Food Waste Heroes and Salvagers United
A free-food sharing website explains their system, their goal of zero food waste: “What is OLIO and how do I use it?
OLIO connects neighbours with each other and with local shops so surplus food and other items can be shared, not thrown away. All items on OLIO are offered for free and any attempt to sell items should be immediately reported.
“How does OLIO make money?
OLIO generates revenues by charging some businesses for the service we provide via our Food Waste Heroes Programme to enable them to have zero edible food waste stores/locations. The service is free for small businesses who want the basic version of the programme. We will continue to explore other avenues to generate revenues to ensure that we have a sustainable business model. (Last updated on June 5, 2020.)
“What others are looking at in London, United Kingdom
- 4 cans of Magners (I bought this in for a house guest, but we ended up going out every evening. It’s just going to gather dust as I don’t drink cider. Would anyone like it?)
- Tesco Pure Orange Juice (Smooth. 1 litre. Given up my morning OJ so this needs a loving home please ☺.)
- 2 baguettes (Bought last night, still fresh. We only wanted one but they came in a pack of three so there are two spare.)
- Orange ice lollies unopened packet of 10 (Someone bought these for my son but he doesn’t like them.)
- Black truffle pate (Not keen on truffles, black truffle shavings in oil.)
- Fresh bread yeast (Use by Friday. Will give your bread a rise to be proud of.)
- Black olives (Brought back from holiday some time ago. They are those small, wrinkly, quite salty ones.)
- Prune juice (Nice but too sweet for me.)
- Homemade vanilla extract (Made lovingly by my father for an ungrateful daughter who feels guilty that she knows she won’t use it. At least this way it will go to a deserving home! Can be used to make cheesecakes etc.)
- Bacon stock cubes (Yes, really!!)”
The OLIO site has detailed instructions for OLIO Food Waste Heroes for delivery/pick up, especially during Covid-19. Yellowknifers, however, are much more casual: out on my driveway, here’s the address. Londoners don’t want to throw away good stuff; during Covid-19 Yellowknifers couldn’t.
Yellowknife’s dump, May 26
Cabinradio.ca’s Ollie Williams reports, “There is no word on when Yellowknife’s dump may resume full operation and regular opening hours. When that does happen, Sheila Bassi-Kellett, the City’s senior administrator, said some of the dump’s current working practices may be kept. A single public drop-off area, she said, ‘helps control access and ensure waste is being organized and sorted in a good, operational way. When we get back to full access, there is going to be a very good system in place’.”
Tales from the Dump, June 4
Walt Humphries writes, “The dump may have reopened but once again no provision was made for salvaging. This means a lot of good and valuable things are just being buried with the rest of the trash. That is a real step backwards because more stuff is buried. […] Steve and Jennifer Payne came up with an incredible idea and started the Facebook page Salvagers Unite. It is brilliant in its simplicity. If you have something you want to get rid of, just snap a picture of it and post the item, to see if anyone out there could use it. Also, if you are ISO or in search of an item, you just put a post on, and it often gets a reply offering the item you need for free. No money is exchanged.”
A few examples of food/gardening giveaways from Salvagers United:
- Anyone have any extra potting soil? I’d love to take it off your hands pls.
- We have 3 kombucha scobies available if anybody wants one. Let us know when you’re coming by, we are home all day all night all the time.
- Looking for rhubarb. Is it up yet?
- Have some plant pots in driveway if anyone needs any – 59 Rycon Drive!
- ISO clear wine bottles, bring me 15 or more and I will trade you a nice bottle of peach chardonnay!
- We have some left over seed potatoes, for anyone who missed the giveaway!
- Anyone want our household’s compost? We have a small Tupperware full of composted organics you can add to your compost! We only put in veggie scraps, some egg shells, coffee grounds, and the odd paper towel scrap (so no meats). I can deliver it to you!
- Looking for wild flower seeds. Stores are out.
- ISO 4 zucchini seeds. Happy to trade for broccoli or beet seeds.
- ISO soil for garden beds. Under estimated how much we’d need for the beds we built. Everywhere is either sold out or not available (wet). Will take what you have.
- Looking! For dry fish, please message for any info please. Thank you.
And
- On July 1st at NOON the NWT miracle will attempt to raise the most food ever in the NWT. Across the territory, your friends, neighbours and family will be collecting non-perishable food items from each doorstep in participating communities. It will be collected, brought to local charities and storage sites. From there we will feed anyone who needs it in the NWT.
And
- I’m giving away the rest of 2020. I will be putting it in a lock box out at the head of my driveway. Anybody can come pick it up. The only rule is that once you take it to your house, do not bring it back to mine.
References
Humphries, W. (2020.) “Tales from the dump: Salvaging, uniting, tidying yk.”
From https://nnsl.com/yellowknifer/tales-from-the-dump-salvaging-uniting-tidying-yk/
Northwest Territories food drive: https://www.nwtmiracle.com/?fbclid=IwAR0ekGK3B7pJUFdnTpA1K9wd8U7prYHoyFyd84xCVE1-udrOTz6ROYsXgwI
OLIO website: https://olioex.com
Salvagers Unite on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/673899336739983/
Williams, O. (2020.) “City reaches out to restaurants, stores for creative reopening plans.” From https://cabinradio.ca/37804/news/yellowknife/city-reaches-out-to-restaurants-stores-for-creative-reopening-plans/
Char Can Cook Keto 