Long Term Garden Plan and other “Eco Upgrades”- Soulside Healing Arts Internship Project

Part of the Internship with Soulside Healing Arts included proposing, sourcing and suggesting various eco conscious upgrades for the studio. This element of the internship was three, each representing various approaches to sustainable upgrades and future planning.

The least intensive was the cost comparison of various bike parking structures. Each phase needed to be run by the landlord, with budget constraints guiding the process. The end result was to encourage cyclists to park their bikes along the already existing fence, with signage and social media posts to guide commuters.

The most intensive logistically was the sourcing, installing and educating studio moderators about a smart thermostat. This upgrade ensures the studio is never left with the heat or AC running, and removes this responsibility from instructors’ and renters’ bandwidth. This also offers energy cost savings to the landlord. All these benefits have been immediately tangible.

The most future-focused task was designing a long term garden plan for Soulside, which included not only general landscape design, but repurposing existing infrastructure and creating a professional presentation to supply the Soulside board and landlord with (see below). Budget estimates, volunteer suggestions and long-term maintenance plans were all included with this thorough proposal, which will be used for environmental grant proposals.