Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Simpler Packaging, Tomiko Oden

Graphic Communication

This project explains how product packaging is become more "green", and thus more simple. Packaging needs to go beyond just simplifying materials and graphics - it needs to create a simpler process in order to reduce wasted time, energy, and resources.

Disentangling Individual And Community Effects On Environmentally Sensitive Behaviors, Mary P. Harmon

Sociology Dissertations

A major criticism of the environmental behavior literature is the nearly exclusive focus on the role of attitudes and individual-level characteristics. Despite this concentration on individual-level causes, variation in environmental behavior remains. As individual behavior becomes an increasingly significant source of pollution, a better understanding of the influences individual behavior is critical to addressing environmental degradation. This research re-directs the focus on individual-level influences on environmental behaviors by building models examining the varying dimensions of environmental behaviors as influenced by community characteristics. This is accomplished by testing a series of hypotheses under the auspices of two theoretical frameworks: the neoclassical …

Between A Rock And A Soft Place: Ecological And Feminist Economics In Policy Debates, Julie A. Nelson

Julie A. Nelson

The field of ecological economics includes both economic analysis on the one hand, and discussions of normative values and visions for society, on the other. Using feminist insights into cultural beliefs about the relative “hardness” and “softness” of these two sides, this essay discusses how ecological economists can use this unique “between” space in order to better inform policy. The current crisis of global climate change, it is argued, requires that economists move beyond modeling and measurement, while ecological thinkers need to re-examine beliefs about markets and profit.

Agenda: Best Practices For Community And Environmental Protection, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center. Intermountain Oil And Gas Bmp Project, Colorado. Oil And Gas Conservation Commission

Best Practices for Community and Environmental Protection (October 14)

The first Intermountain BMP Project workshop, sponsored by the Natural Resources Law Center and the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, was held in Rifle, Colorado on October 14, 2009 at the Garfield County Fairground for over 170 participants.

Speakers from Federal, state and local governments, the community, industry and environmental consultants, and conservation groups focused presentations and discussion on a greater understanding of what Best Management Practices (BMPs) are appropriate to the western slope of Colorado and how they are integrated into developments.

Slides: Bmp Project, Kent Kuster

Best Practices for Community and Environmental Protection (October 14)

Presenter: Kent Kuster, Consultation Coordinator, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE)

17 slides

Environmental Determinism: Broken Paradigm Or Viable Perspective?., Gerald L. Hardin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The research was to examine the issue of environmental determinism. It was an ideology that was prevalent throughout the early decades of the 20^th century that held that the natural environment was responsible for virtually all human development. It helped bring the study of geography into the venue of postsecondary education, where it was viewed as a tool for study of human activities. It was a new science inspired by Darwinism that viewed human adaptation to the natural environment as critical to socialization.

Relying on historical sources, the purpose of the study was to reveal how environmental determinism became …

Hyperbolic Discounting Is Rational: Valuing The Far Future With Uncertain Discount Rates, J. Doyne Farmer, John Geanakoplos

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

Conventional economics supposes that agents value the present vs. the future using an exponential discounting function. In contrast, experiments with animals and humans suggest that agents are better described as hyperbolic discounters, whose discount function decays much more slowly at large times, as a power law. This is generally regarded as being time inconsistent or irrational. We show that when agents cannot be sure of their own future one-period discount rates, then hyperbolic discounting can become rational and exponential discounting irrational. This has important implications for environmental economics, as it implies a much larger weight for the far future.

Teaching Ecological And Feminist Economics In The Principles Course, Julie A. Nelson

Julie A. Nelson

It can be difficult to incorporate ecological and feminist concerns into introductory courses, when one is also obliged to teach neoclassical analysis. In this essay we briefly describe how one might extend existing “multi-paradigmatic” approaches to feminist and ecological concerns, and then present an new alternative approach that may be more suitable for some students. This “broader questions and bigger toolbox” approach can be applied in both microeconomics and macroeconomics introductory classrooms.

Gene-Environment Interactions In Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Holly Donovan Barnard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The overall goal of this project is to advance our understanding of the multifactorial etiology of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) by testing a diathesis-stress model of gene x environment (g x e) interactions. Although the literature increasingly supports g x e interactions in the manifestation of ADHD, few studies have investigated multiple genetic and environmental risk factors, included direct tests of gene - environment correlations (rG-Es), explored the specificity of interactions to symptom dimensions, or attempted to minimize comparisons. Therefore, utilizing both within-family (FBAT/PBAT) and case-control methodology, this study sought to (1) explore main effects of polymorphisms in the …

Tailings Tale: Mike Horse Looms Dark Over The Blackfoot, Elizabeth L. Harrison

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

In the spring of 1975, a heavy rain blew out an earthen dam holding back toxic metal waste from the now defunct Mike Horse mine at the headwaters of the scenic Big Blackfoot River. Federal agencies, a corporate mining giant, and the small town community of Lincoln, Montana, grapple with the repercussions and future of the watershed.

Probing The Mechanics Of Environmental Kuznets Curve Theory, Jeremy Lynn Kidd

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The theory of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) proposes to answer important questions regarding the connections between economic growth (development) and the environment. The theory postulates the environment need not always suffer as the economy develops, and it has generated strong support and opposition. Rather than attempting to defend or debunk EKC theory, this research challenges a practice engaged in by proponents and opponents alike. Simplifying assumptions are a necessary part of economic analysis, but this research shows that any assumptions may not be universally applicable. Utilizing, in turn, a simple one-good model and then a more complicated two-good model, …

The Influence Of The Physical Environment And Sociodemographic Characteristics On Children's Mode Of Travel To And From School, Kristian Larsen, Jason Gilliland, Peter Hess, Patricia Tucker, Jennifer Irwin, Meizi He

Geography & Environment Publications

Objectives: We examined whether certain characteristics of the social and physical environment influence a child's mode of travel between home and school.

Methods: Students aged 11 to 13 years from 21 schools throughout London, Ontario, answered questions from a travel behavior survey. A geographic information system linked survey responses for 614 students who lived within 1 mile of school to data on social and physical characteristics of environments around the home and school. Logistic regression analysis was used to test the influence of environmental factors on mode of travel (motorized vs "active") to and from school.

Results: Over 62% of …

Motivation To Self-Harm In Middle Childhood: Relationship To Emotional Symptomotology And Home Environment, Tara K. Cossel, Natasha Elkovitch, David J. Hansen

Tara K. Cossel (Tara Morton)

No abstract provided.

Carbon Offset Provision With Guilt-Ridden Consumers, Joshua S. Gans, Vivienne Groves

Joshua S Gans

Carbon offsets can be purchased by consumers who wish to mitigate their emissions. In a model where the demand for such offsets is driven by consumers who feel guilt about their emissions, it is show that the introduction of offsets are complements to existing „dirty‟ consumption and can cause such consumption to increase. Net emissions are shown to decline, however, regardless of whether prices are regulated, chosen strategically or offset prices are endogenous. One special case is illustrated whereby emissions might rise if „dirty‟ producers can engage in strategic commitments to impact on offset markets.

An Analysis Of The Changing Land Use And Its Impact On The Environment Of Anyigba Town, Nigeria, Olarewaju Oluseyi Ifatimehin, Salihu Danlami Musa

Olarewaju Oluseyi Ifatimehin

Urbanization is a process that always initiates the continual transformation of land from one use to the other. Land transformation is presently being experienced in and around fast growing towns, like Anyigba in Kogi State. This study used Remote sensing and GIS techniques to identify, mark, and measure the extent of the various land uses from the Land use map of 1995 and Nigeriasat 1 imagery of 2006. The study revealed that there have been tremendous transformation in the various land uses, with the built-up area expanding more than other land uses with 398.4%. Gaining 167 ha, 613.45 ha, 159.62 …

Planning For A Bull Market For Wetlands, Fred P. Bosselman

All Faculty Scholarship

Until recently, wetlands had value in the marketplace only as targets for destruction. Today, wetlands often have market value for uses that do not require that they be dredged and filled. Such opportunities include: 1. Carbon storage offsets for greenhouse gas emissions; 2. Mitigation banks for destruction of other wetlands; 3. Conservation banks for wildlife protection; 4. Tradable water quality protection rights; 5. Sites for growing algae or other biofuel crops. These new uses have valid public benefits, but most laws and ordinances were not written with these possibilities in mind. Planners and lawyers need to think about ways to …

Healing The Planet And Its People: The Need To Create A Global Vision Of Leadership For The Planet, Connie I. Reimers-Hild

Kimmel Education and Research Center: Presentations and White Papers

No abstract provided.

Earth Day, South Dakota State University

Conservation/Energy Alternatives

Bibliography and photographs of a display of government documents from South Dakota State University.

Care Local Partnerships Healthy Communities: Promising Practices (Draft), Environmental Protection Agency

Mickey Leland Center Information Portal

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) program is a competitive grant program that offers communities an innovative way to address the risks from multiple sources of pollution in their environment. The CARE program awarded its first series of grants in 2005; to date there are 68 CARE communities.

An Hsus Report: The Impact Of Industrialized Animal Agriculture On World Hunger, The Humane Society Of The United States

Impact of Animal Agriculture

Of the world’s nearly 6.8 billion humans, almost 1 billion people are malnourished. Feeding half the world’s grain crop to animals raised for meat, eggs, and milk instead of directly to humans is a significant waste of natural resources, including fossil fuels, water, and land. Raising animals for food is also a major contributor to global warming, which is expected to further worsen food security globally. To meet the daily nutritional needs of a rapidly expanding population, the world’s human community, particularly in Western countries, must reduce its reliance on animal products and shift to a more plant-based diet.

Comments On "International Trade In Used Vehicles" (Davis And Kahn), M. Scott Taylor

M. Scott Taylor

No abstract provided.

Environmental Crises: Past, Present Ad Future, M. Scott Taylor

M. Scott Taylor

Environmental crises are distinguished by rapid and largely unexpected changes in environmental quality that are difficult if not impossible to reverse. Examples would be major extinctions and signi…cant degradations of an ecosystem. I argue there are three preconditions for crisis: failures in governance, an ecological system exhibiting a tipping point, and an economy/environment interaction with positive feedbacks. I develop a simple model to illustrate how a crisis may arise, and draw on our knowledge of past and present crises to highlight the mechanisms involved. I then speculate as to whether climate change is indeed a crisis in the making.

The Missing Instrument: Dirty Input Limits, David M. Driesen, Amy Sinden

College of Law - Faculty Scholarship

This article evaluates an environmental protection instrument that the literature has hitherto largely overlooked, Dirty Input Limits (DILs), quantitative limits on the inputs that cause pollution. DILs provide an alternative to cumbersome output-based emissions trading and performance standards. DILs have played a role in some of the world's most prominent environmental success stories. They have also begun to influence climate change policy, because of the impossibility of imposing an output-based cap on transport emissions. We evaluate DILs' administrative advantages, efficiency, dynamic properties, and capacity to better integrate environmental protection efforts. DILs, we show, not only have significant advantages that make …

[Introduction To] Sprawl, Justice, And Citizenship : The Civic Costs Of The American Way Of Life, Thad Williamson

Bookshelf

Must the strip mall and the eight-lane highway define 21st century American life? That is a central question posed by critics of suburban and exurban living in America. Yet despite the ubiquity of the critique, it never sticks--Americans by the scores of millions have willingly moved into sprawling developments over the past few decades. Americans find many of the more substantial criticisms of sprawl easy to ignore because they often come across as snobbish in tone. Yet as Thad Williamson explains, sprawl does create real, measurable social problems. Williamson's work is unique in two important ways. First, while he highlights …

Combined Pitch And Roll And Cybersickness In A Virtual Environment, Frederick Bonato, Andrea Bubka, Stephen A. Palmisano

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Background: Stationary subjects who perceive visually induced illusions of self-motion, or vection, in virtual reality (VR) often experience cybersickness, the symptoms of which are similar to those experienced during motion sickness. An experiment was conducted to test the effects of single and dual-axis rotation of a virtual environment on cybersickness. It was predicted that VR displays which induced illusory dual-axis (as opposed to single-axis) self-rotations in stationary subjects would generate more sensory conflict and subsequently more cybersickness. Methods: There were 19 individuals (5 men, 14 women, mean age = 19.8 yr) who viewed the interior of a virtual cube that …

Fruit Availability And Utilisation By Grey-Headed Flying Foxes (Pteropodidae: Pteropus Poliocephalus) In A Human-Modified Environment On The South Coast Of New South Wales, Australia, Kerryn Parry-Jones, Kristine O. French, Emily Schmelitschek

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Context. Extensive clearing and modi. cation of habitat is likely to change many facets of the environment including climate and regional food resources. Such changes may result in changes in behaviour in highly mobile fauna, such as flying foxes. Aims. The availability of fruit resources was examined to determine whether grey-headed flying foxes ( Pteropus poliocephalus) have feeding preferences related to habitat or dietary items, and whether human usage of the land around the colony site has affected the resources available. Methods. Fruit availability around a colony was monitored from December 2004 to March 2005. Night surveys and faecal analyses …

Antarctic Climate Change And The Environment, P C. Convey, R Bindschadler, G Di Prisco, E Fahrbach, J Gutt, D A. Hodgson, P Mayewski, C P. Summerhayes, J Turner, Sharon A. Robinson

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

The Antarctic climate system varies on timescales from orbital, through millennial to sub-annual, and is closely coupled to other parts of the global climate system. We review these variations from the perspective of the geological and glaciological records and the recent historical period from which we have instrumental data (the last 50 years). We consider their consequences for the biosphere, and show how the latest numerical models project changes into the future, taking into account human actions in the form of the release of greenhouse gases and chlorofluorocarbons into the atmosphere. In doing so, we provide an essential Southern Hemisphere …

Action Research In Emerging Technologies In Health Information Systems: Creating A Mobile Information Environment In A Hospital Ward, Linda Dawson, Julie Fisher, Stephen Weeding, Liza Heslop, Andrew Howard

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Wireless networks, mobile devices and associated applications are key emerging technologies ideal for nomadic workers such as clinicians in hospital ward settings. These mobile information environments can potentially enhance clinicians' use of patient management and clinical systems by providing decision support and clinical information at the bedside or point of care. Such technologies need to be critically assessed in a hospital environment for their wider potential and application for delivery of information at the point of care. This paper describes the use of action research methods in a project which analysed an existing clinical Information Communication Technology (ICT) environment in …

Trans-Boundary Metals Pollution In The Okanagan Regions Of British Columbia And Washington State: An Assessment Of Metal Toxicity And Speciation In The Columbia River, Ruth M. Sofield, Catherine P. Bollinger

Border Policy Research Institute Publications

An assessment of the tools available to decision makers responsible for managing allowable concentrations of metals in aquatic environments was conducted. The emphasis was on surface waters in the Okanagan Valley of BC, Canada and Washington, US. The assessment was framed around four primary goals, which included an evaluation of the validity of hardness corrected values, the Biotic Ligand Model (BLM), the Visual MINTEQ model (VMINTEQ), and a preliminary understanding of what site-specific qualities made one model a better predictor of toxicity than another.

Aging In Place In Suburbia: A Qualitative Study Of Older Women, Marian L.G. Knapp

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

This research explored "aging in place" among women age 65 and older living in Newton, Massachusetts. Study goals were to understand: the "places" that comprise the environment of "aging in place"; the factors that enable "aging in place"; "aging in place" in a suburb; and to refine definitions of "aging in place" Interviews with women used open-ended questions about women‘s early years in Newton and the changes they experienced in personal status, and places over time. Themes emerged using modified grounded theory with inductive and deductive approaches, and which acknowledged "sensitizing concepts". Six places comprised the "aging in place" environment: …