Why do companies have an easier time setting sustainability goals than achieving them? Modern corporations create astonishing wealth and innovation, but they have so far struggled to transform themselves to operate within the sustainable boundaries of natural resource...
The Detroit water crisis and unexpected coalitionsSince 2014, the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department has shut off the water to 141,000 households whose bills were past due. Last year, more than 23,000 households reportedly had their water shut off. When the...
Agree to Disagree with YourselfThe tougher the choices we have to make, the less sense we make making them. Understanding and educating ourselves can help us make better-informed decisions more consistent with our values.Where would you like to go for dinner? Even the...
The term “environmental justice” still may be unfamiliar to some people, but you don’t have to be familiar with it to understand what it means when you see it. With the Flint water crisis and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the people who were hit hardest were...
Multinational corporations wield immense power. A mere 100 companies control a quarter of global trade. Walmart is the 10th-largest economic entity on the planet. Coca-Cola is the world’s largest consumer of aluminum and sugarcane. In choosing where to invest, what...
In this era of conflicting ideologies, fake news about climate change—especially on Facebook—can embolden those who remain unconvinced that it’s a threat and can easily influence people who only casually follow the issue. Lauren Lutzke is a doctoral student at the...
We have entered a new geologic epoch, called the Anthropocene, that recognizes people’s effect on the Earth’s ecosystems—harming them in ways that are likely irreversible. So what will Anthropocene society look like in the future? Erb faculty member Andrew Hoffman and...
Not a month goes by without a media campaign linking the supply chain of a well-known brand with unsavory labor practices or environmental mismanagement. Such exposés can devalue brands and reduce well-meaning corporate sustainability initiatives to hypocrisy. Beyond...
Research by Lauren Lutzke, U-M SEAS Master’s Student; Caitlin Drummond, Erb Institute Postdoc; Joe Arvai, Erb Institute Faculty Director Article by Lauren Lutzke, M.S. Candidate in Behavior, Education, and Communication at the University of Michigan “Fake News” has...
Many environmental management programs offer people incentives to engage in conservation activities. But these activities, carried out on a local level, often are difficult to monitor. Are people inclined to cheat to get the incentives? Research led by Rohit Jindal of...