Michelle, who is Deaf and uses British Sign Language (BSL), was first introduced to Olio by a friend during a conversation about recycling and sustainable living.
I’d never heard of Olio until a friend mentioned it in a discussion. We were talking about recycling and asking for items on Facebook and various other sites. I don’t like throwing items away and have always supported charity shops. But Olio? I was intrigued but unsure.
Then, as life threw her some unexpected vet bills, she was motivated to look for ways to cut costs, and Olio was mentioned again. Michelle decided to give it a try and set up her account…
I set up an account and very easily collected some delicious Pret goodies from Debbie, a local Food Waste Hero. Janet and Tiphaine, two other volunteers, were also very helpful. I couldn’t believe they were all within walking distance and I never knew they existed.
Michelle soon decided she wanted to give back and became an Olio volunteer, signing up for the odd available collection.
Tiphaine explained, very patiently, the tech side of photographing, listing and allocating. Janet and Tiphaine helped me a lot in the early days. Calling businesses on my behalf to confirm collections, aiding in sorting, listing and keeping me up to date with forum information. As a Deaf and a BSL user, their help was immeasurable.
The volunteering snowballed into meeting other like-minded people and having a regular slot and before long I became a valued member of their Food Waste Hero team.
Their friendship grew as they supported each other not just with Olio, but in other community activities like clothes swaps, mending clothes, helping local groups like school breakfast clubs and food shares, and cooking meals for people at the local church.
They created their own inventive ways to use up any items left over and shared their recipes. They even held a competition and asked regular collectors to view the recipes and choose the one they thought was the most creative. Together, they’re creating a real network of sustainability in their community.
As I’m Deaf, the natural progression was teaching some sign language. Some of my requesters are also asking and using some sign and a couple have moved on to sign classes. I’m delighted.
Best of all, I’m not only saving food waste, I’m a member of a wonderful community where I have value. I’ve always been “the Deaf lady” wherever I’ve gone. Which is annoying as I have a name. Here I’m “Michelle”, I just happen to be Deaf.
