Photograph by YlinPhoto/Shutterstock.com
Not all toilets are alike. High-efficiency models are designed to save
significant amounts of water.
Bathroom Basics
The Taming of the Loo: Five easy tips for practicing conservation in your bathroom, from National Geographic's True Green Home book.
Sink
or Swim:
Don’t let the faucet run, wasting our most precious resource, as part of your family’s daily bathroom routine. Embrace the drain stop and use your sink as it was intended, by pouring in some water to wash your hands and face or to shave. Don’t run the faucet when brushing your teeth—use a cup of water instead. Any of these simple ideas can save as much as one gallon of water a minute. Check that your drain stop is actually keeping water in the basin, as a leaky plug equals water wasted.
Flushed Away:
Toilet flushing is responsible for about 30 percent of all water used by the average American household, which means that almost 44,000 gallons of quality water is flushed away per family every year. Upgrade to a high-efficiency or WaterSense-labeled toilets; without one, your single-flush unit can use 3.5 to 7 gallons in one flush, compared to a high-efficiency unit’s 1.3 gallons or less. Check with your local government—you might even be able to switch to a waterless composting toilet. If you’re stuck with your old model, place an inexpensive toilet dam (available from your hardware store) in the cistern to reduce the amount of water in each flush, or fill an empty soda bottle and place that in the cistern. Silent leaks can waste up to 200 gallons a day: drop a little food coloring into your tank and wait 15 minutes—if the color turns up in the toilet bowl, call your plumber.
Reading Material:
That two-ply designer toilet paper is indeed an expensive luxury. Amazingly, every ton of paper recycled saves 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, 4,000 kilowatts of electricity, 3 cubic yards of landfill and 7,000 gallons of water. But recycled toilet paper makes up only 2 percent share of the American market—much of the rest is made from plantation-grown or native forest trees. Make the switch to environmentally friendly toilet paper that is unbleached, chlorine-free and, if possible, 100 percent recycled.
Light Showers:
Showers are the biggest resource-guzzlers in the home, but you can reduce this just by spending less time in the shower and using a timer. Replacing your old showerhead with a WaterSense-labeled or energy-efficient model can save you almost 3 gallons of water a minute. Take advantage of rebates and offers provided by your local government or water authority to make the switch. If one out of every 100 U.S. homes was retrofitted with water-efficient fixtures, we could avoid 80,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions a year. Keep a bucket handy to collect gray water for use in the garden. Install a thermostat that keeps hot water at a usable temperature so no cold water is wasted.
Picking up the Steam:
It is essential to have an exhaust fan in your bathroom to reduce mold and other harmful contaminants, but that’s no reason to forget the fan’s negative environmental impact. Choose energy-saving exhaust fans that are thermostatically controlled and not connected to the light switch, so they turn on when the air temperature rises rather than when someone turns on the light. Clean the fan’s filter once a month to ensure that it runs efficiently.
Get more tips on making your bathroom more efficient in True Green Home, a National Geographic book. Buy True Green Home now.
Don’t let the faucet run, wasting our most precious resource, as part of your family’s daily bathroom routine. Embrace the drain stop and use your sink as it was intended, by pouring in some water to wash your hands and face or to shave. Don’t run the faucet when brushing your teeth—use a cup of water instead. Any of these simple ideas can save as much as one gallon of water a minute. Check that your drain stop is actually keeping water in the basin, as a leaky plug equals water wasted.
Flushed Away:
Toilet flushing is responsible for about 30 percent of all water used by the average American household, which means that almost 44,000 gallons of quality water is flushed away per family every year. Upgrade to a high-efficiency or WaterSense-labeled toilets; without one, your single-flush unit can use 3.5 to 7 gallons in one flush, compared to a high-efficiency unit’s 1.3 gallons or less. Check with your local government—you might even be able to switch to a waterless composting toilet. If you’re stuck with your old model, place an inexpensive toilet dam (available from your hardware store) in the cistern to reduce the amount of water in each flush, or fill an empty soda bottle and place that in the cistern. Silent leaks can waste up to 200 gallons a day: drop a little food coloring into your tank and wait 15 minutes—if the color turns up in the toilet bowl, call your plumber.
Reading Material:
That two-ply designer toilet paper is indeed an expensive luxury. Amazingly, every ton of paper recycled saves 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, 4,000 kilowatts of electricity, 3 cubic yards of landfill and 7,000 gallons of water. But recycled toilet paper makes up only 2 percent share of the American market—much of the rest is made from plantation-grown or native forest trees. Make the switch to environmentally friendly toilet paper that is unbleached, chlorine-free and, if possible, 100 percent recycled.
Light Showers:
Showers are the biggest resource-guzzlers in the home, but you can reduce this just by spending less time in the shower and using a timer. Replacing your old showerhead with a WaterSense-labeled or energy-efficient model can save you almost 3 gallons of water a minute. Take advantage of rebates and offers provided by your local government or water authority to make the switch. If one out of every 100 U.S. homes was retrofitted with water-efficient fixtures, we could avoid 80,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions a year. Keep a bucket handy to collect gray water for use in the garden. Install a thermostat that keeps hot water at a usable temperature so no cold water is wasted.
Picking up the Steam:
It is essential to have an exhaust fan in your bathroom to reduce mold and other harmful contaminants, but that’s no reason to forget the fan’s negative environmental impact. Choose energy-saving exhaust fans that are thermostatically controlled and not connected to the light switch, so they turn on when the air temperature rises rather than when someone turns on the light. Clean the fan’s filter once a month to ensure that it runs efficiently.
Get more tips on making your bathroom more efficient in True Green Home, a National Geographic book. Buy True Green Home now.
Whether you're purchasing, renovating, or just
trying to maintain your current home, True Green Home is the perfect go-green guide. This
inspired reference provides 100 simple yet potent ways to incorporate environmentally friendly
living—inside and outside of your home.
