capstone spring 2026

I helped one of my neighbors move all of her plants out of her green house last week. Then yesterday I helped my other neighbors trim on of their cherry tress.

After doing last weeks reading I was really surprised by how much of our water consumption is "virtual", or water that is used during the production and manufacturing of items we use or eat. Around 90% of the water we consume we never even see! So this week I decided to try and reduce my virtual water footprint. I mainly focused on...

I tried to be better about reusing my gray water for other things, such as when washing my rice I instead used the water to water plants. I usually end up just dumping it down the drain, but it is around 6 cups of water that would end up getting dumped. So that saved me quite a bit. I also reduced my shower time to 15 minutes tops since...

For this week’s water eco challenge I tried to cut down how much water I use in my daily routine. The main thing I focused on was my showers because I know I usually stay in way longer than I need to. I started timing them and tried to keep them around 10 minutes. I also made more of an effort to turn the water off while brushing my teeth,...

My water bill is added as a utility through my rent, so I personally didn't know how much water I was using in my household, so for this week's topic of water I looked into to it. I reached out to the property managers and inquired about how to check the water meter for my apartment and if there was a way to see the exact charge for water...

For this week's challenge/reflection, I decided to try and expand my initiatives outside myself and towards more people/environment. With the sun coming out more often and the growing season beginning, I decided this week I would try and spread as many native species seeds along paths, parks, and green spaces as much as possible. This is...

Oregon is preparing for another drought summer. This week I had to weigh the advice from Michael Pollan, "Grow your own food," against the reality of a west-facing apartment. My porch will experience over 100 degree heat this summer and growing any plant on my porch will require a great deal of water to compensate for both that, and...

This week I chose to conserve by brushing my teeth without running water. I don't usually leave the faucet running while I brush, so I modified my routine slightly to just barely wet the brush (with toothpaste already on) at the start, and then only use a small re-usable cup for washing out my mouth and the brush afterwards. In total the faucet...

Today I spent about an hour watching a PBS documentary called Upstream, Downriver: Uniting for Water Justice (2025) . I would recommend it! I think it gives a really good overview of the state of water justice in the country right now. It talks about the issues at hand, and it also talks about policy interventions, public action, and...

My eco change project focuses on food systems, and my commitment to sustainable food prep has me cooking much more than I normally would. Since I’m cooking more, I am also cleaning more dishes, and as I’ve been cleaning, it has occurred to me that some of my water use may be wasteful. I clean everything by hand, and when I clean pots, pans, or...