Digital Commons Network^™

Trash Talk: Solid Waste Disposal In New York City, Alexander Williams

Student Theses 2001-2013

In 2010, Americans produced 250 million tons of solid waste. Where does this massive amount of waste go after we throw it out? The majority of the waste is disposed of in landfills where it does not break down, produces poisonous leachate which can contaminate soil and groundwater supplies, and contributes twenty-five percent of America’s methane emissions. The challenges and hazards of solid waste disposal are no more evident than in New York City. New York City residents produce over 50,000 tons of solid waste and recyclables every day. With the closing of the Fresh Kills Landfill on Staten Island …

Giving Back To The Community: Addressing The Environmental Literacy Gap Through Socially And Environmentally Responsible Business Practices, David Garcia

Student Theses 2001-2013

The following paper was inspired by my passion for environmental education and environmental justice. The problem being addressed herein is the environmental literacy gap in the United States caused by the environmental education deficit. After an extensive review of literature and research regarding the issue of environmental education in America, I propose that the environmental and social responsibility movement in business can help augment the environmental education deficit in our country. In order to fully grasp the issues at hand and to understand the full scope of environmental education, I first discuss three disciplines essential to the process of integrating …

Wasting Plates: Addressing Food Waste In The United States, Sarah Geuss

Student Theses 2001-2013

It is estimated that Americans waste over half of their food, depleting natural resources and destroying native ecosystems. Food is wasted daily through a variety of methods, whether through the picking practiced on farms, the selectivity of grocery stores for the best looking produce, and the over-consumption of food by consumers who are unaware of the effects of uneaten food. With the industrial revolution and the “eat more” agricultural tactics pushed post- WWII onto society, the American relationship with food has quickly declined. Urbanization has lent itself to the power of the food industry in transforming farming into another transnational …

The Sustainable Future Of The Metropolis: Greening New York City Building By Building, Lizbeth Sanchez

Student Theses 2001-2013

Due to growth, technology and economic expansion, Western culture has gradually become detached from the natural environment. Industrialism and a culture of consumption have dragged us through a medley of environmental problems, all culminating to our current problem: climate change. The causes and effects of global warming overshadow all of our environmental issues. These problems threaten our way of life, our very existence, and future generations. How can we save the planet without compromising economic growth? Sustainability. In my research I have focused and reported on sustainability pertaining to America’s greatest urban center, New York City, with a spotlight on …

Getches Wilkinson Center Newsletter, Winter/Spring 2013, University Of Colorado Boulder. Getches-Wilkinson Center For Natural Resources, Energy, And The Environment

Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy, and the Environment Newsletter (2013-)

No abstract provided.

Scales Over Shale: How Pennsylvania Got Fracked, Carlo E. Sica

Geography and the Environment - Theses

Shale gas has become one of Pennsylvania's major resources in recent years and the gas boom has proceeded in spite of uncertainty over the environmental risks of its production process. This thesis argues that location alone cannot explain why shale gas boomed in Pennsylvania. Using interviews with corporate and state executives, I argue that the scalar dimensions of the neoliberal environmental governance of shale gas were critical to understanding why shale gas boomed in Pennsylvania. These actors supported the preemption of local scales of governance by the state as a scalar fix for capital accumulation from shale gas development. They …

Urban Forest Justice And The Rights To Wild Foods, Medicines, And Materials In The City, Melissa R. Poe, Rebecca J. Mclain, Marla R. Emery, Patrick T. Hurley

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

Urban forests are multifunctional socio-ecological landscapes, yet some of their social benefits remain poorly understood. This paper draws on ethnographic evidence from Seattle, Washington to demonstrate that urban forests contain nontimber forest products that contribute a variety of wild foods, medicines, and materials for the wellbeing of urban residents. We show that gathering wild plants and fungi in urban forests is a persistent subsistence and livelihood practice that provides sociocultural and material benefits to city residents, and creates opportunities for connecting with nature and enhancing social ties. We suggest that an orientation toward human-nature interactions in cities that conceptualizes the …

Third Annual Environmental Law And Justice Symposium Issue: Introduction, Randall S. Abate, Richard D. Schulterbrandt Gragg Iii

Florida A & M University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Ua12/13 Big Red, Small Planet, Christian Ryan-Downing , Editor, Leslie North , Editor

Sustainability Publications and Resources

At WKU, “The Spirit Makes the Master”. Our commitment to continuous improvement is clearly reflected in our sustainability efforts. WKU’s commitment to sustainability, whether demonstrated in campus operations or in educational programs, helps to ensure that our graduates are prepared to address the complicated environmental, social and economic issues we face today. They will be able to think critically, solve problems creatively and be engaged citizens. If that’s all we accomplish then we will have achieved great success. But our sustainability commitment pays dividends, as it also leads us to reduce our environmental footprint, practice social responsibility, and conserve natural …

Sandy And The City: The Need For Coastal Policy Reform, Jonathan Hilburg

Student Theses 2001-2013

After tropical storm Sandy battered the East Coast in October 2012, New York City was damaged extensively by flooding, high-intensity winds and the resultant flames. The resultant flooding rendered many underground subway lines unusable along the southern coasts for an extended period of time, as well as damaging buried electrical wiring. These outages were compounded by the hi-strength winds in the upper areas that also brought down above ground wiring. The lack of electricity for use in traffic lights, care facilities, emergency services and mass transit had a staggeringly adverse impact on public health.

In the upcoming effort to rebuild …

Hurricane Sandy: Using Environmental History, Economics, Politics And Urban Planning To Prepare For The Next One, Julia Maguire

Student Theses 2001-2013

Hurricane Sandy, a category 1 storm by the time it reached the North East coast of the United States, was a disaster that devastated all of those in its path. The physical effects of the hurricane, which hit the East coast of the United States on October 29, 2012, were felt by 15 states. The most devastating outcome in the aftermath of the storm was the death toll that numbered over 100 people. The shock from the disturbing effects of this storm was extremely unsettling, and unfortunately those who were affected by it will continue to suffer from these consequences …

Imaginenative 2012: Ecocinema And The Indigenous Film Festival, Salma Monani, Miranda Brady

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

Much scholarship points to how ecological concerns are never far from Indigenous struggles for political sovereignty and public participation. In this paper we turn to the Indigenous film festival as a relatively understudied yet rich site to explore such ecological concerns. Specifically, we highlight the ImagineNATIVE 2012 film festival based in Toronto, Canada.

Citizens’ Perspectives Of Access To The Decision Making Process And Community Improvement As Determinants Of Brownfields Redevelopment Success, Shevon Jean Letang

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Brownfields redevelopment is acclaimed as a successful program that has revitalized struggling urban communities and returned unproductive, underutilized, and abandoned industrial and commercial properties to municipalities’ tax rolls. Despite a major brownfields' redevelopment goal being to improve the communities and their citizens' quality of life, to date, the program has not been evaluated from the mainstreams' perspective as to its impact on their neighborhoods and their quality of life. A survey of 129 citizens from urban, suburban and exsuburban municipalities in Passaic County New Jersey sought to evaluate the social outcomes of three redeveloped projects from the affected mainstreams' perspective. …

Assessing The Equity Implications Of Greenspace Distribution In An Arid Region, Abdelatif Eldeb

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In the last few decades, vegetation deterioration is receiving increased attention because of its adverse impacts on societal and human health, environmental sustainability, and quality of life. I have selected two cities in Chihuahua Desert region (El Paso and Juarez) as case study sites to develop a novel and applicable methodology for integrating remotely sensed data of different spectral and spatial resolutions into an analysis of the spatial distribution of an urban amenity. The primary objective of this research is to determine if the spatial distribution of greenspace in 2010 is equitable with respect to socio-demographics in El Paso and …

A Modeling Investigation Of Human Exposure To Select Traffic-Related Air Pollutants In The Tampa Area: Spatiotemporal Distributions Of Concentrations, Social Distributions Of Exposures, And Impacts Of Urban Design On Both, Haofei Yu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Increasing vehicle dependence in the United States has resulted in substantial emissions of traffic-related air pollutants that contribute to the deterioration of urban air quality. Exposure to urban air pollutants trigger a number of public health concerns, including the potential of inequality of exposures and health effects among population subgroups. To better understand the impact of traffic-related pollutants on air quality, exposure, and exposure inequality, modeling methods that can appropriately characterize the spatiotemporally resolved concentration distributions of traffic-related pollutants need to be improved. These modeling methods can then be used to investigate the impacts of urban design and transportation management …

Background Reading: Department Of Agriculture, 2013 Budget Overview, United States. Forest Service, United States. Department Of Agriculture

The Future of Natural Resources Policy (December 6)

57 pages.

"Fiscal Year 2013 Budget Overview"

"February 2012"

"Background Reading"

The Future of Natural Resources Policy: This forum will provide a post-election perspective on some of the challenges and opportunities that natural resources, public lands, and energy policymakers in Washington are likely to face in the next four years. An expert panel will discuss the dynamics in the Department of the Interior, the Department of Agriculture, and Congress, and how their evolving policies are likely to affect Colorado in the coming years.

Creating The Park Cool Island In An Inner-City Neighborhood: Heat Mitigation Strategy For Phoenix, Az, Juan Declet-Barreto, Anthony J. Brazel, Chris A. Martin, Winston T. L. Chow, Sharon L. Harlan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

We conducted microclimate simulations in ENVI-Met 3.1 to evaluate the impact of vegetation in lowering temperatures during an extreme heat event in an urban core neighborhood park in Phoenix, Arizona. We predicted air and surface temperatures under two different vegetation regimes: existing conditions representative of Phoenix urban core neighborhoods, and a proposed scenario informed by principles of landscape design and architecture and Urban Heat Island mitigation strategies. We found significant potential air and surface temperature reductions between representative and proposed vegetation scenarios: 1) a Park Cool Island effect that extended to non-vegetated surfaces; 2) a net cooling of air underneath …

Evaluating Potential Nonpoint Source Pollution Impacts In The Upper Reaches Of The Horse Creek Watershed In Aiken County, Sc, S M. Harmon, K E. Edgington, J L. Pinckney, J R. Yates, P W. Steen

S.C. Water Resources Conference

2012 S.C. Water Resources Conference - Exploring Opportunities for Collaborative Water Research, Policy and Management

Identifying Fecal Pollution Sources Through Antibiotic Resistance Analysis (Ara): Sand River, Aiken County, Sc, Ryan T. West, James R. Yates, S Michele Harmon

S.C. Water Resources Conference

2012 S.C. Water Resources Conference - Exploring Opportunities for Collaborative Water Research, Policy and Management

Bottom Canyon Hazardous Fuel Reduction Phase Ii, United States Department Of The Interior, Bureau Of Land Management

Environmental Assessments (UT)

The purpose of the Bottom Canyon Hazardous Fuel Reduction Phase II project is to reduce the buildup of hazardous fuels that have accumulated over the last several decades in order to prevent the potential for large catastrophic fire events. In addition, the proposed action is needed to maintain important sage-steppe habitat for a variety of wildlife species in the project area.

Pine Springs Hazardous Fuel Reduction Phase Ii, United States Department Of The Interior, Bureau Of Land Management

Environmental Assessments (UT)

The purpose of the Pine Springs Hazardous Fuel Reduction Phase II project is to reduce the buildup of hazardous fuels that have accumulated over the last several decades in order to prevent the potential for large catastrophic fire events. In addition, the proposed action is needed to maintain important sage-steppe habitat for a variety of wildlife species in the project area.

Regimes And Resilience In The Modern Global Food System, Sara W. Tower

Student Publications

Much public discourse surrounding the modern global food system operates on the assumption of the primary agency of individual consumers in ensuring an equitable and sustainable food supply. However, this approach fails to account for the larger structural forces of the system which frame the limits of how we interact with and are affected by our food system. Taking a closer look at the global economic, political, cultural, and environmental forces that have collectively shaped historical food regimes reveals the deeper structural patterns that currently determine how we produce, distribute, and consume food around the world. Due to the underlying …

Environmental Critiques Of Nuclear Energy, William Hummel

Pomona Senior Theses

This essay identifies and evaluates the most common environmental critiques made against nuclear energy development. Environmentalists articulate four major concerns: the destructive effects and health risks of uranium mining; the dangers posed by radiation releases and meltdowns; the difficult of nuclear waste disposal; and national security concerns, including nuclear weapons proliferation and the possibility of attack or sabotage. By characterizing and describing these concerns, we are better able to decide which problems are most compelling, and suggest possible policy-driven solutions.

Take Me To The River: Revitalizing La's Lost Monument, Erin Childs

Pomona Senior Theses

The tale of South Korea's Cheonggyecheon River is one to warm an urban environmentalist's heart. Cheonggyecheon runs through the center of Seoul, a bustling metropolis of ten million that has been the capital of Korea since the 14th century. The Japanese were the first to sacrice Cheonggyecheon on the altar of urbanization, turning the River into a sewage system during their 35 year occupation between 1910 and 1945. Already thusvdegraded, it was easy for later administrations to eventually completely cover the river with the Cheonggye Road and Cheonggye Elevated Highway between 1958 and 1976. Cheonggyecheon became an exemplar of the …

Day To Day Change Making: The Transformative Potential Of Dumpster Diving, Elizabeth Emery Donovan

Pomona Senior Theses

This paper investigates the potential of dumpster diving as a tactic of the freegan movement. The goal of the freegan movement is the realization of a postcapitalist world. I first investigate the scope, legality and demographic of dumpster diving in the U.S. I then contextualize dumpster diving within the history of waste, consumerism and excess in the U.S. since the beginning of the 20th century. I conclude by assessing the viabaility of freegan dumpster diving as a transformative tactic in light of its inaccessibility to various individuals as a result of their race and class. I ultimately argue that freeganism …

Public Housing In The United States: Using Sustainable Urbanism To Combat Social Exclusion, Jasmine L. Edo

Scripps Senior Theses

The United States government has taken steps to assure underprivileged citizens housing in the form of public housing through the Department of Housing and Urban Development, as well as various humanitarian programs in the form of homeless shelters. Yet, all housing is not equal. Our freedom to choose where we live and what type of house we live in is one revered aspect of life as a United States citizen. We can express our individuality, creativity, and personality through the architectural style of our homes. In this sense it is hard to ask for equal housing. I am suggesting that …

The John Muir Newsletter, Spring/Summer 2012, The John Muir Center

Muir Center Newsletters (1981-2015)

Page 1 transcription missing

PAGE 2 'Women as History-Makers In California" Symposium The 59th California History Institute was held this past March at University of the Pacific. This year's theme was "Women as History-Makers in California." The event was planned and co- organized by Edith Sparks (Senior Associate Dean of the College), Jennifer Hel- gren, Assistant Professor of History, Corrie Martin, Director of the Women's Resource Center, and W. Swa- gerty, Director of the John Muir Center. On Friday, March 23, twenty students and faculty motored to Sacramento to tour the California Museum. Exhibits on "California's Remarkable Women," "Women and …

The Fierce Green Fire: Vol. 2 Issue 20, Wofford College Environmental Studies Program

The Fierce Green Fire

No abstract provided.

Uintah County, Uintah County Road #060703a (Amendment), United States Department Of The Interior, Bureau Of Land Management

Environmental Assessments (UT)

This Environmental Assessment (EA) has been prepared to analyze Uintah County's proposal to amend their right-of-way (ROW) UTU-69125-20 (county road #060703A) to include approximately 4.36 miles of road for public commerce, enjoyment, recreation and travel. Uintah County has proposed this project to facilitate management of their County Road system.

Project Gaya: A Study Abroad Program Design For Fundación Operación Gaya Internacional, Lauren E. Johanson

Capstone Collection

Since 2008 Fundación Operación GAYA Internacional, a Costa Rican NGO has provided youth training and development programs to local youth in Costa Rica, empowering young people to be “architects” in the development of their own communities and to take the lead in creating a world that is more peaceful and just. Through the implementation of Project GAYA, the foundation will expand its programming to international youth for the first time.

The proposed program offers a comprehensive program design for a short-term study abroad experience for U.S. high school students to Costa Rica. Students will engage in experiential learning and critical …