Overview
Choose one or two natural resources to focus on in order to make personal change from the general categories of animals, plants, water, air, soil, minerals, food, and energy sources. This assignment will go beyond recycling and packaging reduction to a real and significant lifestyle change. Choose one of the topics below or come up with a topic that will require a substantial amount of research and work to complete and will provide sufficient scope to address the three key sections needed for the final project: Section 1: History and Contemporary Viewpoint, Section 2: Local Real‐World Applications and Specific Steps, and Section 3: Global Significance, Impact, and Applications. For the Milestone One submission, you will select the topic of your final project and provide a one‐page outline for your final project.
Note: Instructors will approve topics for which they know sufficient research and information exists for the student to complete the final paper.
Topic Suggestions:
- Convert family to a strict locavore lifestyle (food, clothing, etc.), a strict organic lifestyle (food, clothing, etc.), or vegan lifestyle (food, clothing, etc.)
- Switch household to strict environmentally friendly cleaning products in all areas of the household or no‐paper waste
- Update home to include or incorporate green technologies
- Incorporate renewable materials (e.g., flooring, roof, etc.)
- Install/update insulation
- Install best source of renewable energy (e.g., solar, geothermal, etc.)
- Switch to alternative or cleaner locomotion for all travel
- Incorporate alternative water sources (e.g., construct a gray water system for household, harvest rainwater, etc.)
- Install drought‐tolerant landscaping throughout entire yard
- Build and manage a community garden or raise domesticated animals (chickens, cows, goats, bees, etc.)
- Provide own food from garden, chickens, etc.
- Compost wastes
- Reduce water usage by 50%
- Eliminate all plastics from your household
- Work from home
- Eliminate chlorofluorocarbons (spray cans, refrigerator, air conditioner, etc.)
- Eliminate spending money for one year
- Replace all appliances and light fixtures with Energy Star–rated ones
Prompt
Address the critical elements listed below.
- Briefly describe the topic that you have selected for your final project
- Provide a one‐page outline for your final project, including a one‐paragraph description for each for these three sections that you will research:
- Section 1: History and Contemporary Viewpoint. Research the historical development of the topic from inception through modern‐day usages, both in American culture as well as the global culture, focusing on the most significant developments and contributors to the topic.
- Section 2: Local Real‐World Applications and Specific Steps. Research and explain opportunities and challenges for addressing the topic.
- Section 3: Global Significance, Impact, and Applications. Compare and contrast local (i.e., local to you) versus global application of your chosen topic as well as the global significance and impacts for this type of change locally and globally.
What to Submit
Milestone One should follow these formatting guidelines: Title page, double spacing, 12‐point Times New Roman font, one‐inch margins, and citations in APA format. This section should be one page in length.
