What can we live without?

I kind of have a love/hate relationship with Oprah. I have been a devoted watcher of her show for many years - I record it every day and try to watch them all on the weekend while I am doing laundry and ironing. There are a lot of shows that I don't even watch because I think she has some weird shows and I don't always agree with her thinking and her beliefs. I don't watch the "I married a gay man" or "transgendered teens" shows. She does talk about some good things, and those are the times that I really enjoy watching her show. She had a show on a couple weeks ago about freegans - people who get their food out of dumpsters (perfectly good food that people throw away - mainly restaurants) and buy their clothes from re-sale shops, etc. Well, Thursdays show was about wasting things - money, time, food....all the things my family seems to do. The show was really eye opening. She was challenging families for 7 days to eat all of their meals at home (no eating out or take out), and the families had to eat their leftovers. They were only allowed to watch 1 hour of tv , 1 hour of computer, or 1 hour playing video games a day(not 1 hour of each but 1 hour total). Extra computer use was limited to homework purposes. The thermostat had to be set higher/lower (depending on the time of year). They had to get rid of their bottled water habit and use a refillable cup and filtered water (a big issue with me). No more disposable plates, cups, silverware, etc. They could only wash clothing that was truly dirty, and showers were limited to 5-8 minutes. They couldn't buy anything other than food (at the grocery store), and the mall was off limits! Well, needless to say, in our ways of living, this was quite a challenge for the families. One little boy (5 yrs. old) actually seemed to be suffering video game withdrawal - similar to those of drug addicts. It was wild. It was really sweet though to see him not playing games but reading books with his sister! Anyway, I think we will try some of their ideas and see how it goes. They were all talking about how it made them a closer family because less time in front of the tv meant more family time! There was also a huge relief on the pocket book - we tend to eat out a lot and throw away all of our left overs. So, this could really help us in many ways. I think we are going to try it this week and see what happens. If you want to use the challenge for your family, go to this link:
http://www2.oprah.com/tows/pastshows/200804/tows_past_20080417_b.jhtml