How To Create an Eco-Friendly Bathroom

There are several steps homeowners can take to create a more eco-friendly bathroom. Whether you're tired of paying an astronomical amount for your monthly utilities, want to lessen your home's impact on the environment, set a good example for your children, or a combination of all the above, you can easily do so with minimal work. The truth is that 'going green' in the bathroom is easier than most people realize. For some helpful tips and tricks on how to create a more eco-friendly bathroom, keep reading.

Replace Your Toilet With a Low-Flow Model

Did you know that nearly 1/3 of a typical home's water usage comes from the toilet? All of that water is being flushed right down the toilet and into the septic tank or local sewer system. Rather than wasting an unnecessary amount of water through your toilet, you should upgrade to a low-flow model. Just as the name suggests, low-flow models are designed with a focus on efficiency. They work just as well as standard models but use a fraction of the water.

And even if you don't want to purchase and/or install a completely new toilet for your bathroom, you can always opt for a water-efficiency add-on device. These devices control the amount of water flowing through your toilet, allowing homeowners to choose their own settings. For the price, there's no easier or more effective way to reduce your home's water usage than by installing one of these add-on devices.

Switch To Energy-Efficient Lighting

We can't talk about ways to create a more eco-friendly bathroom without mentioning lighting. Most homeowners use incandescent bulbs to illuminate their bathroom simply because they are the cheapest. You can oftentimes find them for about $0.50 cents a piece, which is far less than other bulb types. Unfortunately, however, they draw more energy and die faster than the rest, making them a poor choice if you're trying to create an eco-friendly bathroom.

So, what are some better lighting solutions for the bathroom? Compact florescent lighting (CFL) is an eco-friendly alternative that's becoming more and more popular. It lasts nearly twice as long and incandescent while drawing significantly less power. And best of all, they screw directly into fixtures that are designed for incandescent bulbs. Light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs are another alternative, but the downside to using them is that you'll have to purchase new fixtures.

Low-Flow Shower Head

Of course, installing a low-flow shower head in your bathroom will also reduce your home's overall water usage. Some of the older model homes built in the 80s can use as much as 7 gallons of water per minute! And when you consider the fact that most people take 10-minute (or longer) showers, you can see just how much water is going down the drain! Thankfully, low-flow shower heads are designed to use 2.5-3 gallons of water per minute, which is far less than its counterpart. You won't have the same high-pressure stream of water beating down on you, but the reduced energy usage makes it well worth it in the end.

Share your ideas on what you want to add in a Eco-Friendly Bathroom?