A Nottingham student has set out to eat, sleep, and live for nothing as part of an attempt at ‘Freeganism’.
Scott Blankenship, 21, first started trying to save money a year ago by gathering food which shops and friends would otherwise throw away.
A month ago he moved into a tent in a friend’s garden in The Park to cut his costs even further.
Scott, who is studying chemistry, says he is living the frugal life to cut his carbon footprint, highlight how much big supermarkets throw away, and as a rejection of what he sees as a materialistic culture.
“The term comes from a combination of free and vegan – and it came from the vegan movement,” he said
“In essence it’s anti-consumerism The tent thing is one way I’m trying to explore it.”
Bins behind shops provide most of the ingredients for his vegan diet, and he uses showers at his university to wash.
Scott says he often finds containers full of food thrown away across the city, because they are at or near sell-by dates.
Video: Scott on his quest to spend £0 a month to highlight consumerism
He also hitch-hikes to get around, and uses Freecycle – a network of people passing on things they no longer need.
Currently only spending around £10-£20 a week, mostly on Kung Fu and Yoga sessions, he also has a mobile phone with a £5 a month contract.
He added: “One of the issues has been cooking in the rain. I kind of solved that with a little flap on the tent.”
Originally from Oklahoma, US, he is studying at the University of Nottingham.
He is also documenting his experiences in a blog.
