Ateliers Demain en main: learn how to be autonomous

A Brussels-based foundation teaches you how to make your own daily products. Come to La Tricoterie for two hours, to be eco-friendly and save money!

Have you ever thought about making your own detergent, without any chemical additive? You probably have, but you certainly do not know how to make it, or where you can learn it. You then should come once a month to La Tricoterie, in Saint-Gilles. A Brussels-based foundation, “Demain en Main”, indeed offers you some classes to farm organic mushrooms at home as well as to make your own household products and essential oils.

“Demain en main” was launched a bit more than a year ago by Charlotte, Estelle and Méline. The foundation aims at promoting initiatives which work for a sustainable and healthy society. That is why the founders set up such workshops, in which teachers are hired and take two hours to provide the people with valuable advices.

This initiative has been being very successful so far. On 6 February, 50 persons attended the workshops. “Before we launched the foundation, many participants had already registered. All the events are fully booked three weeks in advance”, Méline said, while a person was desperately trying to get in.

“I have a book at home which explains how to make my own daily products, but I have actually never read it”, Nicolas said. “I however have always been interested in that, and the event gave me the opportunity to really learn. It is organic and you save money”, he added. Geneviève, which teaches how to make your household goods, also argues “it fosters the short circuits as well as there is no risk for your health”. She runs “Les Ateliers de Gen’” and she is used to coming here to share her skills.

Quentin and Théodore run the SmartMush foundation and are here to teach how to farm mushrooms. “People do not really know the potentials of mushrooms. It fully takes part of soil decontamination, and can also be used for medical purposes. We are therefore here to share our experience. At the end of the class, they will get the skills to farm mushrooms at home, as well as a kit to start”, Quentin said.

Before a practical training, all the participants have a theoretical class to exactly know what they use, for instance in the essential oil workshop. “I was interested in essential oil, but I did not know many of them. And I wanted to have an overall insight on how to use them and for which purpose”, Sen Rei stated.

If you fancy being eco-friendly and saving money, you should grab a drink at the bar and pop down in La Tricoterie for a couple of hours, in a relaxed atmosphere. It happens every first Monday of the month at 6.30 pm. The workshops cost EUR 15 for three hours. And if you are want to know what the other activities “Demain en main” organises (movies are also screened). Keep tuned.