capstone summer 2026

Food For food, I decided to plan out my meals. Oftentimes, cooking and grocery shopping feels hectic and chaotic for me. I do have a grocery list that I update with the caveat that I don’t actually plan my meals. I just have a broad and general idea of what I should cook during the week. The list is simply just used to remember things that...

Energy For energy, I decided to do an energy audit of my apartment over the last week. I unplugged chargers and appliances that I wasn’t using, turned off the tv when I wasn’t watching, switched to cold water for laundry, and limited my ac usage. It was actually pretty easy to be mindful about most of these things. However, what I struggled...

Eco Challenge 8: Nature After watching that video about Nature RX I was brought back to my time working at inpatient addiction treatment centers, and the importance of having some of our groups outside, and how comfortable or at ease someone can feel just stepping outside. I have been working myself on participating in Nature RX! I spent the...

Eco Challenge 7: Consumerism I set two different goals for this week my OG goal was to not buy anything I did not need this week, and unfortunately I did not succeed in that. I ended up impulse buying a set of gel pens at the store, my other goal came up during one of the break out rooms making no online purchases came up, and I had already...

Nature My connection to nature has changed due to my limited mobility. There are certain outdoor activities that are very difficult for me to pursue and others that feel impossible. But this has changed my appreciation for nature in a positive way and helps me remember all the places I’ve been. I daydream of escaping to unfamiliar parts of the...

Consumerism At this time of my life and over the last several years I really haven’t bought things for myself. The majority of clothes I have are from thrift stores and I keep clothing for a very long time. I don’t collect things or make attempts to have the latest gadgets. It takes a special purpose or reason for me to buy things in general....

Eco Challenge 7: Consumerism We are all bred to consume from the first moment we taste coca cola or try McDonald's fries. The taste that excited our taste buds. We see the golden arches and McDonald's knows people will want to consume their logo and their new treats. Once you start noticing the patterns of consumption it's too late. We are...

This week I focused on spending more time in nature by going on more walks with my dog, Mucca, and spending more time with my bearded dragon, Perry. I started by letting him out on the deck, but in the beginning he would escape, and with great relief I always ended up finding him in bushes. After a week of contemplation, I bought him a harness....

For the vision of sustainability eco-challenge, my ideal vision for the future is making sustainability and its practices part of everyday life, instead of treating it as an extra responsibility. Communities would be redesigned around reliable public transportation, walking, and biking, with greenery throughout. Renewable energy would be the...

For this week’s eco-challenge on consumption and economy, I realized that I already practice many of the positive habits discussed in the reading; I regularly use reusable bottles and containers, make most of my own coffee and tea instead of buying them, cook much of my food (though I really tried making all of meals this week), and I already...