I actually donate on a regular basis (not part of OpenBiome) and can answer any questions people have (a sort of AMA). Edit - this isn't a joke comment, I actually donate stool weekly.
I'm curious about the... Logistics of it? Do you store it, somewhere till the end of the week? Sit on a bucket, or use a ziplock bag? Scoop it out of the bowl every time? Do you have to make sure it doesn't get contaminated with urine?
Do they care about the consistency, color, smell, etc? Or is it just pretty much anything goes? Do they request that you eat a specific diet?
For me I work in the same building as the laboratory, therefore I use a collection container and deliver it "fresh" to the lab. I'm lucky because I'm fairly regular and donate around the same time everyday (9am) therefore I just walk down to the lab. A fellow donor is more of a night person, so they store it overnight in a container and bring it in the next day.
The containers are just plastic containers (like a margarine container)m, single use. You place it in a trapezoid shape holder. Then place it on the toilet. If you place it one direction it collects stool, if you place it the other direction it collects urine. So yes, we do keep them separate.
If I have a bout of diarrhea, I stop donating and wait for it to clear. I then collect samples and send to the lab for testing (ova and parasite, regular fecal culture, norovirus, hepatitis and some other viral testing). If I'm clear, I can continue to donate. This same process happens if I go on antibiotics or if I travel out of country. So anything goes, minus liquid stool.
As for diet, I'm actually encouraged not to change my diet. My flora has shown to work well for recipients, and therefore if I change my diet I might change my flora.
It would be nice to have a dedicated bathroom. I work in a large public building and therefore donate in a public bathroom. Can be awkward carrying a bag into the stall with me. I get some weird looks, but then I remember why I donate and it's all ok.
I can't speak to OpenBiome specifically, but you are correct, they look for generally well people. I'm active, but they don't expect me to spend 1hr in the gym everyday. There is also research showing that the microbiome of obese and overweight people differ from healthy weight people, I'm of the latter group.
Diet wasn't so much of a concern. I once switched to gluten free on request from the recipients family, however, as both myself and the physician said, gluten is probably broken down before it comes out the other end.
What sort of poop do they prefer? I mean here the raw physical consistency, and do you prepare yourself to donate this specific kind? Or do they just take any old shit you give them? This is very interesting to me, thanks for answering questions.
I don't donate for OpenBiome so I don't know about their process, but for me they take my normal stool. I don't change my diet (you can see my other comment for that reasoning). As for preparation, there isn't much that changes from what I give them and what the patient takes (we mostly do pills). They want it as close to my flora as possible.
