A Guide to Going Green in Your Bathroom with Eco-friendly Tips
If you’re like many of the homeowners around the country, then odds are you are becoming more and more aware of the environment and your impact on it. As such, odds are good you’re looking for ways to live a greener lifestyle.
One of the best places to start going green is the bathroom, which is one of the most wasteful rooms in the home in terms of energy and water. The following is a guide to help you design a more environmentally friendly bathroom for your home:
Toilet
Toilets tend to be extremely bad offenders when it comes to wasting water. In fact, 30 percent of the water use in most households comes from toilet use.
You should consider investing in a low-flow toilet in order to save roughly 9,000 gallons of water per year. Another option is to install a dual-flush toilet.
A dual-flush toilet provides two handles, which allow you to flush two different levels of water – one for solids and one for liquids.
Showerhead
Making sure that you use a low-flow showerhead is integral to saving thousands of gallons of water every year. Basically, a low-flow showerhead will help to restrict a heavier flow of water, thereby reducing how much water you are using in comparison to more typical showerheads.
Don’t worry about performance either – low-flow showerheads perform just as well as more typical showerheads, even while conserving that much more water.
Faucets
Just like the showerhead and the toilet, you should install low-flow faucets in order to reduce the amount of water you are using – even if using it the same amount of time as typical faucets.
Countertops
When it comes to installing a countertop into your bathroom, you’re going to find that you have a ton of options.
Two great options for an eco-friendly countertop include recycled countertops and salvaged countertops.
Recycled countertops are often made from biological composites such as soy flour and recovered newspaper but are made to look like granite, glass or stone. Installing a salvaged countertop is a great way to ensure a unique look to the bathroom while still maintaining a green design.
Flooring
Just like with countertops, there are a lot of flooring options to choose from. You’ll want something that is durable, resistant to water and heat, and that offers a decent grip so that you won’t slip.
You may want to look for recycled ceramic tiles or stone – or if you’re looking for something truly unique, go with bamboo or cork.
Bamboo is actually grass that grows incredibly fast, which means that it comes from a renewable source. It’s also quite sturdy and beautiful – although it will need to be sealed in order to be resistant to liquid and heat.
Cork is similar in that it is a sustainable material with a gorgeous aesthetic. Cork is also naturally soft to the touch while still being quite durable, making it a great option for the bathroom.
When purchasing flooring materials from a manufacturer, be sure to look for eco-friendly certification.
Energy-efficient Lighting
Use LED lights instead of more common compact fluorescent light bulbs. LED lights not only last much longer, they also use way less energy and give off no heat (unlike more traditional light bulbs).
While they are slightly more expensive in terms of their initial costs, the amount of energy you save over the long term will be reflected in your energy bills.
Bathroom Accessories
There are a number of eco-friendly accessories that can be picked up for the bathroom. For example, you may want to look for a more environmentally friendly shower curtain that was made without the use of plastic and potentially harmful chemicals, such as a shower curtain made from hemp.
You should also look for eco-friendly cleaning supplies and soaps that have eco-friendly certification. Typical cleaners often use any number of chemicals that could be harmful to your health and the environment.
Other accessories you should keep an eye out for include eco-friendly bathmats and towels.
Have a Sustainable Bathroom with a Greener Lifestyle
Even if you use all of these tips in order to design a more environmentally friendly bathroom, it is still up to you to live a greener lifestyle in the way you use it. The following are a few tips to help you use your bathroom in a more environmentally responsible manner and help you to going green.
Don’t Use Your Toilet For Trash
A standard toilet wastes around 5-7 gallons of water per flush. So don’t throw away the trash, like a used tissue, into the toilet. Use the wastebasket instead.
Take Shorter Showers
Standard showerheads use up to around 2.5 gallons of water per minute. This means that a ten-minute shower can waste up to 25 gallons of water. Try to cut down on how long you take your shower. Remember that you are wasting energy heating up the water for your shower as well.
Don’t Let The Faucet Run
When shaving or brushing your teeth, be sure to turn the faucet off. Only turn it on when you are rinsing your mouth or your razor.
Keep an Eye Out For Leaks
Even the smallest faucet leak can waste hundreds of gallons every year. Any leaks that you spot should be fixed at once.
Use this guide in order to design a more sustainable bathroom and to live a greener lifestyle.
Start Going Green Today
Contact Morgan Contractors to get help. We offer residential and commercial home renovations and improvements to both interiors and exteriors. Let us discuss what we can do for you.
