Yolanda

freegan, grassroot projects

City:

Porto

Age:

Country:

Portugal

Yo was born in a small town in the Netherlands. She lost both her parents when she was very young. She grew up with different families, and later in a house with other young people in similar circumstances. Yo has an older sister who started squatting houses when Yo was in her early teens. So collective ways of living and the unconventional is something Yo is very familiar with and comfortable with.

Once Yo finished her second Masters study, she was concerned that she might end up stuck in Holland with a house and a mortgage and a fixed job, and she knew she wanted something else. She took her bike and went on a road trip through Europe searching for alternative ways of living that would inspire her.

“Travelling by bike is great for many reasons. It is a sustainable choice, it is really cheap and you have more contact with other people. You are in open space and have to stop along the way”

“Squatting is something that I really support, in the way that you use spaces that have been abandoned but that still have so much worth. And there are so many possibilities for these spaces”

Yo now lives in Porto, in an abandoned house that she and the people she shares the house with have a permission to stay in, as long as they see to that the house remains in good or improved condition. By living in several squatted houses, Yo has learned resourcefulness and many skills, including how to repair leaking roofs. And she has an amazingly positive view continuously fixing up places that she might not stay in for very long.

“We learn a lot just by trying. Sometimes we realise we've built something in the wrong way, but it is still a positive experience, because then we know how not to do it the next time”

Yo’s ecological footprint is very low. Airplanes are not an option for her, and she prefers her bike as mode of transport, even for long distances. Most of the things she uses or has is something other people no longer want, like her home, clothes, and most other materials. The collective grows some food, skips for food in supermarket containers, or receives from the market at the end of the day whatever the vendors can’t sell. The food is then used for the collective and they often make dinners for a large group of people.

“Instead of supporting a system that in my opinion is falling apart, I’d rather construct some alternatives - alternative space and alternative ways of living, which is a more local way of living, and more together with the community where you live”

She may have a low ecological footprint, but Yolanda’s positive social impact is really very high. She is involved in a number of interesting and creative projects (see and read about them on her work page). And the amazing thing is, she is involved in these projects not for personal financial profit, as these are non paid projects, and not for a status or reputation. She is actually quite shy about taking credit. She does it out of passion, to learn, and to be a part of building up alternative systems and ways of sustainable meaningful living.

"I choose to live my live simple, sober and dedicated to creating more alternative projects aimed sustainability, learning and organising practical things together and creating more spaces where people can exchange knowledge and share skills and materials free of hierarchies and profit"

Read more about Yo's experiences here or take a look at her projects here

Other links:
Quinta musas da fontinha, Es.Col.A, Pão Rebelde, the breadcollective

focus:

ecology, economy, society

Level of activity:

behaviour change, big actions

keywords:

activism, collaboration, education, frugality, outreach, resilience, sharing, upcycling, zero waste