Newsweek Writer Raina Kelly Goes Freegan for Thirty Days

Almost fifteen years ago, MTV introduced us to reality television with their hit show, The Real World. Based on a look-in, cameras followed strangers who gave up their personal existence and moved into a loft apartment and did life together while the world watched. Since then, we have seen similar excursions take place in various forms from the summer reality show hit, Big Brother to all of the cable networks pushing their own variety shows like American Chopper and Gotti. Along the same lines, magazines have begun to make similar pushes, allowing writers to embed themselves in various environments and pen their findings, opening readers up to a world otherwise shut off.

This is what Newsweek magazine is undergoing currently with writer Raina Kelly who is spending the next thirty days of her life as a freegan. A well-respected journalist, Raina has embedded herself in a culture that marries vegan eating habits with a passion towards monitoring ones impact on the environment through social and consumer behavior. Does it sound different? It is. According to the freegan website, the organization defines freegans are people who employ alternative strategies for living based on limited participation in the conventional economy and minimal consumption of resources. Freegans embrace community, generosity, social concern, freedom, cooperation, and sharing in opposition to a society based on materialism, moral apathy, competition, conformity, and greed.

It is a mouthful as well as a lifestyle. According to Raina's blog, Freegan Girl, which can be found on the homepage of the Newsweek website, the focus of her blog is to introduce us to a burgeoning part of our culture, a rich community of non-capitalistic people who believe in more than a change of place and a change of lifestyle, but a reforming, excessive removal. I think her simple goal is something she stated in the first day of her blog. Raina really wants to do is examine the impact of her lifestyle not just on the Earth but herself. And that will make for valuable reading.

For the next thirty days, Raina Kelly will invest herself into a new community of freegans. She will be assisted by two frentors, Madeline and Adam. And she has to follow nine rules that will indoctrinate her into the freegan culture. Her nine rules will force her to only buy what is necessary for food consumption, medical care, or emergency. She will eat as a vegan would. All the food she eats will be organic and locally produced and sold in New York City. She must recycle, reuse and compost at all times. When she has to locate something, she must use freecycle or look in her storage closet to make sure she does not already own it. She cannot rid herself of less than environmentally-friendly items for eco-friendly ones. She must use all of what she has until it is completely empty. Further, she must decrease her energy bill by fifty percent and become carbon neutral. In terms of transportation, she must use eco-friendly transportation except at night when personal safety concerns will allow her to drive her car or use a taxi. The money she saves during her thirty day excursion must go into a Freedom Savings Account. The goal of the FSA is to save up enough money to quit working one day. Lastly, her primary goal is to be more mindful of the impact her actions are having on the one planet we live on.

The Freegan Experiment will run from August 20 to September 16. While Raina Kelly will not practice every aspect of Freegan living, like dumpster diving, the practice of going through the dumpsters behind restaurants and gathering the wasted food for consumption or green-grabbing, where a Freegan walks through a park looking for greens, nestled in the midst of grass and shrubs. Raina will do as much as she can to understand the cultural dynamics and ultimate value in the Freegan lifestyle and it should be interesting to watch every blog entry.

But wait a minute, would blogging be possible in a Freegan culture, where technology is such consumers of our electric grid. First known on the West Coast in cities like Seattle and Portland, Freegan communities have begun to breakthrough in major metropolis like New York City and London, as well as the nation's capital. With Freegan Girl sure to be an interesting read Raina Kelly and Newsweek will certainly get my vote for raising an issue, like global warming or excessive living and raise our awareness about how much of an impact every decision we make will have on future generations.