6 tips for a DWARSe quarantine period

With schools and hospitality closed, the next few weeks are all about sitting at home for almost everyone. A lot of sitting at home. While it may sometimes be quite difficult that the whole social life comes to a halt, there are also plenty of ways to look at a few weeks of quarantine in a positive way: finally there is time to learn, make or read something new. To get you started, here's a list of six ideas to pass your time at home in a DWARSe way.

1. Make your own toothpaste

Now that half the country is hoarding, more and more shelves in shops are getting empty. So you might soon have to spend hours looking for the most sought-after products. But... Instead of scouring all the shops looking for toothpaste, you can just make it yourself!

With a tablespoon of boiled water, three spoons of baking soda and five drops of peppermint oil, you already make a cleansing and refreshing toothpaste. The big advantage of this, of course, is that you are left with much less waste. So making your own is not only fun, but it is also better for the planet. On the site of the Zero Waste Project ( https://www.hetzerowasteproject.nl/ ), you will find not only lots of tips for living without waste, but also lots of fun ‘do it yourself’ projects: from toothpaste to shampoo and from lip balm to tapas dishes. You'll spend a few hours on those.

2. Map the world

During this crisis, it is important to have good maps of (developing) countries. With these, doctors can keep track of how the virus is spreading in a country and are better able to provide appropriate help. To create these maps, your help could come in handy. From the comfort of your own, safe, virus-free home, you can join in on the Missing Maps project and map a piece of the world. Who knows, maybe our DWARS mapathon from a few weeks ago is now saving lives in the Philippines. Want to know more about how this works? Then take a look at the project's site ( https://www.missingmaps.org/ ) or read the editorial that appeared on the subject a few weeks ago ( https://dwars.org/groningen/2020/01/26/missing-maps/ ).

3. Read a book

Now that you cannot go out into the wide world by yourself, you had better bring this world inside. Fortunately, countless novels have been written that can bring our and many other worlds to life in your mind. Maybe you still have a list somewhere of books you always wanted to read, but never had the time. Now is the time. Of course, there are many other types of books you can read besides novels: for instance, look for a biography of your hero or anti-hero, delve into an interesting scientific book or into left-wing thought.

4. Learn a new (sign) language

Yes, why not? Learning to speak a new language fluently in a few weeks might be a bit over the top, but you can always make a start. Just by wishing someone a happy day in Arabic (اتمنى لك يوم جميل), Spanish (Tengan un buen día) or Chinese (祝你今天愉快), you can already see a smile emerge in a lot of people. Or, following Like's story during the DWARSe talk, learn the basics of sign language!

5. Recycle the fabric in your wardrobe

There are probably a lot of clothes hanging in your wardrobe that you never wear anymore and are really just taking up space. Perhaps with the onset of spring, the urge to tidy up has already surfaced in you. And when would be a better time to unleash this cleaning urge on your clothes than when you're forced to sit at home for the majority of the day anyway?

Throw all your clothes in a big pile and only hang back what you really wear often. The clothes left over now don't have to be thrown away. You can, of course, take your old clothes to a thrift shop. Also, organising a clothes swap with your friends (in a few weeks then...) is great fun and might even get you some new ones yourself. Are there any holes or stains in your old clothes that will make someone else unhappy? Then fortunately you can still reuse the fabric! Get behind your sewing machine or grab a needle and thread, look up a step-by-step plan on the internet and in no time you will have new bags and pouches to store your groceries and fruit.

6. Netflix together, but alone

Now when you have grown a little tired after a long day of homemade toothpaste, out-of-print books and overturned wardrobes, it can be great to snuggle up on the sofa with your favourite series. But what if you were watching a series with your group of friends, but now suddenly can't? Fortunately, Netflix has a solution for this: the so-called Netflix Party. Allows you to watch Netflix together with a friend(s) group. You watch at the same time and can chat with each other in the meantime. If you're tired of the countless series you've watched now, there are also a lot of interesting documentaries on the streaming service. Then you'll probably get through the next few days.

By Vera Appelo