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A Year in the Life of an Apartment Garden

Elise Benhase, Nneka Sobers, Allison Bowden, Justin


Godard, Elizabeth Sonifrank
Abstract
College apartments are usually helter-skelter with hand-medown furniture and sparse decorations; the goal of this
creative project is to renovate a VT students living space
(kitchen and living room) using recycled goods, contained
mini-ecosystems, and plant life to prove that anyone can
enjoy the aesthetic and environmental benefits of functional
green spaces. The potential movability of these objects are
also important to provide motivation for someone who isnt
ready or able to settle down to one home long term. Closing
the power and quality of one's life between the economic
gaps of society Apartments tend to house renters, lower
income clients, thus people with less stability in their lives,
versus homeowners who have the financial ability for more
stability. This leads to the ability to invest more heavily in
their living environment.
Vermiculture, permaculture, aquaponics, and small-scale
indoor gardening will all be placed inside the students living
space and provide functional benefits to the residents.
Supplies for these projects will be salvaged, recycled, or
purchased at secondhand stores to keep costs viable for a
college students budget. Hopefully, the result will break
down the walls that the benefits of having plants in ones life
is limited to certain people with exclusive resources.
Justification
Small-scale ecosystem processes are the focus of this
project. We are going to promote the effectiveness of indoor
vermiculure, permaculture, aquaponics, and organic
cultivation by growing plants hydroponically combined with a

simple aquaculture apparatus, maintaining a small compost


bin in the kitchen utilizing vermiculture techniques to make
use of kitchen scraps, and planting edible herb and
vegetable species using little or no living space.
Small-scale ecosystem processes are mirrors of the large
scale biological webs that determine our environments
health and stability. We will show that improved air quality,
improved aesthetics, improved recycling techniques, and
sustainable, low-input ventures are not only easy and
beneficial, but also achievable for everyone. This project will
stand as a model of civic efficacy - if its possible for broke
college students to have a positive impact so easily, then its
possible for anyone to put positive inputs back into their own
small-scale and local ecosystems.
Using DIY ingenuity and research tools we are going to learn
what indoor greenspaces are more realistic for specific
spaces and how nature can successfully be moved indoors.
To do this, we are taking the ideas about ecosystem
processes outside of class and applying them to the
contained systems we are utilizing in this creative project. It
will not only give us a greater understanding of ecosystem
processes, but it will also teach us about green design, the
practical application of sustainable ecological models, and
quite possibly dumpster-diving.
Creative Component
To convey the scope and details of this project we will be
creating a timeline of growing for the living materials we
utilize, taking a plethora of photographs, and setting up a
creative and informative wordpress blog through Virginia
Tech at blogs.lt.vt.edu/livingapartment. We will also be
constructing our own inventive growing apparatus based on
our surrounding and real life waste products, ideally and
ultimately greenifying one of our group members home.

Resources
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Marsh, Lori, Scott Subler, Sudanshu Mishra, and Michele


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