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Issue Date: April 22, 2008
Bathroom: Start greening your home by conserving water
Although it's usually small, the bathroom is a water hog. Here's how to tame it and save yourself some bucks, too.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, more than half the water used in your home is used in the bathroom. Reducing that water waste is one of the tenets of green living. Here are some tips for meeting that goal -- and other ways of making your bathroom green.
Install water-saving toilets.
"If you have older toilets, replacing them with 1.6-gallon 'low-flow' toilets is a huge savings, compared with the 5 gallons per flush (gpf) for older models," says Willem Maas, founder of GreenHomeGuide.com (you can find your gpf on the toilet bowl, near the seat hinge). "We did a case study with a family in Atlanta who put in a low-flow 1.6-gallon toilet and a low-flow showerhead and saved $150 a month on their water bill." Maas says you can find a good water-saving toilet for between $300 and $500. TY's Take:
Make sure you set your toilet to the lowest amount of water possible so you're not wasting any, and fix any plumbing problems in the bathroom so you don't have constant leaks or drips.
Opt out of a bath.
Showers usually use about half as much hot water as baths. So if you can, clean yourself standing up.
Shorter showers can save gallons.
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Shave time off your showers.
Making yourself aware of how long you've been in the shower can make a difference of several dozen gallons of water (old showerheads can use 5 gallons per minute or more).
Fool the toilet.
If installing a new low-flow toilet isn't in your budget, Eric Corey Freed, author of "Green Building & Remodeling for Dummies" and principal at the firm Organic Architect, suggests the old-school method of saving water: "Fill up a 2-liter soda bottle with water and put it in your toilet tank. It displaces 2 liters of water, which means you save 2 liters every time you flush."
Dry off with bamboo towels.
"They can be incredibly soft and luxurious," says interior designer Thom Filicia, host of Style Network's Dress My Nest. Bamboo requires no pesticides, and it's super-absorbent. It's also naturally antibacterial. Use towels made of eco-friendly materials.
Aerate your water.
Aerated faucets and showerheads mix water with air, reducing your water usage by as much as 70%. "The technology has greatly improved over the past few years, and you get the pressure you want," says David Gottfried, co-founder of the U.S. Green Building Council and founder of the firm WorldBuild.
Let your foot do the washing.
Pedal-controlled faucets allow you to turn the water on and off with your foot, so you don't waste water as you lather your hands or brush your teeth. "I find the automated faucets in public restrooms don't ever work -- but the foot pedal works really well," Freed says. "Plus, kids love them."
Flush with recycled water.
We flush with water that's clean enough to drink -- but do we really need that? Environmentalists say no. Install a simple, under-the-sink graywater box, which channels the soapy water you used to wash your hands to the toilet (after filtering and disinfecting it). These are available as kits (Aqus WaterSaver Technologies runs about $200), or you can have a more formal system installed during a bathroom renovation.
Hang an all-natural shower curtain.
"To avoid those toxic vinyl shower curtains, use a hemp or cotton shower curtain," Filicia says. "This also reduces the accumulation of mildew."
BONUS TIP from "Real Simple's" Kristin Van Ogtrop
"There are some easy things you can do on a daily basis to help the environment," says Real Simple magazine's Kristin van Ogtrop. "Use organic cotton towels and bathmats and organic bath soaps, face creams and other products. Avalon Organics and Juice Beauty are two great brands."
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