Many coffee shops encourage sustainability by offering small discounts to customers who bring reusable mugs, though many consumers do not take advantage of the discount. Would a change in price framing at coffee shops increase the use of reusable mugs? The neoclassical law of demand suggests a same-sized discount and fee would not change behavior. The behavioral economic principle of loss aversion suggests that a fee may be more behavior-changing than a discount. To test these competing theories, a 10-week experiment was run at Colorado College. Before the experiment, customers received a $0.25 drink discount if they brought their own mug. The experiment lowered all drink prices by $0.25 and, if customers needed a disposable cup, they were changed an additional $0.25. The prices in both scenarios are the same, but in the first a disposable cup is included in the price and the second frames buying a disposable cup as an additional cost. Results show the experiment did not impact total drinks sold, but reusable mug distribution and the price change increased reusable mug-bringing by 3.8 and 1.9 percentage points respectively.
Drawing from ecofeminist perspectives, this paper assesses the saliency of women not as victims of environmental degradation, but rather as potent agents of change. Situated within the context of increasing environmental damage and looming irreversible climate change, this study examines whether, and to what degree, women’s political empowerment impacts environmental sustainability. With particular emphasis on women’s status, ordinary least squares regressions models were used to investigate predictors of ecological footprint, environmental well-being and environmental performance cross-nationally. The results demonstrate that while affluence, measured in GDP per capita, is a strong predictor in every case, women’s political empowerment leads to better environmental outcomes only in environmental policy performance. This suggests that women’s political empowerment may be yet another modernisation factor which affects national environmental policies and outcomes, but cannot reduce the overall environmental impact beyond national borders. This study concludes by stating that despite of promising results, women’s status may still suffer from globalisation and other mediating world-system processes.
For the last ten years, the words ‘sustainability’ and ‘sustainable development’ have been used by many prominent political and economic leaders. But what is sustainability really and is it possible to accurately measure the sustainability of countries’ economies objectively? This study focuses on three sustainability models, namely the Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI), the Sustainability Assessment by Fuzzy Evaluation (SAFE) and the Sustainable Human Carrying Capacity (SHCC), and their evaluations on the sustainability of the Hungarian economy and environment. Furthermore, it also surveys the opinion of Hungarian undergraduate economics students on the Hungarian economy and its sustainability. The study shows that the ability of current sustainability models and measures to give accurate portrayals of countries and regions is problematic, because they use different definitions of sustainability, use different environmental and/or economic indicators, do not differentiate between the impacts of the individual indicators, and are able to be used for political purposes. This is especially true for Hungary, as the country’s economy is crumbling with increasing social unrest, yet sustainability models give it a high ranking. Also, the Hungarian students’ views on the country’s sustainability depend on what school of economics they were taught in, and what they think about Hungary’s past, current and future economic and environmental situation.
This paper investigates the determinants of college value. For the purposes of this study, college value is measured by college rank. This study aims to find out which determinants are most significant and whether sustainability impacts college rank. In order to test the different variables, an ordinary least squares regression technique and a negative binomial count model were used. Results from the regressions indicate that the constant, the year, the academic reputation score, the student selectivity rank, the faculty resources rank, the graduation and retention rank, the alumni giving rank, the financial resources rank, and the endowment per student are the most significant determinants of college rank. Sustainability appears to be insignificant.
The Catalyst is the weekly student newspaper of Colorado College. This issue was published September 9, 2014.
The awareness of sustainability issues has increased the demand for contemporary environmental, social, and economic solutions. The green building movement, with LEED as the primary assessment standard in the United States, is a major focus of urban sustainability and the built environment. The Catamount Center Dorm, an ~3,000 sq. ft. small environmental education dorm at the rural Catamount Mountain Campus, located in Woodland Park, Colorado, underwent a preliminary LEED evaluation during the early construction stage. This qualitative case study identifies three theoretical constructs that address contestable concepts and gaps within the literature, and may be beneficial for directing future study; they include 1) LEED can serve as an effective educational tool for students, building designers, and LEED accredited professionals 2) LEED impacts building design team dynamics, influencing individual roles, advocacy, and group conversations, 3) LEED provides narrow sustainability solutions within the greater scope of green building practices and should be weighted against the larger ambitions of a project.
As society has progressed over time, we have developed extensive unsustainable consumption habits, and we will have to deal with the future consequences of those actions. Problems, like climate change, have developed into intricate issues that will require innovative marketing and promotion methods, as they will involve the alteration of solidified social patterns and constructs. Through analyzing products like residential renewable energy, we can better understand how sustainable and responsible behavior can be fostered from the individual level to a national scale. That is why this study asks what factors explain homeowners’ decision to invest in renewable energy? Through exploring past research, understanding current markets, and surveying potential and current renewable energy user, this study attempts to identify the most prominent barriers and effective promoters of residential renewable energy.
