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Evaluating the impact of recycling used wool garment products on sustainable fashion in New Zealand : A thesis submitted in partal fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Commerce and Management at Lincoln University
No full textThe extent of waste produced is one of the reasons the fashion industry is considered the largest polluter, primarily due to the production of textile waste. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of recycling used wool garments as a sustainable fashion practice in New Zealand. It aims to assess the current practice of wool garment recycling, including its benefits, environmental and economic efficacy, and consumer perception. The current state of recycling wool garments in New Zealand is also assessed, and the collection of post-consumer wool garments, from collection through to subsequent processes, is outlined. The various steps, starting with the collection of post-consumer wool garments and proceeding through the mechanical and chemical recycling methods used in the processing of wool garments, are discussed. It highlights the benefits of environmental recycling of wool, including reduced carbon emissions and water usage, thereby underscoring the value that wool recycling holds in achieving sustainable development goals. Another critical area of concern, as captured in this research, is the economic feasibility. Evaluating the cost recovery of such recycling processes for fashionable consumers, the general research measures the profitability of cascading recycled wool into stylish products. Findings are encouraging for suppliers and producers, as they suggest a market opportunity to expand the development and promotion of recycled wool garments. Understanding consumer preferences allows producers to align product offerings with demand and invest confidently in sustainable practices that support both environmental goals and business growth.This research employs an exploratory research approach, utilising face-to-face semi-structured interviews with recycling centre managers, fashion designers, and industry specialists. This type of data is best analysed using thematic analysis to identify patterns and insights into the flow of wool recycling material within New Zealand. While the qualitative data are used, the research also acknowledges some weaknesses, including the possibility of interview bias and the difficulty of generalising the results to other countries, apart from New Zealand. The study outlines the strengths and drawbacks of encouraging people to recycle wool as a sustainable activity. Environmental impacts and business opportunities have been identified in the survey, highlighting the need for a more effective plan to change consumers' perceptions towards recycling and improve the recycling process. Recommendations are provided to policymakers and fashion brands on how to enhance recycling programs and promote collaboration with consumers. This work fills the knowledge gap in matching wool recycling with the international frameworks of sustainable development, while emphasising that further innovative contributions are still needed in the field of sustainable fashion consumption
Russo-Ukrainian geopolitical tensions: An empirical analysis of corporate investment in Europe
No full textWe propose a new measure of firm-level exposure to the Russo-Ukrainian geopolitical tensions that considers both developments in regional geopolitics and firm-specific political risk regarding defense and security. Using a sample of European firms from seventeen European countries during 2002–2021, we find that firm-level exposure to the Russo-Ukrainian geopolitical tensions hinders capital expenditure in European firms, while having no significant impact on working capital management practices. The findings remain robust to the inclusion of geographical distance to Russia, different variable measurement choices, model specifications, and endogeneity tests. Interestingly, the impact seems less pronounced in firms with more intangible intensity, suggesting the role of intangible assets in corporate resilience during crisis
Reviews and syntheses: Best practices for the application of marine GDGTs as proxy for paleotemperatures: sampling, processing, analyses, interpretation, and archiving protocols
No full textMarine glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs) are used in various proxies (such as TEX86) to reconstruct past ocean temperatures. Over 20 years of improvements in GDGT sample processing, analytical techniques, data interpretation and our understanding of proxy functioning have led to the collective development of a set of best practices in all these areas. Further, the importance of Open Science in research has increased the emphasis on the systematic documentation of data generation, reporting and archiving processes for optimal reusability of data. In this paper, we provide protocols and best practices for obtaining, interpreting and presenting GDGT data (with a focus on marine GDGTs), from sampling to data archiving. The purpose of this paper is to optimize inter-laboratory comparability of GDGT data, and to ensure published data follows modern open access principle
The impact of household debt on children’s depressive symptoms: Evidence from China
Get PDFThe sustained accumulation of household debt may pose significant challenges to children’s mental health in China, particularly their depressive symptoms. However, limited research has examined this relationship. Using data from the 2020 and 2022 waves of the China Family Panel Studies, covering 805 respondents, we employed a pooled ordinary least squares (POLS) regression model to investigate the impact of household debt on children’s depressive symptoms. Our results show that higher household debt is associated with an increase in children’s depressive symptoms, primarily driven by housing debt and nonbank-sourced debt. These associations appear to operate through reduced parent–child intimacy and increased parent–child conflict. Notably, the adverse impacts are mitigated when fathers work longer hours to repay debt and when marital satisfaction is higher. Overall, our findings highlight important implications for enhancing child welfare and promoting family financial stability
Seed packaging bag types - impact on endophyte viability and seed quality in perennial ryegrass during storage
No full textUsing woven polypropylene (WPP) plastic bags for seed packaging challenges the New Zealand seed industry’s alignment with sustainability goals. The recycling scheme for farm plastic waste is still voluntary, especially for small seed bags (20-25 kg). The seed industry’s concerns are that alternative seed packaging may not maintain Epichloë endophyte viability in stored perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) seed lots. A storage experiment was conducted using two perennial ryegrass seed lots with different endophyte strains stored in six types of bags (woven polypropylene (WPP), bi-axially oriented polypropylene (BOPP), low density polyethylene (LDPE), multi-wall paper (MWP), enviro-barrier paper (EPB) and moisture shield paper (MSP)) for a year. The seeds were stored in cool/dry (4℃, 30%RH), ambient (15-25℃, 65%RH), and warm/moist conditions (25℃, 80%RH). Seed moisture content (SMC), germination, seed vigour, and endophyte viability were assessed every 1.5-months (warm storage) and every 3-months (ambient and cool storage). At 12 months, SMC had increased by 2-3.5% in ambient and warm storage, while it decreased by 1-2% in cool storage. LDPE and BOPP bags maintained stable SMC across storage conditions. Germination remained stable in ambient and cool storage but dropped significantly in warm conditions, from 92% to between 49-67% after a year. BOPP and LDPE bags resulted in less germination loss (about 10%). Seed vigour declined in all storage environments, with the highest vigour loss in warm storage and the lowest in cool storage. Endophyte viability fell significantly in ambient and warm conditions, but remained stable in cool storage, regardless of bag type. Overall, the storage environment had a greater impact on the endophyte survival than the bag type. While all bag types were suitable, their physical robustness and environmental footprints require evaluation before recommendations for chang
Rēwena sourdough fermentation with Propionibacterium freudenreichii: Impacts on structure and texture
Get PDFRēwena sourdough is a unique form of bread that has cultural significance in Māori cuisine. It is unique due to its use of mashed potatoes as a carbohydrate source in its starter culture (Sun et al. 2022). Propionibacterium freudenreichii is a gram-positive probiotic that improves human intestinal health. P. freudenreichii also acts as a Vitamin B12 producer when added to bread (Zhang et al. 2023). P. freudenreichii conducts CO2 production during fermentation meaning it can directly affect the structure and texture of fermented food products. The aim of this work was to characterise the impacts P. freudenreichii addition has on the structure and physical characteristics of Rēwena sourdough. This work was conducted in two stages, firstly the sourdough recipe was optimised. Variables considered included Potato variety, proofing time, and proofing temperature. The second stage investigated the effects of P. freudenreichii addition to either the sourdough starter or directly to the sourdough dough (before proofing). Sourdough structure was measured using image analysis tools and instrumental texture analysis was conducted. Optimal sourdough was prepared using the Van Rose potato variety proofed at room temperature for 2 h. The addition of P. freudenreichii to the starter culture significantly decreased (P 0.50) in the sourdough structure due to the direct addition of P. freudenreichii to the sourdough dough (compared to the Control). It was also found that the method of P. freudenreichii addition did not significantly (P > 0.50) affect the Hardness, Springiness, or Gumminess of the sourdough. P. freudenreichii has been shown to be a potential tool as a bio-fortification tool in foods however, its method of addition may affect food structures
The role of African boxthorn (Lycium ferocissimum) in pathogen survival adjacent to potato fields
No full textPotatoes provide a significant economical value to the New Zealand economy, contributing over $1 billion per year. Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum (CLso) which causes zebra chip disease and is vectored by tomato potato psyllid (Bactericera cockerelli) (TPP) causes several million dollars of damage to the potato industry. Calcium propionate (Ca prop) is used as a food additive to inhibit micro-organisms. In this series of trials, we investigated its use to prevent infection by CLso. Preliminary investigations in pots using ‘Moonlight’ seed potatoes showed no infection in potato plants, which received a single foliar treatment of 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 or 1% Ca prop or a 2% Ca prop soil drench were not infected. Only untreated tubers were infected with CLSo after exposure to CLSo-infected TPP for 3 weeks. A second trial focused on soil drench treatments with concentrations of 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1.0, and 2.0%. All soil drench treatments showed a 50 to 100% reduction in CLso infection compared to the control. A third trial using ‘Russet Burbank’ seed tubers treated with of 1% foliar treatment, 5% seed treatment in which tubers were dipped into Ca prop and a third treatment of the foliar and seed treatment combined did not show significant differences. More trials are needed to determine if success is related to potato variety, changes in cell wall strength, or psyllid feeding preferences
Review: A theoretical framework to define foraging behaviour syndromes in ruminants using wearable technologies
Get PDFDue to intensification processes that have had negative impacts on environmental externalities, pastoral farmers, worldwide, are facing increasing scrutiny and pressure from consumers, governments, and the public to reduce the environmental footprint of their operations. Developing tools and systems that farmers can use to maintain profitability and productivity while decreasing the negative externalities of their operations is important for the vitality of rural sectors. Capitalising on individual animal variation has been promoted as an opportunity to increase animal productivity and enhance welfare while decreasing the negative environmental impacts of pastoral farming. Of particular interest are behaviours that are associated with foraging, as these are the primary drivers of variation in animal performance in pastoral farming. Developing a methodology that can identify consistent foraging behavioural variations across individuals is a critical step in making this a practical solution for farmers and herders. As with all behavioural research, the fundamental challenge is selecting the appropriate behaviours to measure. Understanding the contextual drivers of behavioural expression is a major development in this process. Herd management and composition, environmental variables and many more contexts alter the expression of behaviours, so how do we capture behaviours of interest? We propose the use of a systematic methodology to capture behaviours of significance from large groups of foraging ruminants using wearable technology, namely Global Positioning System and accelerometers. This contrasts with traditional reductionist methodologies used in behaviour research and has the benefit of providing large objective datasets from undisturbed animals. Statistical analysis of the data will inform behaviours of interest that are clustered together to inform a three-factor foraging behaviour syndrome model adapted from the animal five-factor model (activity, aggression, boldness, exploration, sociability) of personality. Syndromes, unlike personalities, include correlated suites of behaviours that are expressed across spatial and temporal contexts. By capturing foraging behaviour syndromes, selection can be used to match appropriate syndromes to different pastoral farming landscapes, thereby potentially improving the system's productivity while reducing their negative environmental impact
Benefits for peer educators in delivering wellbeing education to agricultural students
Get PDFBackground: Effectively supporting and promoting mental health education for at-risk populations is crucial. In New Zealand, risks in relation to the suicide for young farm labourers, alongside the stress associated with the transition to university and the vulnerability of rural communities, place agricultural students in a vulnerable position. The use of peer educators has been identified as an important way of building connections in health and wellbeing education and increasing engagement and mental health knowledge. This article reports on the experiences of peer educators in delivering a mental health and wellbeing programme to agricultural students at two universities in New Zealand. Design: As part of evaluating a mental health and wellbeing programme, researchers sought to learn more about the experiences and learnings of peer educators. Drawn on findings from a wider mixed-methods study, this article reports on qualitative findings related to the use of peer educators. These findings emerged from semi-structured interviews with the peer educators involved in the delivery of the programme. Findings: Peer-led mental health and wellbeing programmes have benefits not only for the students participating but also for the peer educators leading them. These benefits include increased mental health knowledge, confidence and skills. In addition, the peer educators found value in delivering important mental health and wellbeing messages. Conclusions: Peer educators can benefit from the experience of delivering mental health and wellbeing programmes. Furthermore, they can be utilised to deliver these programmes with little prior knowledge of the topics they are delivering provided they have support from professionals with teaching and clinical expertise. These findings are important for informing the development and delivery of mental health interventions for at-risk communities looking to increase connectedness and build resilienc
Reaction effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Thailand’s household expenditure patterns
No full textThis study examines reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic based on changes in demand. The Exact Affine Stone Index demand system with provincial consumer price indices is used to investigate the direct and indirect effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Thailand’s household expenditure patterns. The results indicate that Thai households substituted their expenditure between commodity groups towards home-cooked food, mortgage and rent, and health care and away from transport. Our heterogeneity analysis specifies that, based on marginal effects and expenditure and price elasticities, urban households with less educated heads experience an imperative reaction by being more vulnerable to food during the pandemic. Urban households with less educated heads, facing higher-risk perception, are most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand