Sustainability Matters

Pioneering planetary management

With the goal of harnessing the innovative capacity of academia and developing options for the sound management of our planet, ASU President Michael Crow announced the launch of the Global Futures Initiative in January 2018.

Retailers rise with the tide of responsible products

$200 billion worth of consumer products are now managed using tools created by The Sustainability Consortium – an organization run by ASU and the University of Arkansas – according to the consortium's 2017 impact report.

Professor says crisis should serve as 'wakeup call'

As Cape Town, South Africa nears “Day Zero” when authorities turn off the taps — expected in the first half of April 2018 — Senior Sustainability Scientist Dave White expresses the pressing need to adapt urban water systems to stresses like climate change.

Accelerating the transition to a low-carbon future

ASU is part of a new coalition of 13 leading research universities committed to tackling climate change. The group – called the University Climate Change Coalition, or UC3 – includes distinguished universities from the United States, Canada and Mexico.

ASU, Major League Baseball partner for sustainability

ASU School of Sustainability students are engaging with baseball fans to help Salt River Fields – spring training home of the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Colorado Rockies – to minimize and manage its waste.

Jonathan Reckford: Thought Leader Series

Affordable housing is critical to equitable and inclusive cities. That's according to Habitat for Humanity CEO Jonathan Reckford, who gave a Wrigley Lecture Series talk in January 2018. He makes his case in this Thought Leader essay.

Bringing stable power to the most remote communities

As many as 1.3 billion people lack access to electrical power. That's why engineer and Senior Sustainability Scientist Nathan Johnson is advancing technologies for electrical-grid modernization and off-grid electrification.

Slum residents make themselves count

With the aim of addressing issues in the world's burgeoning slums, a 2018 report co-authored by Senior Sustainability Scientist Jose Lobo presents mapping and census data collected by the residents themselves.

Illuminating gender inequality in Mexican aquaculture

Maria Cruz Torres, an anthropologist and senior sustainability scientist, has worked tirelessly for twenty years to make the efforts of Sinaloa's female shrimp traders visible – even despite the threat of personal violence.

Survival strategies for the 21st century city

Senior Sustainability Scientist Shade Shutters garnered interest in 'green decision tools' by rebranding them as 'innovation and creative economy tools' – one of the insights he shared at a Future Tense event called “Will our Cities Survive the 21st Century?"

Assessing the value of urban agriculture

The benefits of urban agriculture may seem local and limited, but – according to a team of researchers led by ASU and Google – the collective environmental impact is significant.

Biodegradable plastics made from bacteria

By employing cyanobacteria – a photosynthesis-happy bug – Senior Sustainability Scientist Taylor Weiss is making environmentally-friendly bioplastics that dissolve in a matter of months.