If you’re going to be confined, you might as well keep busy, with eco-friendly and clever tricks!
It’s now 2 weeks since the confinement began … For us it is above all a way to make a REAL BREAK with the daily life that goes at full speed and that slips through our fingers. And if, finally, it was the occasion to take some time for oneself (and a little for others of course)!
Here are the top 6 activities to do when you’re cooped up at home to take care of yourself and actively participate in the preservation of our dear Planet: It’s GONE!
1. Gardening
Gardening takes time and patience, good thing because we know you have at least one of both! When you don’t know much about it, you get the impression that it’s difficult, even inconceivable, to get something right the first time, and yet…
Also, in times of confinement, utensils are harder to find and sometimes expensive. We give you a few tips:
– Don’t throw away any more transparent trays of pastries, meat, fruit such as strawberries or egg cartons with lids. After piercing the bottom, these containers will serve as mini greenhouses. In this way, we give a second life to our household waste.
– Plugging your plans into a plastic bottle
– Weeding with cooking water
– Mulch the floor with newspaper or cardboard.
Need more details? We’ll leave you in the hands of the Rustica blog which gives you lots of great gardening tips!
2. Sorting / donation
Cleaning, sweeping, polishing, but above all SORTING !
This is the number 1 activity we recommend you should do.
Why should I do it?
According to many experts, sorting and organizing your living space is good for your mental health and therefore for your health! We all have a chest of drawers full of papers that we keep « just in case » but that we barely dare to open, otherwise we’ll have to spend a lot of time in it…
A few tips to make your life easier
– Use the reverse side of the leaves to make a draft.
– Scan important papers to a USB stick
– Classify and name the categories so you can find your way around more easily.
In a second step, you can also get rid of things you no longer use, and for that you don’t have to go through the trash can, no no!
Whether it’s clothes, furniture or household appliances, there are a whole bunch of associations ready to get rid of anything you no longer want.
For clothes, in period of confinement, we recommend you the skips of The Red Cross in order to limit human contact. There are more than 1400 containers located just about everywhere in the cities of France.
Find the one nearest yu on: https://www.lafibredutri.fr/
3. Cooking with leftovers « Zero-waste cooking »
In this period of confinement at home, we tend to nibble a little (we do!) to pass the time, by reflex, because we rack our brains too much from the sofa, well everyone has a little excuse!
Anyway, this period should also be a good way for everyone to be careful with the mess and optimize all the ingredients in your fridge, PLUS A MIETTE… To do this we recommend the Frigo Magic application which offers recipes from the leftovers in your fridge.
You don’t like to cook every day but you want to prepare your meals in advance?
Batch cooking is for you! This big trend from Anglo-Saxon countries consists in preparing your meals in advance by having the ingredients precooked in large quantities. In this way you can anticipate and adjust your meals from day to day. Moreover, it can also lead to a useful and fun family activity for young and old. It is also important to note that it avoids getting lost in the supermarket shelves and succumbing to the little whims of one another, in short it is all beneficial!
If you lack inspiration, we recommend Anne Oiseau’s little book La révolution du Batch cooking available at: www.cuisine.larousse.fr
Another rather basic advice, which we have put in place, you don’t cook anything until the leftovers are eaten, you’ll see, not only you won’t throw anything away anymore but you’ll also go shopping less often!
4. Customization of clothes and accessories (sewing)
As you know, we advocate use, re-use, re-use (hi hi ) but for that you don’t need us!
At a time when the e-commerce sites of many fashion and accessories brands have stopped delivering to you, we give you the solution, and it’s right in your closet!
Do you know what it is? This big tote bag, 3/4 of which is only worn during the year!
Alex and Anaïs give you 2/3 sewing techniques, on their blog : https://www.letoiledecoton.com/
So you can give a faded pair of jeans a second life and turn them into pretty summer shorts! Or you can give a new lease of life to a sad blouse… In short, we’ll let you see it with these two designers who will tell you all about it better than we will. In any case, we love and LOVE it !
5. Share your DIY tutos
Who doesn’t know the OUIAREMAKERS platform? https://ouiaremakers.com/
This platform allows you to share with the community your DIY tutorials in all possible fields (cooking, DIY, fashion, decoration…).
Their concept is that each individual has talents, resources, knowledge, know-how that make them unique. This know-how is far too little shared with others… which means that everyone is constantly reinventing the wheel! What a waste of time, energy, what a waste of learning…
Their mission is therefore to activate and animate communities that will pass on their know-how, in the service of individual and collective skills development.
Connect without further delay!
6. Show civic-mindedness and solidarity
Sustainable development implies 3 dimensions: economic, ecological but also social and therefore human! How about taking advantage of this break to take care of yours and those around you? Helping a frail neighbour with her shopping, or babysitting a friend’s children so that they can have some free time are also among the things that can be done to preserve the cohesion of a nation during a health crisis. To think about…
We hope you have enjoyed this reading and these tips, feel free to share and send your good tips!
See you soon on e2r-paris.com/en