Kyle Panek

Capstone Fall 20

"By working together, we are able to develop the blueprint to a sustainable & diverse environment."

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
278 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

7.0

locally sourced meals

consumed
UP TO

14

plastic bottles

not sent to the landfill
UP TO

3.0

documentaries

watched
UP TO

1.0

petition

signed
UP TO

210

minutes

spent outdoors

Kyle's actions

Transportation

Research Better Transportation

I will research one of the solutions presented in this week's session on Transportation and see if there are any groups in my community already doing this work.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Water

Watch The Story of Bottled Water

I will watch The Story of Bottled Water to learn more about bottled water's impacts on the environment.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Water

Say No to Plastic

Plastic bags and small plastic pieces like straws are most likely to get swept into our waterways. This week, I'll say "no" to plastic bags at the store and plastic straws in all of my drinks.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Water

Use Reusable Bottles

I will use a reusable bottle and stop purchasing bottled water, saving 2 disposable plastic bottle(s) each day this week.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Visit a Local Farm

I will visit a nearby farm to pick my own fruits and veggies.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Watch a Documentary

I will watch a documentary film about food with family and friends and talk about what we learned.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Support Local Food Systems

I will source 1 meal(s) from local producers each day this week. This could include signing up for a local CSA, buying from a farmer's market, visiting a food co-op, foraging with a local group, or growing my own ingredients.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Ecological Principles

Practice Gratitude for Earth

This week, I will spend 30 minute(s) each day outside, practicing gratitude (prayer, meditation, journaling, etc.) for Earth and the nature surrounding me.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

A Call to Sustainability

Sign a Petition

I will sign petitions in support of an environmental or social initiative in my state.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

A Call to Sustainability

Watch a Documentary

I will watch a movie about a sustainability issue I would like to know more about.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Participant Feed

Reflection, encouragement, and relationship building are all important aspects of getting a new habit to stick.
Share thoughts, encourage others, and reinforce positive new habits on the Feed.

To get started, share “your why.” Why did you join the challenge and choose the actions you did?

Kyle Panek 10/31/2020 1:48 PM

My garden has a lot of toamtoe plants that did not mature, but grew like crazy. Researching how to compost tomatoes and the palnt itself has been eye opening. Blight and pests can easily spread to the next planting season. The white cabbage moth larvae can survive winters to become adults in soring. While squash and othe beatles can matrue during winter destorying compost piles. Im narrowing down a project geared towards composting garden material. This smaller focus will be more in tune with a reachable goal. A hot compost pile sounds like a great solution, though there are other options to prevent pests in the upcoming grow season.

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- Kyle Panek 11/05/2020 10:16 AM
  
  Yeah! Our cucumber and cabbage plants have signs of crystal moth larvae. Those were plants I was considering composting. So im on the look out for some solutions
  
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- Kyle Panek 10/31/2020 2:35 PM
  
  The youtube rabbit hole has led me to bokashi buckets!
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0k3PTUnDHSI&ab_channel=EpicGardening
  
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Kyle Panek 10/27/2020 3:27 PM

Half of my eco change project is utilizing scraps for compost and sourcing products that minimize my waste. This is in a bid to eat sustainably by supplying my garden with nutrients and supporting businesses that focus on minimizing waste. The second half is the bigger ticket item. I want to look into my community too see waht is being done to the surrouding land. I hope to learn enough to persuade the city to look into sustainable food incetives. Land can be diverted to help supply fresh produce to local markets. I found a link to a neighborhood development project. The last page has a zoning diagram that highlights "high value conservation". Seeing this is pretty neat. There is at minimum an understanding to presereve biodiversity and recreational activities.

https://www.happyvalleyor.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Pacific-Crest-land-use-plans-2.pdf

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- Kyle Panek 10/27/2020 3:29 PM
  
  A lot of the websites are social aspects, with little on actual environmental reports. It would be cool to see what the soil is like or other issues that are being investigated. The best course is to contact local representatives to find out more.
  
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Kyle Panek 10/14/2020 8:25 PM

I had a great time enjoying anture as much as I could. I haver a lake at the center of my neighborhood I can walk around along with some time in my backyard. I was really looking for new ideas walking around or spending time in my gharden. I took up composting in one side of my garden bed to reduce my waste, grow food, and helps limit any use of store bought additives. Im going to look into my HoA to get the lake into a small farm, we will see!

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Kyle Panek 10/01/2020 2:32 PM

10/1/2020 week #1 urban farming

learning about Detroit has been great. The inspirations from personal testimonies has motivated me to highlight more areas I can improve. Developing a community that supports one another can help bring greater sustainability. It has been proven that Detroit can rise up and never give up. The incentive of a community centered around sustainable agriculture will strengthen art, individuals, better education, and food security for people living in food desert cities.

I aim to look more into the socioeconomic impact of the city inhabitants. The documentaries I watched leaves me wanting more to understand the impact that local food security has in a demographic that for decades has had improper nutritional access.

sources if interested:
Al Jazeera English. “Motown to Growtown: Detroit's Urban Farming Revolution”.
YouTube. 20 Oct. 2019.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_7rzoFzV08&ab_channel=AlJazeeraEnglish

Ted, Devita Davison. “How urban agriculture is transforming Detroit”. YouTube. 9 Jan,
2018 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G88JZ1DIdg8&ab_channel=TED

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Kyle Panek 9/29/2020 9:05 AM

Hello Action-Doer's! My name is Kyle Panek (he/him), I chose the sustainability route for my capstone to understand my communities better & how to effectively work together to achieve local sustainability. I had a previous project where I developed a best-practices document to lower plastic pollution in high biodiversity regions within Portland's urban growth boundary. My team initially looked into Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge. Future plans could be made to include other points of interests, looking into how communities can maintain biodiversity by consuming less & developing methods to limit plastic/ trash pollution. Some fun examples included community education events about the dangers of losing biodiversity within urban centers & developing biosolids from urban waste to revitalize dead, urban land.

I look forward to collaborating with you all this term, thanks!

Kyle Panek

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