Vince Budak is participating in the Campus Ecochallenge!

Ecochallenge.org

Campus Ecochallenge

Vince's points

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
300 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

4.8

pounds of paper

have been saved
UP TO

4.0

gallons of water

have been saved
UP TO

15

minutes

spent learning

Vince's actions

Water

Brush My Teeth Without Running Water

I will save up to 4 gallons (15 L) of water each day by turning it off while brushing my teeth.

COMPLETED 1
DAILY ACTION

Waste

Choose Two-Sided Printing

I will save up to 0.21 lbs (0.09 kg) of paper per day by switching from one-sided printing to two-sided when I have to print documents.

COMPLETED 7
DAILY ACTIONS

Waste

Go Paperless and Opt Out of Junk Mail

I will reduce the amount of paper mail that I receive by 3.4lbs (1.5kg) a month or 41lbs (18.6kg) a year by opting into paperless billing, ending unwanted subscriptions and opting out of junk mail.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Waste

Visit a Local Recycling Center, Landfill, or Transfer Station

Seeing where waste goes can change how we think about what we throw away. I will visit a local facility to learn more about the waste stream in my community and share what I learn with others and in the feed.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Make Smart Seafood Choices

I will visit seafoodwatch.org or download the app and commit to making better seafood choices for a healthier ocean.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Energy

Turn Off Lights and Electronics

I will keep lights, electronics, and appliances turned off when not using them.

COMPLETED 4
DAILY ACTIONS

Participant Feed

Vince Budak 5/03/2026 3:56 PM

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 only runs for about 2 seconds to fill the cup plus a split second to wet the brush. I think this is about as efficient and sustainable as I can make it and the impact is multiplied as I brush my teeth everyday (usually twice... usually...)

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- Amy Minato 5/04/2026 1:23 PM
  
  well every little bit...
  
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- Patrick Dolan 5/03/2026 8:11 PM
  
  Hey Vince,
  This is a great way to act in a more sustainable way on a personal level! Though it may not seem like much, thousands of gallons of water get wasted by idle usage every year by one person. So, not only understanding and recognizing the issue, but also creating a meaningful solution is great! I have a similar issue with shaving and I feel like I waste so much water when it comes to shaving my face. I've tried shaving when taking a shower and it works, I just forget to do it sometimes.
  
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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food

What did you learn about the impact of your seafood choices on ocean health? What challenges, if any, did you encounter when trying to make more sustainable seafood choices?
Vince Budak 4/26/2026 10:36 AM

I spent some time on seafoodwatch.org researching types of fish that they recommend we avoid buying. Sushi is my favorite food and I find myself consuming fish somewhat regularly, so I feel its important to be more informed about at least what types of fish to possibly avoid when purchasing. Seafoodwatch suggests that eel (unagi) and some types of shrimp (ebi) should be avoided due to unsustainable harvesting practices and poorly managed fisheries. The big culprit, however, is bluefin tuna (probably unsurprising) as it features heavily in many types of sushi. The industry is plagued with severe over-fishing issues that threaten the sustainability of the tuna population. I will avoid these kinds of fish on sushi in the future.

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- Amy Minato 4/27/2026 2:59 PM
  
  did you determine which sushi product was most sustainable? at least sushi has very little fish in it
  
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Vince Budak 4/19/2026 5:42 PM

I focused this week on reducing my electricity usage by turning off and unplugging more electrical appliances. I hadn't considered the "standby usage" of many electronics wherein they use power while turned off but still plugged in. Some sources I found say that 5-10% of all household electrical usage is caused by appliances on standby, so I made a concerted effort to turn off power strips and unplug things where possible. I think I will certainly continue to unplug my power strips in the future as its very easy to do and many of my electronics are plugged into a strip, so the impact is compounded. The weather has been a nice taste of summer to come and prompts me to open more windows and utilize natural airflow rather than relying on the fans the I've using through the winter and spring.

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- Amy Minato 4/20/2026 6:59 PM
  
  power strips do make it so much easier to unplug
  
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- Cole Christ 4/19/2026 8:12 PM
  
  I love putting power strips on timers for appliances where the power draw is not super intensive on start ups. Sometimes that standby usage is worth having if it is a fairly well used one. For example, for my lights on one power strip there is a timer that turns everything completely off on that strip, which does reduce phantom power usage for "smarter" appliances. It's awesome that you are able to be consistent with turning things off manually! Summer I feel like is always a challenge to reduce electricity usage, just because of how hot it gets around here.
  
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Vince Budak 4/07/2026 3:14 PM

I have some old but still functioning electronics that I would like to donate. A tech recycling staple that some Portlanders might be familiar with: Freegeek takes donations of up to 20 items at their SE location (1731 SE 10th Ave) Wed - Sat 11 am - 4 pm. I will be donating a few things either tomorrow or Thursday.

Info if interested: https://www.freegeek.org/donatetech

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- Amy Minato 4/13/2026 3:13 PM
  
  free geek is great! this could be your independent field trip organization..
  
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- Jake Hansen 4/12/2026 11:07 PM
  
  This is super cool, I've always wondered what options there are to dispose of/recycle old phones and other devices. The amount of resources that go into creating electronics just for them to be thrown out after a couple years is kind of crazy.
  
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- Edgar Padilla Fierros 4/08/2026 1:03 PM
  
  This is super cool, I have old tech that could use minor upgrades and some that I no longer had use for. Thank you. This is about to become my most visited site/location in Portland
  
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Vince Budak 4/06/2026 8:42 AM

I realized I was accidentally on the Winter 2026 Team page for the past few days - oops! Now we're in the right spot.

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- Amy Minato 4/07/2026 8:08 AM
  
  easy to do..glad you were able to switch
  
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Vince Budak 4/06/2026 8:38 AM

For this week I'm focusing on paper waste. I like to have physical copies of school work on occasion and double-side printing is something I often forget. I printed articles for two of my other classes yesterday double-sided to save on paper. I also went through my email inbox for any paper subscriptions and switched them to digital. I have been investigating the USPS' method for opting out of mailing lists - specifically paper junk mail like credit card offers and whatnot. I am looking into registering on dmachoice.org which allows one to reduce promotional mail offers from companies and businesses not already affiliated with.

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- Amy Minato 4/13/2026 3:12 PM
  
  so great to opt out of junk mail!
  
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