You shower, wash your hands, and flush the toilet several times throughout the day. In addition to these regular activities, you clean your bathroom. Then, you repeat. While these activities are necessary to maintain good hygiene and keep germs at bay, they could cost you plenty of money and leave a huge carbon footprint on the environment. No, you don’t have to stop your routine, but there is a way to continue it without breaking the bank or dumping toxins into the environment. One way to do it is to create an eco-friendly bathroom.
How to Make Your Bathroom Sustainable
Why make your bathroom eco-friendly? One of the most important reasons why is that you can improve the environment. This is the top reason why many choose to create a sustainable bathroom. Another good reason is economic benefits. Making your bathroom more sustainable can lower the cost of your water and electric bills. Another financial benefit is better resale value when you sell your home. A mid-grade bathroom remodel may recoup about a 58.9% return on investment. However, bathrooms with energy-efficient upgrades may increase these returns. Check out some of these ways to make your bathroom green.
Install an Eco-Friendly Toilet
One of the biggest wastes in your bathroom will likely come from the toilet. Flushing traditional toilets can lose upwards of six gallons of water per flush. And if your toilet keeps running, this could cause water loss and generate an unusually high water bill. Additionally, leaky toilets can cause loss.
Installing an eco-friendly toilet can help cut down on water waste. A low-flow toilet, such as those with a WaterSense label, only uses about 1.6 gallons of water per flush. Such toilets can save upwards of $2900 over the lifetime of the toilet. This is better for the environment and your bank account.
Replace Light Bulbs
Lighting is an essential part of any bathroom. Not only is it necessary for safely navigating the space, but it is useful when grooming. Since this light is used frequently, it is a good idea to incorporate LED bulbs like Shinestar LED bulbs for a vanity mirror. LED bulbs help save money and provide various lighting outputs for your space. For your bathroom, choosing a lightbulb output of about 7,000 to 8,000 lumens is ideal.
Install a Low-Flow Showerhead
Since water loss is a significant source of energy waste in the bathroom, it is ideal for installing fixtures that reduce water use. Besides a low-flow toilet, you can also install a low-flow shower. You can choose a simple shower head like the Waterpik Shower Head or a more complex shower station like the Pulse Showerspas.
Low-flow showerheads come in both aerating and laminar types. Aerating showerheads use water mist to help reduce water flow, while laminar showerheads trickle water out in streams. The low pressure uses less water, which can help reduce water bills.
Install Energy Star Water Heater
Water is an essential part of the bathroom. A great way to keep it at a comfortable temperature without using up too much energy is to get an Energy Star water heater. Such water heaters can save upwards of $3500 over the unit’s lifetime.
Decorate with Natural Materials
When remodeling or decorating your bathroom, keep natural elements in mind. Incorporating such elements into your bathroom helps make it sustainable and creates a tranquil environment in your bathroom. If you want to integrate natural materials using decor, consider including woven baskets, sealed wood, and natural fiber rugs, such as jute or sisal. For shower curtains, consider incorporating ones made of hemp, cotton, or linen.
If you plan to make permanent changes to your bathroom, consider including natural bathroom flooring such as natural stone, cork, or linoleum.
Add Plants
You may place plants in other areas of your house, but it is a good idea to consider putting some in your bathroom. One reason is the aesthetic beauty that plants bring. If you want to create a cozy, spa-like tone in your bathroom, a plant will give it the perfect touch.
Another reason you’ll want to add a plant is that it helps absorb some of the humidity in your bathroom. Therefore, you won’t have to rely on using your ventilation fan as much. One more great reason to consider adding plants to your bathroom is to reduce the amount of toxins. This will keep you from using as many toxic chemicals to clean your bathroom.
A few great bathroom plants include the following:
- Lucky Bamboo
- Spider Plants
- Orchids
- English Ivy
- Peace Lily
Use Eco-Friendly Products
One more thing you can do to ensure you have a fully sustainable bathroom is to use less harsh products on the environment. You can do this by replacing your non-eco-friendly products with less toxic ones.
Soap
Soap is one of the top products you’ll use consistently in the bathroom. Choosing an environmentally friendly soap is not only good for the environment but will also be good for your skin and hair. A good option for your body is Dr. Bronner’s Pure Castile Soap. If you want a sustainable shampoo and conditioner, consider getting products from Acure or Ingreendients. If you prefer bar shampoos to liquids, another option is Kitsch Rice Water.
Sustainable Toilet Paper
With all the daily flushing, you send loads of paper back into the environment from your tissue. An excellent way to ensure you’re not leaving too much of a carbon footprint is to use eco-friendly toilet paper such as Seventh Generation or Nature’s Greatest Bamboo toilet paper. Sustainable toilet paper uses less trees and produces less solid waste.
Eco-Friendly Cleaning Products
Replacing your toxic cleaning products with eco-friendly ones is a good idea, depending on what you need to clean in the bathroom. Cleaning the bathroom is critical for controlling disease and controlling germs and bacteria. However, many traditional bathroom cleaning products can be terrible for the environment. To minimize your carbon footprint, consider switching to cleaning products that aren’t toxic.
- Toilet Bowl Cleaner: Ecover Toilet Bowl Cleaner
- Glass Cleaner: Seventh Generation Glass Cleaner
- General Purpose Cleaner: ECOS All Purpose Cleaner
Additional Considerations
These are just a few ways that any homeowner can make their home more sustainable. Here are a few more honorable mentions for an eco-friendly bathroom you may want to include.
Windows
Not every bathroom has a window in it. But if your bathroom does, this could be a positive or a negative. On the one hand, you can welcome sunlight and fresh air by opening the window anytime. On the other hand, if the windows aren’t high-quality, this could be a source of losing energy. Replacing your window with Energy Star windows or even windows ideal for bathrooms, such as casement windows, could drastically reduce energy loss.
Ventilation Fans
If you have a ventilation fan in your bathroom, this could be using plenty of energy each time you use it. To save money while eliminating moisture in your bathroom, you can invest in an Energy Star ventilation fan. Such ventilation systems produce less noise, use 50% less energy, and last longer than traditional systems.
Heated Floors
If you want to save money on using your forced air heating system, you can install heated flooring to warm up your bathroom tile or wood floors. Heated floors, more commonly known as radiant floor heating, can be 30% more efficient than traditional HVAC, from heated flooring to warming up your bathroom.
