Banker Turned Freegan
By BankersBall on Jun 25, 2007 in Famous Bankers, Lifestyle
Free your mind, and the rest will follow:
“Making things last is part of the ethos. Christian Gutierrez, a 33-year-old former model and investment banker, sat at the small kitchen table, chatting. Mr. Gutierrez, who quit his banking job at Matthews Morris & Company in 2004 to pursue filmmaking, became a freegan last year, and opened a free workshop on West 36th Street in Manhattan to teach bicycle repair. He plans to add lessons in fixing home computers in the near future.
Mr. Gutierrez’s lifestyle, like Ms. Nelson’s, became gradually more constricted in the absence of a steady income. He lived in a Midtown loft until last year, when, he said, he got into a legal battle with his landlord over a rent increase — a relationship “ruined by greed,” he said. After that, he lived in his van for a while, then found an illegal squat in SoHo, which he shares with two others. Mr. Gutierrez had a middle-class upbringing in Dallas, and he said he initially found freeganism off-putting. But now he is steadfastly devoted to the way of life. As people began to load plates of food, he leaned in and offered a few words of wisdom: ‘Opening that first bag of trash,’ he said, ‘is the biggest step.’”
– Not Buying It (NYT)
On Jun 25, 2007, Hal Kretzmann said:
A cautionary tale for all bankers considering leaving to pursue filmmaking. We truly all are one bad decision away from freeganism (homelessness).
On Oct 7, 2007, Anonymous said:
The guy was never an investment banker. He was a male prostitute. This story in the NYT, along with so many others, are based on false information. Don’t believe everything you read.
On Apr 18, 2008, MSM said:
I am fascinated by freeganism. I am concerned however about the dumpster diving. I can understand the taking sealed packages or canned goods but meat and lettuce is a bit scary and is usually thrown in those dumpsters because they are bad. I talked to a friend who used to work at Trader Joe’s and she said they threw the meat out there when it was expired and needed to be thrown out. I hope those divers out there are really watching what they are taking. I do like the idea of not filling landfills and being able to give something that I don’t need or like anymore to someone who may get value out of it (through clothing swaps) and Goodwill has got so picky and are so rude in comparison to how they used to be that I won’t give to them anymore.