Environmental Studies Commons^™

Revolutionizing Lithium Extraction: Analysis Of Factors Affecting Commercialization Timelines With Insights From The Shale Gas Boom, Bilge Tayyar

CMC Senior Theses

This study draws parallels between Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) and hydraulic fracturing to highlight the transformative potential of DLE technology in the lithium industry. The comparative analysis supports the hypothesis that DLE might expedite commercialization timelines, similar to the effect hydraulic fracturing has had on traditional shale gas extraction. The study includes a regression analysis to determine the factors affecting the commercialization of conventional lithium brine extraction methods, thereby better understanding the potential changes DLE will create. The regression model, based on data from 11 projects, examines the impact of variables such as temperature range, tax rates, royalty rates, regulatory …

Reducing Food Scarcity: The Benefits Of Urban Farming, S.A. Claudell, Emilio Mejia

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Urban farming can enhance the lives of communities and help reduce food scarcity. This paper presents a conceptual prototype of an efficient urban farming community that can be scaled for a single apartment building or an entire community across all global geoeconomics regions, including densely populated cities and rural, developing towns and communities. When deployed in coordination with smart crop choices, local farm support, and efficient transportation then the result isn’t just sustainability, but also increasing fresh produce accessibility, optimizing nutritional value, eliminating the use of ‘forever chemicals’, reducing transportation costs, and fostering global environmental benefits.

Imagine Doris, who is …

Sustainability In South Carolina: A Case Study Analysis Of Publicly-Traded South Carolina Companies Using Sustainability Reports And Esg Scores, Gwyneth K. Waddington

Senior Theses

Sustainability is one of the issues at the forefront of society. Sustainability reports and ESG scores are used to help understand the performance of companies in relation to sustainability issues. The current literature on sustainability reporting makes it clear that there is not a uniform framework for metrics to include in sustainability reports and how those reports should appear. My project uses a case study analysis of nine publicly-traded companies headquartered in South Carolina to examine how companies are portraying their sustainability efforts and asks if there are certain indicators in sustainability reports that are good predictors of the ESG …

Enabling An Equitable Energy Transition Through Inclusive Research, Michael Ash, Erin Baker, Mark Tuominen, Dhandapani Venkataraman, Matthew Burke, S. Castellanos, M. Cha, Gabe Chan, D. Djokic, J.C. Ford, Anna P. Goldstein, David Hsu, Matt Lacker, C. Miller, D. Nock, A.P. Ravikumar, Allison Bates, Anna Stefanopoulou, E Grubert, D.M Kammen, M. Pastor, S.Z, Attari, S. Carley, D.L Clark, D. Dean-Ryan, U. Kosar, Kerry Bowie, Tina Johnson

ETI Publications

Comprehensive and meaningful inclusion of marginalized communities within the research enterprise will be critical to ensuring an equitable, technology-informed, clean energy transition. We provide five key action items for government agencies and philanthropic institutions to operationalize the commitment to an equitable energy transition.

Barriers For Small Businesses To Adopt Sustainable Practices In The Sioux Falls Area, Meredith King

Honors Thesis

Sustainability is a broad concept that encompasses environmental, social, and economic factors to meet current and future needs. Many individuals and large businesses are becoming conscious of the effects they have on the planet and the people around them. However, despite the financial benefits and positive publicity of environmentalism, many businesses are not adopting sustainable practices. This study interviewed local business owners to answer the question “What are the main reasons that small businesses in the Sioux Falls area of South Dakota do or do not adopt sustainable practices that benefit the environment and the community?” Five business owners were …

A Circular Economy Approach To Improve E-Waste Recycling In California: Economic Potential And Policy Options, Kripa Shah

Master's Projects and Capstones

The higher consumption rates of electronic devices along with their short life cycles and few repair options poses a huge challenge for E-waste industries to manage them effectively. E-waste comprises of hazardous materials and toxic constituents that can affect the environment and public health through improper disposal. However, they also contain few valuable materials that, if recovered, can reduce the dependence on virgin raw materials. Circular economy has the potential to utilize these valuable materials and gain environment and socio-economic benefits. The research explains how the adoption of a circular economy approach can help improve the E-waste recycling in California …

Beauty And The Beast: Plastic Pollution In The Personal Care And Cosmetics Industry, Olivia Frantzeskos

Student Theses 2015-Present

This paper explores the history of plastic in the beauty and cosmetics industry, and how this toxic material is irreparably harming our ecosystems resulting from nonrecyclable packaging and a lack of microplastic management. Properly managing harmful plastics found in personal care and cosmetics products (PCCPs) is essential for minimizing toxic wastewater in raw sewage, landfills, and the ocean, as discussed in reports such as “Plastics in Cosmetics” by the UNEP. Furthermore, this paper presents an argument for why the personal care and cosmetics industry should be included in the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), which gives the EPA authority to …

The Long-Term Problem With Electric Vehicle Batteries: A Policy Recommendation To Encourage Advancement For Scalable Recycling Practices, Lauren Fricke

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental & Innovation Law

With the growing popularity of electric vehicles, the demand for lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries, which are the dominant energy source for electric vehicles, are skyrocketing. By default, this means a growing demand for the raw materials needed to manufacture these complex batteries such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel. Economic, environmental, and political supply chain factors bring into question the sustainability of these batteries as a solution to the issues surrounding gasoline powered transportation, creating a need for large scale Li-ion battery recycling. By 2030, 140 million EVs are predicted to be on the road worldwide. In that time, eleven million …

A Call For The Library Community To Deploy Best Practices Toward A Database For Biocultural Knowledge Relating To Climate Change, Martha B. Lerski

Publications and Research

Abstract

Purpose – In this paper, a call to the library and information science community to support documentation and conservation of cultural and biocultural heritage has been presented.

Design/methodology/approach – Based in existing Literature, this proposal is generative and descriptive— rather than prescriptive—regarding precisely how libraries should collaborate to employ technical and ethical best practices to provide access to vital data, research and cultural narratives relating to climate.

Findings – COVID-19 and climate destruction signal urgent global challenges. Library best practices are positioned to respond to climate change. Literature indicates how libraries preserve, share and cross-link cultural and scientific knowledge. …

Piled Up, Sophia Lebowitz

Capstones

Piled Up is a 10 minute film about Anna Sacks, a dumpster diver in New York City who has recently found viral social media fame for calling out wasteful corporate practices. Meanwhile, the physical build-up of the trash she collects, and the anxiety of the never-ending cycles of waste are weighing her down and keeping her from her goals.

This is a surprising story about a woman who has found overwhelming social media success while simultaneously dealing with the mechanism of that success, waste, building up in her life. Her videos have garnered her thousands of followers and millions of …

Integration Of Blockchain Technology Into Automobiles To Prevent And Study The Causes Of Accidents, John Kim

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Automobile collisions occur daily. We now live in an information-driven world, one where technology is quickly evolving. Blockchain technology can change the automotive industry, the safety of the motoring public and its surrounding environment by incorporating this vast array of information. It can place safety and efficiency at the forefront to pedestrians, public establishments, and provide public agencies with pertinent information securely and efficiently. Other industries where Blockchain technology has been effective in are as follows: supply chain management, logistics, and banking. This paper reviews some statistical information regarding automobile collisions, Blockchain technology, Smart Contracts, Smart Cities; assesses the feasibility …

“Surviving And Growing Up With Illegal Status”: The Analysis Of Socio–Economic Household, Potential Conflict, The Environmental Damage, And Vulnerability Of Local Community To Disaster, Sofyan Syahnur, Yossi Diantimala

Journal of Sustainable Mining

This study aims to analyze, from social-economics and environmental perspectives, how illegal gold mining survives and grows with its illegal status. Generally, illegal mining has a positive impact on the socio-economy of all parties involved. However, mining activities cause environmental damage and pollution so that the local community is vulnerable to disaster and potential conflict. This research was conducted at an illegal mining site in Aceh, the western province of Indonesia. To describe the primary data, it employs a descriptive qualitative method. The purposive sampling method is used to select key informants. The results show an increasing income of all …

The Right To Repair: (Re)Building A Better Future, Jumana Labib

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

The goal of this research project was to take a multi-faceted, interdisciplinary approach to research and examine the Right to Repair movement’s progress, current repair practices, impediments, and imperatives, and the various large-scale implications (environmental, economic, social, etc.) stemming from diminished consumer freedom as a result of increased corporate greed and lack of governmental regulations with regards to repair and the environment. This poster exhibits the highlights of my general research project on the Right to Repair movement over the course of this four month internship, and aims to disseminate information about the movement to the wider public in an …

Iso 14000 Publication: A Bibliometric Analysis (2011-2020), Ilham M.Said

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study explain about ISO 14000 itself is an international standard that discusses environmental management systems in general. This study aims to visually map publications in the field of ISO 14000 at the global level indexed by Scopus using Bibliometric analysis. This research utilizes the analysis features on the Scopus website and visualizes the bibliometric network using VOSviewer. The research data used is to use indicators in the form of keywords related to ISO 14000 in the Scopus database with the results obtained as many as 136 academic documents that have been published from 2011 to 2020 at the global …

The Apparel Industry And The Lasting Impact Of Fast Fashion, Katelyn Collison

Marketing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Personal style is how everyone expresses their individuality and personality; there is nothing inherently wrong with wanting to buy clothes to do that. The issue arrives when big corporations take advantage of this and sell products to consumers that end up hurting rather than healing. It is often forgotten how much of an impact big business has on our everyday lives; they can affect our economy, our atmosphere, or even our daily interactions. Customers are beginning to realize that there are positive and negative consequences to their purchases. On one hand, shopping is a great way to boost the economy, …

Addressing The Internet's Influence On Fast Fashion, Kelly Cruz '23, Uchenna Nnawuchi '23, Saamiyah Khan '23

Student Leadership Exchange (SLX)

Fast fashion, the rapid production of cheap clothing made for trends that will only last at most a month, is increasingly becoming more popular. Fast fashion damages both the environment and the workers that are put to work long hours but are underpaid. These issues are overlooked by online shoppers due to the fact that they are unaware of its unsustainability and harsh working conditions. Although, this problem of unintentional ignorance could be avoided if fast fashion companies were transparent with the work they are doing alongside as working towards fixing these issues regarding sustainability and the workers’ conditions. The …

توظيف تكنولوجيا المعلومات في إدارة المخاطر البيئية: دراسة تقويمية في الشركة العامة لصناعة الزيوت النباتية, Sahar Kaddouri

Al Jinan الجنان

Risks Environmental Management engage an increasing number of persons from different fields .The management and safeguarding of our environment by business not only an important issue in today’s society ,but also a challenge for the different enterprises to turn environmental concerns into new business opportunities .In this respect ,Risks Environmental Management is key element in achieving developing countries .Better access to good quality information and Environmental data is prerequisite for improved Risks Environmental Management .
This research aims to describe how information technology can be used in Risks Environmental Management ? Through the answers based on the questions that research …

The Evolution Of Research On Sustainable Business Models: Implications For Management Scholars, Sandra Rothenberg, Erinn G. Ryen, Anne G. Sherman

Journal of Environmental Sustainability

Business models that lead to reduced consumption of resources and energy and support a Circular Economy can help businesses address the world’s pressing environmental problems. At the same time, they are concepts that have taken decades to garner serious attention in management literature. In this paper we review patterns in scholarship across a wide range of disciplines (sciences, humanities and management) on the Circular Economy and related business models like Extended Producer Responsibility, Product Service Systems, Collaborative Consumption, Sharing Economy, and Voluntary Simplicity. From this review, we discuss how business scholars might learn from these trends, and the implications for …

The Invisible Hurdle: Biases Investors Have Against Sustainable Investing, Kerry E. Ullman

Student Publications

A current trend of many corporations is making it a priority to focus on becoming more socially responsible and ethical in all aspects of their businesses. Investors, on the other hand, have not been as focused on incorporating these issues into their selection criteria, especially when it comes to the issue of sustainable investing (ESG). This research tries to understand what the hidden barriers are that stop individual investors from investing sustainably. This research examines the effect of proper information on sustainable investing and the most effective communication strategies to relay this information to investors. There was a control group …

Carbon Management Strategy And Carbon Disclosures: An Exploratory Study, Kathy K. Dhanda, Mahfuja Malik

WCBT Faculty Publications

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a concept aimed to ensure that corporations conduct their business in an ethical manner by taking care of their environment and human resources in addition to their economic impact. Often times, CSR refers to the steps undertaken by a corporation to measure its efforts to improve the environment and social well-being. One of the aspects of CSR pertains to the disclosure of emission information and carbon management strategy (CMS). Carbon Management refers to analyzing and focusing on those areas within the corporation where cost reductions can be made via energy reductions, waste management and reduced …

Sustainability In Business: Developing An Undergraduate Business Course, Julie Nelsen, Mary Henderson, Sarah Rand

Business Administration Faculty Scholarship

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the rationale and process of creating a new course focused on business sustainability in the University’s Department of Business Administration. Currently, the University offers just one business sustainability course, delivered once every two years as a January study-abroad course in Chile. While an outstanding experience, a limited number of students can take advantage of the opportunity. After identifying this gap in our business programs, we created a stand-alone course that focuses on business sustainability. This paper addresses the following questions: What is the business case for adding the course? What should the …

Environmental Justice In Little Village: A Case For Reforming Chicago’S Zoning Law, Charles Isaacs

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

Chicago’s Little Village community bears the heavy burden of environmental injustice and racism. The residents are mostly immigrants and people of color who live with low levels of income, limited access to healthcare, and disproportionate levels of dangerous air pollution. Before its retirement, Little Village’s Crawford coal-burning power plant was the lead source of air pollution, contributing to 41 deaths, 550 emergency room visits, and 2,800 asthma attacks per year. After the plant’s retirement, community members wanted a say on the future use of the lot, only to be closed out when a corporation, Hilco Redevelopment Partners, bought the lot …

Like Father, Like Son: Modelling Masculinity For The Ethical Leadership Of President Theodore Roosevelt, Elizabeth Summerfield

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

President Theodore Roosevelt is frequently portrayed as a rugged, hypermasculine cowboy. But this depiction ignores the powerful modelling for masculine leadership provided by his father, Theodore Roosevelt senior. A closer examination of the private and public spheres that framed the latter’s life offers another route into understanding the ethical and rational motivations that characterised his progressive Presidency, not least in the area of natural resource management, where his policy innovations were both unprecedented and sustained over time. What emerges is a more complex portrait than the above stereotype, a leader who used his heart, head and experience to think and …

Successful Climate Change Strategies In Corporate Farming, Deann Renee Reaves

Journal of Sustainable Social Change

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Environmental Information (2016), climate-related disasters occurring from 2011 to 2015 caused property damages in excess of US$230 billion—and the agriculture sector incurs some of the largest losses (Hoffmann, 2013). The purpose of this case study was to identify, through an in-depth interview and document review, successful climate-change-based sustainability strategies in a publicly held farming operation. The findings indicated that the farm’s climate-change-based sustainability strategy had basic qualities of corporate social responsibility, triple-bottom-line thinking, and systems thinking. Specific approaches identified were mitigation- and adaptation-oriented approaches. Implications for social change include …

Island Invasion: The Silent Crisis In Hawaii, Sophia Janssen

Pomona Senior Theses

Keeping out invasive species may, upon first review, seem like a trivial environmental cry from ecologists and deep environmentalists; a belated wish to return to an undeveloped world where nature was pristine. However invasive species create problems that impact all of us and can have far more severe consequences than changing a stunning landscape. These problems are heightened in islands like Hawaii, where the fragile ecosystems have developed over centuries of evolution and adaptation. The introduction of a disease-carrying mosquito can put the people of Hawaii at risk to many vector-born illnesses and create an epidemic, taking human life. The …

Plan De Mejora En Procesos Administrativos Y Contables Del Acueducto “Faimsys” En La Gestión Del Recurso Hídrico Del Municipio De Cachipay - Cundinamarca, Carlos Felipe Molina Sotomonte, John Felipe Reyes Hernández

Contaduría Pública

El presente trabajo, corresponde a la modalidad de trabajo de pregrado de proyección social, y consistió en estructurar un plan de mejora en procesos administrativos y contables en el acueducto FAIMSYS (Cachipay - Cundinamarca), mediante un proceso de investigación acción participativa para la toma de decisiones en la gestión del recurso hídrico. Mediante el enfoque investigación acción participativa se determinaron falencias administrativas y contables que han adoptado las diferentes fundaciones a través de un diagnostico donde se detallan cuatro puntos principales, el primero enfocándose a temas de contabilidad en especial con causaciones y egresos, el segundo, un desarrollo explicativo de …

Climate Change: A Call To Action, Kathy K. Dhanda

WCBT Faculty Publications

On Dec 15, 2018, in the town of Katowice, Poland, diplomats from 200 countries adopted a detailed set of rules to uphold and implement the Paris Agreement, the international treaty drafted by United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This deal will require every country to track its emissions and climate policies by following a uniform set of standards. Furthermore, countries are to cut their emissions ahead of the next round of talks in 2020. Climate change is a complicated problem, one that will not be solved by national governments alone. A lot of …

Environmental Sustainability For Business Success, Kailyn Cohen

Richard T. Schellhase Essay Prize in Ethics

No abstract provided.

Corporations And Environmental Responsibility: Considering The Moral And Financial Implications Of Oil Spills, Fracking, And Controversial Pipelines, Sarah Becker

Richard T. Schellhase Essay Prize in Ethics

No abstract provided.

Financial Assessment Of Agricultural Lands At Risk To Coastal Salt Marsh Migration In Relation To Climate Change Induced Sea Level Rise In Dorchester County, Maryland, Jewell Porter

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

The increasing rate and effects of sea level rise is a major environmental concern in the Chesapeake Bay. This paper evaluates the impacts of rising sea level on coastal salt marshes and the surrounding agricultural lands at risk in Dorchester County, Maryland to build off existing environmental monitoring work performed by NOAA’s Sentinel Site Program. The results of the spatial analysis were used to estimate monetary benefits to incentivize farmers to protect these marshes by making their land available for marsh migration to occur. Looking at three scenarios of sea level rise and marsh migration, grain crops (corn, soybeans, and …