Freegan Me?

I've been watching the Freegan Movement for about a year now, since it poked its head up out of the dumpster and onto the news cycles. When you first hear about it, you think oh my god, half eaten sandwiches drug out of the garbage! that's nasty. That part is nasty, but that's not what this is all about. I watched a segment on "Oprah" (shut up, it was the last night repeat and the tv was just on) and I left it on when they said, coming up: The Freegans. Lucy Lui, the broadcaster, went around with one of the groups and drug enough "to feed a small country" out of the garbage from behind supermarkets and restaurants. It was odd to see all that wrapped up, in perfect condition food, thrown out. But here's the part that really interested me. A middle-aged professional woman making a six figure salary and a doctor husband and engineer wife team who lived their entire lives in support of Freeganism (did I make up a word?). The couple had furnished their apt with cast offs from the trash and ate most of their meals (sometimes from 'mystery' cans with no labels. With all earnestness imaginable, they explained why. But what resonated with me are the questions "How much do we need to buy to make us happy?" "If we didn't work that second job, could we spend more time with our children?" and others of that ilk. I have too much stuff (sometimes I think I have the hoarder gene) but I've taken a vow to consume less. I will not be buying any new clothes for the next YEAR. I'm going to wait a second before I throw food away and I'm about to give away tons of things. I'd say I will have a garage sale, but that would be a lie. I am going to take a bunch of clothes to my Military Women's Shelter. Maybe other junk in here as well. I'm going to try to be the freegan Ruth Adkins Robinson

I'm Back

I took a break to give myself a think or two. I wondered for a while if I was just spilling my guts on here, for no good reason and for no one else's enjoyment. But I've been told by the people who were reading it that I should get with it once again, so I'm going to do that. Beginning tomorrow, you will see a once a week post from Ruth Adkins Robinson