capstone summer 20

It was cool to see how many people also did food related projects. It's something we have control over which has a huge ecological impact.

I just ordered my first mason bee cocoons from Territorial Seed Company. They are blue mason bees and will come around February. I am both excited and terrified. My father and I have divided to go on this beekeeping adventure together and it has really brought us closer. Times have been hard and this project has introduced some much-needed fun...

This week I started recording what I throw away. So far I have three tie tabs, two rubber bands, lots of floss, a travel-sized bottle of face wash, 1 oat milk cartoon cap, and 1 plastic pill casing. I have found that because I am recording all of this I am much more likely to find an alternative use for something than throw it away. I have...

Living in an apartment it is hard to physically see the amount of energy and water that I am using, since utilities are included in rent each month at a certain price. I wanted to run and develop an energy audit, but since I do not have access to see what I am using I decided to do this a little differently. I thought about what I could change...

I watched the documentary Forget Shorter Showers. It follows the idea that we are personally contributing to the waste of water, energy, and waste in general in a very small scale. The ones who are "stealing" the water, creating the waste, and contributing to capitalism are large industries. If we want change it has to be on a social...

Even before taking this class, I have been tracking my spending habit through an app on my smartphone. One big reason I prefer using cards instead of cash is that it is so much easier to track how I spent my money monthly. So far my July spending breaks down into $175 services (Portland Art Tax for all of my family) because I used to live in...

My sister and I have been sharing a car to commute. I will drop my sister off at work in the morning. While she is at work, I can use the car to get groceries, go to doctor's visit ect., and I pick her up later in the day from her work. Due to COVID-19, we do not travel as much so it allowed us to save gas too. I have a bike I can ride on so I...

One thing I need to make my neighborhood cleaner was to pick up other dogs' litter. We have lots of dogs around my neighborhood and I sometime notice litters unpicked on the street. I have a leash that is attached with a roller litter bags which helps me not to forget bringing bags to pick up my dogs' litter. I also use decomposable litter bags...

Taking this class made me feel guilty about how much trash I collect weekly. One challenge I did was to limit myself with one bag of trash bag for the entire week including recyclable things. I take out my trash every Thursday and I still have lots of room for this week which I am proud of. One thing I tried was buying less grocery for the...

Today morning before class, I took a short walk with my dog in Rock Creek trails which is a 5 minute drive from my home and 20 minutes by walking. It was emotionally therapeutic since it is difficult to get out and get fresh air due to COVID-19. The weather was perfect for a walk, not too cold and not too hot. Having a time off from my phone...