17 Things to do in Quarantine (that are eco-friendly)

For most of us quarantine came out of nowhere and we weren’t prepared for being at home 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Here are some suggestions if you are slowly getting bored and need more ideas on how to spend your time. Also, these tips are eco-friendly so you can help save the environment with them! 🙂

• Change your grocery shopping habits! Don’t buy pizza but buy the products you need for pizza! Stop buying junk food and start cooking homecooked meals. This will drastically reduce the amount of wasted packaging material and do wonders for your health.
• Grow some vegetables in your garden! Since you probably have a lot more time than usual go out in your garden and plant some seeds. Even if you live in an apartment and don’t have a garden, grab a bucket and put some earth and seeds in! It’s so much fun seeing your own plants grow – I promise!

• Make your wardrobe more minimalistic! At first, completely empty out your closet. Then decide which clothes you’d like to keep and which ones you want to get rid of (probably the clothes which don’t fit anymore, you don’t like anymore or which you haven’t ever worn and never will). In the last step try to sell the clothes you won’t keep (via internet since you should avoid social contacts, of course). If you can’t sell them, donate them. I’m sure you will feel overwhelmed by your organized and minimalistic closet once you’re done!
• Don’t have any clothes left? You can do some online shopping and buy some high-quality fair fashion clothes! Some shops even have discounts due to the corona crisis (or due to the fact that spring collections are coming in and there are still some winter clothes left). Here are some recommendations where you can shop without having a bad consciousness: Grundstoff.net, Organic Basics, erlich Textil, Stroncton, Veganety-FairFashion, Gary Mash, Maas-Natur, Hessnatur, …
• Go out for a wonderful, self-healing walk in the woods and pick up some trash! Make sure you avoid other people though. This way you stay active AND clean the environment. It may not sound appealing, but it can be fun!
• Read the books you always wanted to read! Here are some of my favourite books on eco-friendly topics: Plastik Sparbuch (Smarticular), Grüne Kosmetik (Gabriela Nedoma), Trick 17 nachhaltig leben (Ina Volkmer), Besser leben ohne Plastik (Anneliese Bunk & Nadine Schubert), Ackergifte? Nein danke! (Ute Scheub), Der Ernährungskompass (Bas Kast), Plastik im Blut (Heike Schröder), …

• Read your favourite blogs! One of my favourites is Spross. I’ve teamed up with them once for a vegan challenge so go and check that out, too!
• Start eating more vegan food! My number one excuse why I’m not vegan is because I don’t have enough time to cook vegan meals every day. Now that time isn’t an excuse anymore you should give it a try! You don´t need to go 100% vegan to change something, just do your best and try.
• Stop wearing a bra, girls! You’re at home and don’t need to hide your body. In fact, you never have to hide it. Be a feminist. If you want to go braless, do it! And if you don’t, make sure you wear a fair fashion bra.

• Accept your body hair and stop shaving. Thanks to the COVID-19-pandemic you’re probably home alone, so nobody can judge you (which wouldn’t be okay even if you were out in public – just to make that clear!). It will save a lot of shaving foam and razor blades. If you’re not ready for this step, use a safety razor and soap instead of shaving foam for a more environmentally friendly alternative.
• This goes to men AND women: Start using hair soap or shampoo bars! Your hair will probably need some time to adapt to the change so now is, again, the perfect time for doing it.
• Start doing daily exercises, workouts or yoga at home! That way you save time and you don’t have to use your car to go to the gym. Get up and do it, now is the best time to start!
• Buy local products! Thousands of farmers are struggling because they can´t sell their products at farmers markets or other reasons. However, they often have a small store at their farm where they sell their goodies – so go there and buy some! A huge advantage of local food: The production often is very sustainable and because of the short transport ways a ton of CO₂ is saved!
• You want to be lazy and do nothing at all? Great, then watch some movies! There are so many great movies out there which can change your opinion on many things: The Game Changers, Plastic Planet, We feed The World, The True Cost, Food Inc., The Green Lie, etc.
  The statement of these movies will very likely help you live a more environmental friendly life in the future!
• Get more active on Pinterest! You will get lots of great ideas on how to make your everyday life more sustainable. Here are some phrases you can look up for inspiration: zero waste, vegan meals, healthy snacks, climate change, fair fashion, sustainable living, …

• Go through all your cabinets and DECLUTTER! Only keep what you really need.
• With decluttering your stuff, you will soon realize how little you actually need. Now try to maintain this mindset and live a more minimalistic life! Make it a habit to overthink everything you buy at least two or three times to decide if the product is a necessity. If not, save the money and don’t purchase it! The environment will thank you.

You have more what-do-at-home-while-quarantine-tips? Please share them in the comments!
Stay happy and healthy! Rosalie <3

I was not paid or asked to recommend any of the brands, books or movies I mentioned!