Good Morning SuperForest!
In February I wrote about Frugan Living, the blog of Katherine Fairfax Wright. Fairfax, as she’s known, has been enjoying the abundance of food and items she’s rescued from the streets of NYC.
Katherine is tall, well-read, fiery, compassionate. A busy yogini, chef, writer, documentarian, blogger, who took the time to venture to Brooklyn and spend the day with the 4Fives.
Katherine Fairfax Wright is SuperForestastic!
SF: How has your frugan lifestyle affected you over all?
Bits of it have been engrained in me since I was a wee lass sticking my nose in the air at the sight of my dad eating fruit well past its prime, explaining to my friends why our lawn looked like it was wearing a sweater (my dad rerouted the washer plumbing to water the grass, though we could have done with a better lint filter), attending every library book sale and garage sale in the neighborhood, taking our bottles and cans to the recycling center (my brother and I got to keep the cash), scouring thrift stores with my grandma and aunts—these were typical weekend activities. And since I declared myself frugan, not so much has changed either. My schedule and everything the same, I still travel a lot, work a lot, have great friends. I think people think it takes far more time and headspace to be frugan than it does. Resource consumption is indeed something I am always aware of—but that includes my time, I don’t want to waste my time more than anyone else does. But seeing as it doesn’t usurp all my time, I see no reason not to provide for myself while at the same time curbing my own waste by utilizing that of others. And while doing so, I’m (re)exposed to the ill effects of our consumptive practices, which serves as a constant reminder of why I started doing this, and what habits I’d like to see improve. Living this was has made me a more conscious citizen. It also serves as a tiny outlet for me to feel like rather than just reading a lot about these issues, I’m doing at least a little something to counteract the negatives.
SF: Have you ever gotten sick from eating found food?
Nope. I’ve never had even the mildest of ill effects from eating found food. It may help to realize that this stuff is for sale on the store shelves less than an hour before I get to it. Although that said, recent events in the news would indicate that even purchased food is not without its pesky microbes.
SF: Have you ever gotten into trouble while foraging? And if so, how did you deal with it?
Nope. I’ve come across employees at most shops, and the occasion is very rare that they are anything less than friendly. Besides maybe a quick comment to make sure you’ll close up the bags after, they really let you be. It also helps that, at least with my neighborhood shop, I also purchase stuff there, so they know me as a customer as well. If you engage with them, or even just make eye contact, it helps to personalize the situation, and take it beyond just the act of a random individual getting free stuff from a shopkeeper’s overhead. I’m sure any shopkeeper is as adverse as I am to chucking goods he or she has paid for, and in throwing out the goods, he or she is really only keeping up with consumer demand.
Passersby either don’t notice or just give me a slightly funny look. Or maybe it’s more of a double take when they notice my nice coat or my iPhone earbuds. I’m obviously aware that I’m not a typical dumpster diver, although if you spend any time with a group like the Freegans, you’ll notice that even they are quite a varied bunch. Nevertheless, of course there are certain stereotypes surrounding this kind of lifestyle, and while I do break the mold, it just serves to show that anybody can do this. It’s as legal for me as anyone else. That said, I’m not advocating for people to dumpster dive, it’s just what happens to work for me at this moment in my life. What I am advocating for is for people to make conscious and conscientious decisions about their resources: time, capital, environment, and so on.
SF: What is your go-to foraging outfit? Any special tools?
Lots of canvas bags, rubber gloves (from previous dives, a mix of the laboratory-types and the dishwashing ones), a little LED light is helpful for the black bags. Rubber goulashes and some sort of scrounging pole are helpful in the proper dumpsters, but most trash is just in trash bags on the street. During summer it’s fun to dress in fun clothes, but in winter, I’m just concentrating on staying warm and dry, while maintaining my dexterity and ability to schlep.
SF: Have you gotten much feedback from people who been inspired by your actions?
As of late, some comments to this effect have come to the fore. But more noticeable, for me at least, is the effect I’ve had on my friends. Despite initial hesitation in some cases, many of my friends come out with me regularly—which makes the event much more fun, it’s always fun to mix a mission (as in an actual set goal for the evening, not so much an ideological one) with socialization. And those friends who don’t come out are always willing to eat what I cook, or some come over to take groceries home after a good score. They are also always sure to contact me before they throw something out that I might find a use for, or to ask questions about travelling abroad, or building shelves or the best paint to use, or what have you.
SF: How did the mention on boingboing affect you?
It made my traffic increase by about three gazillion…for the time being at least. It may have also made my dear parents feel like maybe there is some greater reason why their daughter, on whose education and etiquette they have so labored over, eats from the trash.
SF: What (if anything) would make you stop living frugan?
I can’t really stop being frugan. While the label is something I only came up with a year or so ago, I’ve always exhibited the characteristics that it’s comprised of, and I don’t think they’re going anywhere. That said, I entirely expect my methods of fruganism to shape-shift with time. I’m considering a move back to Los Angeles, for example, in which case much of my garbage foraging may come to an end, but I do intend to have garden full of yummies (assuming my thumbs prove green), maybe a hen-house, things like that. I’ll always love second-hand goods. If I ever owned a thrift shop I would ask my donors to tag their items with stories about the goods: this was Aunt Mildred’s, baby Jake puked on this once on Halloween, the scratch on the left is from my dog Caligari, who had three legs so he dragged his feet. The meaningfulness of a story, or at least the fodder for small-talk it provides, I think easily surpasses any set-back eminating from an object’s status as used. I’m so much happier wearing my grandma’s clothes than some random garment from a shopping mall. Although if I am going to buy something, I’ll always feel more contended buying a designer dress from Loehmann’s than Barney’s. But that’s just me, it doesn’t have to be everybody.
SF: Who/what/where inspires you?
Most of my inspiration comes from reading. Lester Brown. Jared Diamond. Michael Pollan. Jeff Sachs, and the work of the Earth Institute as a whole. GOOD. Worldchanging. TED. Those are the big names. I took a great class on the anthropology of consumption, which gave me a lot of food for thought about value systems and how arbitrary they are. But on a more personal level, backpacking, both in the wilderness and travelling abroad has taught me supreme admiration of two things—nature and people…and thereby spawned an inquiry into their peaceful and sustainable cohabitation. For the two to coexist in a maximally pleasant manner, I think that individual adjustments have to bore their way into social norms. I have no intention of prosthelytizing the wonders of dumpster diving (it really is just what happens to work well for me right now), if I’m going to preach anything it is just that stigmas should be taken with a massive dose of salt, and that as idealistic as it sounds, creative approaches can ameliorate a lot of sticky situations, and yield a satisfying sense of self-rule. People like gifts, people like beauty, people like food, people like people. I understand that, it’s just the elements that fulfill those desires that are all wonky—people let the way of the masses dominate the way of the self.
But that’s enough ideological banter for one day. I’m gonna go instantiate it now by way of the shiny bookshelf I spot peaking out from the snow on the sidewalk downstairs.”
A huge “Thank you!” to Katherine Fairfax Wright for all of the incredible work she is doing on behalf of her fellow human beings.
Check out Frugan Living!
And K’s visit with the 4Fives!
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