Transport is an important aspect to take account in efforts to achieve sustainable tourism development. If we do not change our behavior regarding travel, the consequences will be significant for the environment. This study examines the various transport operators on the two Swedish ski resorts if their websites and marketing are different from each other in the mode selection. The destinations are Åre and Hemavan Tärnaby. They studied modes are two Swedish airlines, two train companies, three bus companies and three taxi companies.These corporate websites are studied with a content analysis in which the results of the keywords that have been developed are scored according to different categories. The result shows that big companies such as airlines and train operators display a deliberate and far-reaching work with environment and sustainability issues. Large taxi companies have a good job while small taxi business seems to have less opportunities and willingness to work with these issues. The bus companies' websites also have lower scores and are worse in presenting its environmental work.

Doctor of Philosophy / This research aimed to develop new cooling methods to replace, or at least minimise, the use of currently used grinding coolants which are known to be harmful to the environment. The methods used involved the application of a cold air and vegetable oil mist mixture (CAOM), and the use of liquid nitrogen as cooling media. Allied research focused on the development of a segmented grinding wheel equipped with a coolant chamber. The feasibility of a grinding system using CAOM was assessed on the surface grinding of plain carbon steel 1045. It was found that at low material removal rates, ground surfaces were obtained with a quality comparable to that from grinding with a conventional coolant in association with a reduction of grinding forces. There was no significant difference in the subsurface hardness of the components using CAOM, although the latter method showed a stronger dependence of surface residual stresses on the depth of cut due to the limit in cooling capacity of CAOM. The effects of using liquid nitrogen as a cooling medium on the microstructure of quenchable steel were explored. It was found that a martensite layer was induced on the ground surface. The microstructure featured a dispersion of very fine carbides within the martensite lattice, resulting in a remarkable increase in hardness and high compressive residual stresses within the layer. The topography of the ground surfaces indicated that the material was predominantly removed by brittle fracture. Furthermore surface oxidisation was suppressed. In the interest of coolant minimisation, a segmented wheel equipped with a pressurized coolant chamber was developed. A higher quality ground surface was obtained in conjunction with a coolant saving of up to 70%. In addition, the adhesion of ground chips on the wheel surface largely disappeared. Furthermore, surface tensile residual stresses caused by thermal deformation were minimised. The mechanism of coolant disintegration to form mists using this type of wheel system was studied. The Weber theory for Newtonian jet instability was applied to quantitatively determine the contribution of coolant flow rate to mist and ligament modes. A semi-analytical model was then developed to predict the mist flow rate by taking into account both grinding parameters and coolant properties. The model prediction was in agreement with experimental measurements. Based on the principles of fluid motion and the mechanisms of spin-off and splash, analytical models for both conventional and segmented wheels were established to provide a physical understanding of the mechanisms of coolant penetration into the grinding zone. Coolant minimisation was evident using the segmented wheel where the coolant pumping power into the grinding zone increased with wheel speed, but for the conventional wheel it decreased. A quantitative analysis was developed that accounted for the coolant properties and system design characteristics governing the penetration mechanism revealed by the theory established above. In conjunction with the mist formation analysis, the developed model offers a practical guideline for the optimal use of grinding coolants in achieving a balance between the demands of productivity and care for the environment.

OLIVEIRA, Lucio José de. Sustentabilidade do modelo agrícola: um estudo de caso. 2009. 83 f. Dissertação (Mestrado em engenharia agrícola)- Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza-CE, 2009. / Submitted by Elineudson Ribeiro (elineudsonr@gmail.com) on 2016-06-24T18:08:01Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2009_dis_ljoliveira.pdf: 1237958 bytes, checksum: 486b70e28492a5005e54d0127f99782d (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by José Jairo Viana de Sousa (jairo@ufc.br) on 2016-07-21T20:18:44Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2009_dis_ljoliveira.pdf: 1237958 bytes, checksum: 486b70e28492a5005e54d0127f99782d (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-21T20:18:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2009_dis_ljoliveira.pdf: 1237958 bytes, checksum: 486b70e28492a5005e54d0127f99782d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / Growth and economic development are different concepts. Growth refers to amount of wealth produced by society while economic development refers to quality of life of the people in society. The main goal of the work was characterize the survival of farmers in the rural communities located in the down stream area of Faé watershed. This watershed belongs to basin of high Jaguaribe and involving the Counties of Acopiara, Iguatu, Orós e Quixelô. This studied area is sited in the South-central region of the Ceará State, Brazil. It was applied 237 forms of the “cross over” type with subjective and objective questions. Data were organized in the software Excel. To define similar groups of farmers it was applied the multivariate hierarchical cluster analysis. Multivariable analysis was performed using SPSS 16.0. It was observed the similarity between the studied families. It was used the cutoff point in the dendrogram to define the amount of groups. This point was determined when the value of rescheduled distance of the clustering coefficient reached 8.68. This enabled formation of 5 groups, composed by families independent of geographic position of their location. Results showed that 96% of people have a low education level; 59% are over 41 years old; 85% use pesticides; only 10% of studied farmers use Individual Protection Equipment; 17% have technical orientation to use pesticides; 54% don’t know and/or disrespect the time for use the pesticides safety. 1% return packaging to suppliers; 2% reuse the empty containers of pesticides and 62% discard them in the environment. Results also showed that 40% of people don’t taking any care after the use of chemicals; 50% of them use irrigation system and among them 52% use flood irrigation; 63% don’t preserve the environment; 36% have no knowledge of repair zone conservation; 77% declared that they have no motivation to conserve the environment; 36% participate in some kind of community association; 54% don’t use soil conservation techniques in sloping areas; 68% don’t make the crop rotation; 41% use tillage technique ; 11% devastate vegetation cover of the land; 33% burn the forest; 73% of properties are up to 1 hectare; 48% are tenant; 61% of people live with family incomes of up to U$ 200,00 monthly; 39% of the people use water supplied by wells; 53% have septic tank in their homes. Groups I, II and III are similar to each other in relation family behavior. They are composed by rural family. Groups IV and V are similar each other, but they are different of others, and they have urban characteristics. / Crescimento e desenvolvimento econômico são conceitos que não podem ser confundidos. O primeiro se refere à quantidade de riqueza produzida pela sociedade. O segundo, está relacionado à qualidade de vida dentro de uma sociedade. A sustentabilidade pode ser entendida como a sobrevivência dos indivíduos no grupo social. A realização deste trabalho objetivou descrever as condições de sobrevivência dos agricultores e agricultoras das comunidades rurais inseridas na parte baixa da bacia hidrográfica do riacho Faé, tributária da bacia do alto Jaguaribe, envolvendo os municípios de Acopiara, Iguatu, Orós e Quixelô, pertencentes à microrregião centro-sul do Estado do Ceará. Foram aplicados 237 questionários do tipo “cross over”, com perguntas abertas e fechadas. Realizou-se a caracterização sócio-econômica e ambiental da região estudada. A tabulação foi feita em planilha Excel. Empregou-se a técnica de analysis de cluster, pelo Método de Ward, através da versão 16.0 do SPSS, para a realização da análise hierárquica multivariada de agrupamentos, observando-se as similaridades entre as famílias estudadas. O ponto de corte no dendrograma, para definir o número de grupos, foi determinado quando a distância reescalonada do coeficiente de aglomeração atingiu o valor 8,68; o que permitiu a formação de 5 grupos, compostos por famílias independente de sua localização comunitária. Constatou-se que 96% da população possuem baixa escolaridade; 59% se encontram acima dos 41 anos de idade; 85% fazem uso de agrotóxicos; 10% utilizam Equipamento de Proteção Individual; 17% recebem orientação técnica para usar agrotóxico; 54% desconhecem e/ou desrespeitam o período de carência dos produtos; 1% devolve as embalagens aos fornecedores; 2% reutilizam as embalagens vazias de agrotóxicos e 62% jogam-nas no meio ambiente; 40% não toma qualquer tipo de cuidado após o uso de produtos químicos; 50% dos produtores fazem uso de irrigação, destes, 52% utilizam o método por inundação; 63% disseram que não preservam o meio ambiente; 88% não têm conhecimento sobre a preservação de matas ciliares; 77% disseram que não existe mobilização comunitária para preservar o meio ambiente; 36,44% participam de algum tipo de agremiação comunitária; 54% afirmaram que não usam curvas de nível em áreas declivosas; 68% não fazem rotação de cultura; 41% realizam aração e gradagem; 11% desmatam; 33% realizam queimadas; 73% das propriedades são de até 1 hectare; 48% são arrendatários;61% com renda familiar de até 1 salário mínimo; 39% se abastecem através de cacimbões; 53% possuem fossa séptica em suas residências. Os grupos I, II e III se apresentaram como semelhantes entre si, formados por famílias com características tipicamente rurais; os grupos IV e V, embora semelhantes entre si, apresentaram-se dessemelhantes entre os demais, demonstrando características tipicamente urbanas.

In this dissertation, I establish a theoretical and empirical critique of modern forms of environmentally sustainable technology. Theoretically, I critique the application of environmentally sustainable technologies in modern capitalist economies using the treadmill of production theory and metabolic rift theory. I also expand on these theories by developing an analytical concept – the displacement paradox. The displacement paradox refers to a counterintuitive phenomenon, where green technologies expand rather displace traditional production processes. Empirically, I assess the assumptions of the displacement paradox by analyzing the relationship between organic farming and agrochemical application, organic farming and greenhouse gas emissions, organic farming and water pollution, and alternatively fueled vehicles and total fuel consumption per vehicle. In each of these cases, I find that green technology (in the form of organic farming and alternatively fueled vehicles) is not displacing traditional production processes, and instead expanding alongside them. I argue that these findings are a result of the broader socioeconomic structure that green technology is produced under. Specifically, I contend that because current socioeconomic systems are established around traditional production processes, to substantially reduce environmental degradation, green technologies must operate as a social and technological counterforce to traditional production processes. Currently, the green technologies explored in this dissertation act as a technological alternatives to traditional production processes, making them commodities that sustain the current structure of social relations, as opposed to social and technological counterforces to environmentally hazardous forms of production. I conclude that in order for green technologies to successfully reduce environmental degradation, they must be established under social conditions that support their use over traditional production processes.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Hospitality Management / Kevin R. Roberts / As restaurants continue to be a major contributor to the economy, operations continue to negatively impact the environment. Within the industry, sustainability initiatives are becoming more popular, however, success depends on the buy-in of employees. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between and impact of personality traits on environmentalism of restaurant employees. By detecting personality traits associated with environmentalism, a better understanding of environmental behavior is obtained. This understanding can be used to motivate pro-environmental behaviors of employees by tailoring sustainability programs to appeal to different personalities. Employees working in green certified and non-certified restaurants completed a 95-item questionnaire measuring environmental attitude, personal conservation behavior, on-the-job environmental behavior, personality, and demographics. Data collection was completed using three methods: on-site, mailed questionnaires, and online. A total of 229 questionnaires were completed. A significant relationship existed between personality and environmentalism. Specifically, personality was a significant predictor of environmental attitude, personal conservation behavior, and on-the-job environmental behavior. Employees working in green certified restaurant operations had significantly higher levels of agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, openness, environmental attitude, personal conservation behavior, and on-the-job environmental behavior and lower levels of neuroticism than employees working in non-certified restaurant operations. Findings from this study contribute to understanding the factors that impact environmental behavior. Potential environmental champions can be identified by their personality traits and encourage other employees to perform green practices. Furthermore, recruitment of employees exhibiting these pro-environmental traits could increase environmental performance in restaurant operations. Additionally, training and educational programs could be formatted based on the differences among personality traits to elicit pro-environmental behaviors of employees.

Master of Science / Department of Apparel, Textiles, and Interior Design / Melody L. A. LeHew / The Textile and Apparel (TA) industry has become increasingly criticized for its massive environmental pollution through unsustainable production and distribution. In addition, key stakeholders are equally recognizing the need for cleaning up the industry. However, TA manufacturers, brands, and retailers need to be more aware of the necessity of sustainable production and distribution. At the same time, TA consumers need to be more aware of the necessity of sustainable consumption, care, and disposal of clothing. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether social networking sites (SNS) have any potential to increase consumer awareness of TA-related environmental sustainability issues. The specific research objectives were to investigate 1) whether engagement with TA-related environmental information in a SNS platform (i.e., Facebook) enhanced participants’ knowledge of TA environmental sustainability issues; 2) which format of TA-related environmental information sharing stimulated a higher level of SNS engagement and greater knowledge change; and 3) which content of TA-related environmental information sharing stimulated a higher level of SNS engagement and greater knowledge change. One group pretest-posttest experimental design was used, and mixed method approach was employed. Participants responded to a study-specific textile and apparel environmental sustainability knowledge (TAESK) scale before and after a Facebook experiment. The experiment included engaging with TA environmental information for a two-week period in a Facebook page. The researcher was the creator and administrator of the page. Quantitative data analysis included descriptive statistics, the Wilcoxon Signed-Ranks test, and multiple regression analysis. Qualitative analysis included conventional content analysis techniques. Findings from Wilcoxon Signed-Ranks test indicated that the experiment increased participants’ knowledge of TA environmental sustainability significantly (Z= -5.274, p< 0.001). Descriptive statistics revealed that video and infographic-type posts stimulated greater participants engagement than weblink (i.e., text based) posts. Likewise, participants were engaged with water and waste-related content of TA environmental sustainability more so than chemical and energy related content. However, the multiple regression analysis which was employed to identify the weighted influence of different formats and content of TA environmental sustainability information towards knowledge gain, provided limited information. This exploratory study provided some support for the usefulness of incorporating SNSs as part of an educational strategy by TA brands and policymakers advocating for sustainable TA production and distribution. Such a strategy may be one way to increase consumer awareness. Also, the findings of this study may motivate TA educators to weigh the potential of SNSs in teaching and learning activities related to TA sustainability issues.

Empirical studies have shown that while global per capita freshwater availability is declining, competition among production sectors for the withdrawal of this resource is rapidly increasing. This situation is exacerbated by the rapid population growth especially in developing countries, urbanization, industrialization, externality problems, environmental sustainability and the need to increase food production. At country specific levels, policies have been designed to institute water use efficiency, equity and sustainability. The need to promote sectoral water use efficiency from the demand-side management requires a study to investigate the responsiveness of different production sectors and sub-sectors to variations in water prices. In most instances however, efficient water allocation compromises social equity, especially in a country where there is widespread poverty and where the gap between the rich and the poor is so wide that policies aimed at promoting economic growth should be carefully investigated to find whether efficient water allocation can also address the issue of equity among the different population groups. Review of empirical literature on the econometric approaches to sectoral water demand analysis shows that the agriculture sector has the least marginal value of water compared with the manufacturing, mining and services sectors. Based on this evidence it can be hypothesized that water reallocation from the agriculture to the non-agriculture sectors in South Africa can lead to growth in sectoral output. However, in a country where there is a wide gap between the rich and the poor, equity issues are high on the development agenda. Therefore, the benefits derived from efficient water reallocation should be equitably distributed to improve the standard of living of the critical population. Hence, the second hypothesis is that water reallocation from the agriculture to the non-agriculture sector can lead to an increase in the income of the critical population. To investigate these hypotheses the study: <ol><li>estimated the sectoral water demand functions and marginal values,</li> <li>used both social accounting matrix multiplier and computable general equilibrium analysis to investigate the impact of water reallocation from the agriculture to the non-agriculture sectors on output, factor payments on households’ welfare and </li> <li>analyzed the households’ welfare of the impact of global change on water resources in South Africa.</li></ol> The study used the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) and United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) data, and adopted the marginal productivity approach, and the two-stage model to estimate the global sectoral water demand functions and marginal values for thirteen sectors. This model is extended to the sectoral water demand analysis in South Africa. Thus, to validate the results of the global model, the study estimated sectoral water demand functions in South Africa by extracting data from STATSSA’s census of manufacturing and agricultural and services activities, published for each of the nine provinces in South Africa and the 2002 water supply and use accounts published by the same institution. The study tests the policy relevance of the computed marginal values for South Africa by using these values to investigate the impact of reallocating water from the agriculture to the non-agriculture sectors on output growth, value added, employment and households’ income generation.. To accomplish this objective, the study updates the 1999 social accounting matrix (SAM) for South Africa to reflect 2003 entries, computes the required multipliers and uses these to find how water reallocation on the basis of efficiency impacts sectoral output, households income generation and distribution. However, SAM multiplier analyses assume linearity, factor immobility and constant prices. The study therefore uses the computable general equilibrium analysis to investigate the households’ welfare implications of sectoral water reallocation and reduction due to global change. The SAM multiplier analysis shows that reallocation of water from the agriculture to the non-agriculture sectors leads to decrease in the output of the agriculture and the highly inter-dependent sectors. Specifically, output declines in the agriculture, food, beverages and tobacco and the services sectors, while it increases in the other sectors. However, if more than ten percent of the agriculture sector’s water is reallocated to the non-agriculture sector, net output declines, implying that the decline in output in the agriculture, food, beverages and tobacco and services sectors is more than the increase in output in the other sectors. This has consequences for factor remuneration, employment and households’ income. The above decline in the agriculture sector’s output leads to net job losses. Specifically the jobs lost in the agriculture sector are not countered by jobs created in the other sectors that benefit from the water reallocation. This is due to the fact that there are differences in skills requirements by the sectors. While the agriculture sector employs most of the unskilled workers, the other sectors require more medium and highly skilled individuals. This is reflected by changes in the wages paid to labourers. While the wages of unskilled labourers decline, there is an increase in the wages of medium and highly skilled labourers. The simulation results of the computable general equilibrium analysis show that sectoral water reallocation and reduction adversely impact the least and low-income households’ welfare, while improving the welfare of the high-income households. The interpretation is that with water reallocation or reduction, capital is substituted for water in the non-agriculture sectors and this increases the interest paid on capital, which goes to high-income households who are the owners of the capital. The adverse consequence can be reduced if food consumption by the poor households is maintained. To do this, some welfare measures are necessary. One such measure is the distribution of food stamps to the poor households. / Thesis (PhD (Environmental Economics))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development / unrestricted

abstract: Evidence is mounting to address and reverse the effects of environmental neglect. Perhaps the greatest evidence for needing environmental stewardship originates from the ever-increasing extreme weather events ranging from the deadly wildfires scorching Greece and California to the extreme heatwaves in Japan. Scientists have concluded that the probability and severity for about two thirds of such extreme natural events that occurred between 2004 and 2018 is contributed by rising global temperatures. Operations management literature regarding environmental issues have typically focused on the “win-win” approach with a multitude of papers investigating a link between sustainability and firm performance. This dissertation seeks to take a different approach by investigating firm responses to climate change. The first two essays explore firm emissions goals and the last essay investigates firm emissions performance. The first essay identifies firm determinants of greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets. The essay leverages Behavioral Theory of the Firm (BTOF) and argues for two additional determinants, Data Stratification and Science-Based Targets, unique to GHG emissions. Utilizing system generalized method of moments on a dataset from Carbon Disclosure Project for years 2011-2017, the paper finds partial confirmation for BTOF and support for the two additional determinants of firm GHG emission goals. The second essay is an exploratory study that seeks to understand factors for firm participation in the Science-Based Targets (SBT) initiative by combining both primary and secondary data analysis. The study is a working paper with primary data still needing to be completed. Secondary data analysis begins with a review of the literature which suggested four potential factors: ISO 14001 certification, Customer Engagement, Emission Credit Purchases, and presence of Absolute Emissions Targets. Preliminary results using panel logistic regression suggest that Emissions Credit Purchases and Absolute Emissions Targets influence SBT participation. The third essay seeks to understand whether stakeholder pressure drives firm GHG emissions reductions. This relies on Stakeholder Theory and classification schemes proposed in Management literature to divide stakeholders, based on their relationship with the firm, into three groups: primary, secondary, and public. Random effects estimation results provide evidence for primary and public stakeholder pressure impacting firm GHG emissions. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Business Administration 2020

The influence of corporate culture on the strategies used by firms to meet the environmental sustainability challenge has been explored in this dissertation. This was investigated through web-based questionnaires that were administered to employees in companies who would have knowledge of both their employer‟s corporate culture and corporate sustainability practices.To determine this, the respondents were requested to rate both the corporate strategies undertaken to meet the environmental challenge, as well as the corporate culture where they work. The corporate strategies were evaluated using a bespoke instrument which was constructed from various strategy instruments found in the literature. The corporate culture was evaluated using a well-known organisational culture instrument available in the literature. Potential contextual variables pertaining to the perceptions of the respondents, as well as to the business and industry sector characteristics, were evaluated as well.The findings indicated that the contextual variables had little or no effect on either the corporate culture or the corporate strategies undertaken by the firm, and that a strong comprehensive culture correlated strongly with positive corporate strategies. Corporate cultures that emphasise social coordination (or organic culture forms) exhibited stronger correlations with positive corporate strategies than those which emphasise formal control methods (or mechanistic forms). The focus of the firm, whether on internal dynamics or the external environment, did not show a significant effect on the corporate strategies that were undertaken by the firm.A sustainability culture was synthesised from the findings of the research, which concludes with recommendations regarding further research into this topic. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

The purpose of this study was to examine choice-making as it relates to providing a source of clean water to those at varying social distances. A discounting survey was completed by 65 participants asking them to choose between spending a specified about of money on plastic water bottles that have a 100% chance of harming the environment or spending $1000 on a water filtration system that has a 0% chance of harming the environment. Results indicated that as social distance increased, responding became more impulsive as evident by a steeper amount of discounting. For “Person #1”, 27.69% of participants chose to spend money on plastic water bottles while for “Person #100”, 53.8% of participants chose to spend money on plastic water bottles. The R2 calculated was 0.8633. Results also indicated that there was a positive correlation between frequency of behaving in sustainable ways and how much one valued the environment, as well as how concerned one was with the environment. Implications, strengths and limitations, and future research opportunities are discussed.