We promise that we are not about to tell you to get an outdoor tent and start taking the bathroom back to where it belongs! However, from the appliances we use to the products we keep to how we pay attention to what we’re doing in the bathroom, it’s a place in our home where most of us could stand to be more green. Here are some tips on places to look to eco-friendly-up your bathroom! Your Appliances: There are a number of ways that changing up elements of your appliances can make your bathroom more eco-friendly. For starters, install a low-flow shower head and a faucet aerator. Both of those items will save water by restricting water flow and both are easy to install and found at your local hardware store. And we promise that after a few days, you won’t miss the old, intense water pressure (just don’t buy the cheapest model if water pressure is a concern to you).
Making sure you’ve repaired any leaks in the bathroom is also key. A faucet that drips once every second wastes 3,154 GALLONS of water a year. If you’re not sure if your toilet is leaking (it’s not as easy to tell as with a sink or shower), drop some food coloring into the bowl. If the food coloring is still there twenty minutes later, there’s a leak!
If you’ve got the budget, and your toilet was made before 1994, invest in the upgrade. Toilets made before 1994 use two to seven times more water than modern toilets do. Who knew?
Energy and Water Usage: The bathroom is a place we most of us stop thinking “conservation” the moment that we walk in. However, being aware of taking reasonably timed showers, not running the faucet in between tasks, turning the lights off, the air conditioner off and the ceiling or venting fan off when not in use can all save energy (and energy bill dollars). The bathroom uses more energy and water resources than any room other than the kitchen (unless you have an indoor pool!). Be aware and conserve! Before long, it will be second nature.
Your Bath Products: Switching to eco-friendly, natural and organic bath, make-up and personal care products is one of the easiest switches that you can do to make your bathroom a more green friendly place. Particularly in the case of make-up, you’d be shocked about the harmful chemicals that go into make-up and nail polish. We have a variety of natural bath and beauty products that we recommend on TGB, but in just about any store these days you can find natural alternatives to the chemical products we’re used to using. Just be sure to read the labels! Not everything that says “natural” is really natural!
Your Bath Accessories: It’s a little harder to find postconsumer or natural fiber bath accessories like shower curtains, carpets or, for that matter, towels, but they are out there. With a little effort, even the décor in your bathroom can be eco-friendly!
Your Bathroom Cleaners: Finally, we all hate cleaning the bathroom, but we can hate it just a little less by knowing that we’re not harming the planet by pouring tons of harmful chemicals literally down the drain. These days, there are plenty of natural and chemical-free cleaners out there to fill up and clean your bathroom with. And yes, they clean just as well. It’s just that we’re conditioned to think that if it doesn’t smell like bleach, it isn’t clean. We like the products from Seventh Generation and Fresh and Natural, but there are many alternatives out there.
There you go! The bathroom may be the smallest room in the house, but the possibilities for making it one of the most environmentally friendly rooms in the house are really big!
