Waste Program, 2009 (Audio), Jim Quinn

All Sustainability History Project Oral Histories

Interview of Jim Quinn by Sean Quigley at Metro in Portland, Oregon on December 2nd, 2009.

The interview index is available for download.

College Of Engineering Senior Design Competition Fall 2009, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas

Fred and Harriet Cox Senior Design Competition Projects

Each student in his or her senior year chooses, plans, designs, and prototypes a product in this required element of the curriculum. The senior design project encourages the student to use everything learned in the engineering program to create a practical, real-world solution to an engineering challenge.

A highlight of the year-long senior design project is the senior design competition. This competition, which usually takes place the week before finals each semester, helps focus the senior students on increasing the quality and potential for commercial application for their design projects.

Judges from local industry evaluate the projects on innovation, commercial …

Economic Investigation Of Community-Scale Versus Building Scale Net-Zero Energy, N. Fernandez, S. Katipamula, M. R. Brambley, T. A. Reddy

Publications (E)

The study presented in this report examines issues concerning whether achieving net-zero energy performance at the community scale provides economic and potentially overall efficiency advantages over strategies focused on individual buildings.

New American Home 2010: Las Vegas, Nevada, Building Technologies Program, National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Publications (SD)

This brochure details the New American Home 2010, which demonstrates the use of innovative building materials, cutting-edge design, and the latest construction techniques.

Wku Campus Wide Holiday Energy Conservation Plan, Wku Sustainability Committee, Christian Ryan-Downing

Sustainability Publications and Resources

No abstract provided.

Mash-Ups In Abe Models, And The New Epa Waters Web Services, Larry Theller

GIS Day

Documents recent efforts to integrate Purdue's Long-Term Hydrologic Impact Assessment (L-THIA) land use change model with data from Purdue, USEPA, and Michigan State’s Institute of Water Research within Google Maps

Interview With Robert Dozono, Blackfish Gallery, 2009 (Audio), Robert Dozono

All Sustainability History Project Oral Histories

Interview of Robert Dozono by Greg Plath at Blackfish Gallery in Portland, Oregon on November 21st, 2009.

The interview index is available for download.

Interview With Bruce Walker, Bps, 2009 (Audio), Bruce Walker

All Sustainability History Project Oral Histories

Interview of Bruce Walker by Zachary Hathaway in NW Portland on November 20th, 2009.

The interview index is available for download.

Interview With Lee Michael Barrett, Eco-Logistics, 2009 (Audio), Lee Michael Barrett

All Sustainability History Project Oral Histories

Interview of Lee Michael Barrett by Angie Cirello in Portland, Oregon on November 20th, 2009.

The interview index is available for download.

Interview With Kimberly Holmes, 4r Sustainability, 2009 (Audio), Kimberly Holmes

All Sustainability History Project Oral Histories

Interview of Kimberly Holmes by Patrick Fausel in Portland, Oregon on November 20th, 2009.

The interview index is available for download.

Interview With David Mcmahon, Cloudburst Recycling, 2009 (Audio), David Mcmahon

All Sustainability History Project Oral Histories

Interview of David McMahan by Allison Dowd at Portland State University on November 19th, 2009.

The interview index is available for download.

Interview With Peter Spendelow, Oregon Deq, 2009 (Audio), Peter Spendelow

All Sustainability History Project Oral Histories

Interview of Peter Spendelow by Angie Yzaguirre in downtown Portland, Oregon on November 17th, 2009.

The interview index is available for download.

Insights And Opportunities: Technologies, Policies, And Markets For Clean Energy Solutions, Douglas J. Arent

Publications (E)

A presentation highlighting how strategic energy analysis can affect technologies, policies, and markets for clean energy solutions. This includes an overview of some of NREL's models and tools as well as results from laboratory analysis.

New Learning Approach, Aurelia Spaulding

ALIVE Center Publications

No abstract provided.

Agenda: World Energy Justice Conference And Appropriate Technology Arcade, University Of Colorado Boulder. Center For Energy & Environmental Security, University Of Colorado Boulder. School Of Law

World Energy Justice Conference (October 23-24)

The 2009 CEES Energy Justice Conference took place at the University of Colorado Law School on October 23rd and 24th, 2009. It featured 11 sessions, more than 40 speakers, and attracted over 200 attendees. The Conference brought together leading international and U.S. decision-makers in politics, engineering, public health, law, business, economics, and innovators in the sciences to explore how best to address the critical needs of the energy-oppressed poor (EOP) through long-term interdisciplinary action, information sharing, and deployment of appropriate sustainable energy technologies (ASETs).

The Colorado Journal of International Environmental Law & Policy (CJIELP) at the University of Colorado Law …

Take Pride In America In Southern Nevada: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Covering July 6, 2009 – October 4, 2009, Margaret N. Rees

Anti-littering Programs

• The team showcased their clean up efforts to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior.
• Work continued on the development of an adopt-a-block/parcel program to address the litter and desert dumping problems that exist in the urban-public land interfaces throughout Clark County.
• The team has sent a representative to serve on the City of Las Vegas Keep America Beautiful task force.
• The team began collaboration with the Howard Hughes Corporation on a desert clean up.
• The recycling feasibility report was presented and approved by the SNAP board.
• The team made substantial progress on the completion of a strategic plan.
• A working …

Droughtscape- Fall 2009, Kelly Smith

Droughtscape, Quarterly Newsletter of NDMC, 2007-

Drought Monitor Forum to be in Austin, Oct. 7-8

El Niño Likely to Bring More Needed Precipitation

NDMC Welcomes Visiting Chinese Scientist

TX, CA Feeling Worst of Impacts

Grant to Bring Climate Change Ed to Teachers

Speaking of Drought ...

NDMC Takes Message Across Nebraska and World

State Of The States 2009: Renewable Energy Development And The Role Of Policy, Elizabeth Doris, Joyce Mclaren, Victoria Healey, Stephen Hockett

Publications (E)

As U.S. states increasingly focus on developing renewable energy resources, there is a need to track the progress of development, as well as the policies and support mechanisms being implemented to encourage this development. Beyond tracking, the evaluation of policy measures is necessary to determine their effectiveness, guide future efforts, and efficiently allocate resources. This report addresses each of these needs. It provides a detailed picture of the status of renewable energy development in each of the U.S. states using a variety of metrics and discusses the policies being used to encourage this development. The report then explores the context …

Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report, Ilonka Zlatar, Cassidee Shinn

Reports (USI)

National and international organizations and programs like the United States Global Change Research Project and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change agree, and scientific evidence indicates, that anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are resulting in global climate change. Unless actions are taken to reverse and reduce the effects of these emissions, future generations will need to either adapt to or bear the burden of the changed environment. Individuals, companies, institutions, municipalities and countries are being called upon during this urgent world crisis. Universities, which support research and education, have a unique opportunity to become leaders in sustainability.

In October 2007, the …

Unlv Magazine, Matthew K. Jacobsen, Holly Ivy De Vore, Lisa Arth, Cate Weeks, Greg Lacour, Tony Allen, Afsha Bawany, Barbara Cloud, Gian Galassi, Phil Hagen, Karyn S. Hollingsworth, Michelle Mouton, Erin O'Donnell

UNLV Magazine

No abstract provided.

Baselines Newsletter, No. 5, Fall 2009, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Baselines: The Natural Resources Law Center Newsletter (2007-2011)

No abstract provided.

How Does A Visual Monitoring System Foster Sustainable Behavior?, Melissa Haeffner, Federico Casalegno

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Americans spend upwards of 90% of each day in buildings that account for two-thirds of electricity usage. Because the supply of smart buildings will take time to catch up with demand, efforts are sought to develop informed and educated people to live and work in these “dumb” buildings. Additionally, energy efficiency alone may be inadequate to achieve major reduction in carbon emissions (Darby, 2006). Finding ways to intentionally change the lifestyle behavior in a household should have significant implications in reducing environmental impacts as fossil energy use in resident homes is directly related to the exploitation of natural resources and …

Use Of The Chambira Palm (Astrocaryum Chambira) In Rainforest Communities Of The Peruvian Amazon, Anel Guel, Jim Penn

Student Summer Scholars Manuscripts

We proposed to research the use of chambira palm fibers and the sale of chambira crafts in four communities located about 100 miles from the city of Iquitos, Peru. In this part of the Peruvian Amazon, women are organized into groups that work to obtain the fibers and sell their products in a sustainable way, and at the same time promote the cultivation of the palm trees in their family gardens. As is the case with so many products from tropical forests, there is great geographic variation in the abundance of the resource (chambira) and variation in the amount of …

Interview With Rabbi Arthur Zuckerman, Shaarie Torah, 2009 (Audio), Arthur Zuckerman

All Sustainability History Project Oral Histories

Interview of Rabbi Arthur Zuckerman by Austin Rosenfeld in NW Portland, Oregon on August 7th, 2009.

The interview index is available for download.

Interview With Angela Martin, Village Gardens, 2009 (Audio), Angela Martin

All Sustainability History Project Oral Histories

Interview of Angela Martin by Steve Jarosz at Village Gardens, Portland, Oregon on August 6th, 2009.

The interview index is available for download.

Green Employees: Organizational Identification In An Environmentally Friendly Company, Jenna Haugen

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Environmental sustainability is an issue facing our global society and one that must be addressed through communication in order to encourage change amongst individuals. The current research focuses on the organization, in this instance a “Green” printing company, and its role in building identification amongst employees. This study focuses on environmental sustainable practices initiated or continued by employees through the use of a directed mission statement and organizational rhetoric. Utilizing individual interviews, the findings suggest that by building organizational identification, more environmentally-friendly practices amongst organizational members may be achieved.

Near-Surface Atmospheric Response To Simulated Changes In Land-Cover Vegetation Fraction, And Soil Moisture Over Western Kentucky, Ronnie Leeper

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

A series of land-use-land-cover-change (LULCC) based sensitivity experiments, including changes in vegetation type, fractional vegetation (FV), and soil moisture (SM), over Western Kentucky were conducted to investigate atmospheric response to land-use. The choice of land-use for this study was chosen in the context of Western Kentucky’s historical LULCC. For this study, vegetation types considered were grassland, forest, and bare soil with further variations in FV for grassland and forest at 25, 50, 75, and 100 % and systematic increases and decreases in volumetric SM of 0.05, 0.10, and 0.15 m3 m-3. To the author’s knowledge, this is the first assessment …

The Very Basics Of Sustainability - An Alternative Viewpoint, Jim Mcgovern

Other resources

This paper examines the context and meaning of the term ‘sustainability’, the factors that determine and govern climate on Earth, the population of the Earth and its trends and influencers, the requirements for sustaining life and the options that are available to humankind. Some viewpoints are presented that are alternative to ‘conventional alternative’ thinking. The author advocates keeping an open mind on all available options, including the use of oil, gas, coal, tar sands, carbon capture and sequestration, nuclear power etc., as well as the technologies that are more widely considered ‘green’ and also argues that humankind needs to face …