bathroom – Eco Home Ideas

Create An Eco-Friendly Bathroom By Following These 3 Tips

The bathroom is one of those places that, unless you are using it right now, you don’t think about too much. But that doesn’t mean that it can’t have a huge impact on the environment. Everybody uses the bathroom, all of our homes have one, and we use it multiple times during the day. If you can make small changes to make your bathroom greener, you can significantly reduce your environmental impact, without changing your lifestyle at all. Here are some tips to have an eco-friendly bathroom.

1. Low-flow toilets

Toilets use up a lot of water. Clean, drinkable water that is getting wasted daily, unless you do something to conserve it. In fact, almost 30% of all water consumption in your house is done by your toilet, that’s a significant portion. Some old toilets use up to 7 gallons of water per flush, way more than it’s actually necessary to get rid of the waste. If you already have a low-flow toilet, you can install a dual flusher that will give you the choice for “liquid waste” and “solid waste”, in order to use just the right amount of water per flush. If you have an old toilet but can’t afford to buy a new one just now, you can do a temporary fix. Fill up an empty water bottle with pebbles and leave it inside the tank to displace some of the water. That way, the tank will fill up with less water and it will be less wasteful. If you are worried about low-flow toilets not being as “powerful”, put a trash can in your bathroom and throw away paper, feminine hygiene products, floss and other trash that you would usually flush. Find a trash can with a lid and empty it regularly, so you don’t have “smell” problems.

2. Low-flow shower heads

We should all strive to cut down on our shower time. Ten minutes is more than enough to get clean, anyway. However, some days we all want to linger a bit and relax. This is why low-flow shower heads can be such life-savers. They will cut down your shower’s water consumption to 2.5 gallons per minute, as opposed to 5-8 gallons that normal shower heads consume. That is a significant change, and it will save you money as well.

3. Sustainable bathroom products

Shampoos, conditioners, body lotions and other similar products can end up contaminating the water sources, filling up landfills or contributing to animal suffering. Strive to buy all-natural and sustainable products in recyclable packaging. Check out vegan and cruelty-free brands. Switching toothpaste brands will make almost no difference in your life, but it can really have a huge impact on the environment.

Turn Your Bathroom Into Your Favorite Place In The World

When I’m at home, my bathroom is my sanctuary. I go there to clean and groom myself, to relax, to think and maybe play a little Angry Birds on my phone, (don’t judge.) The important thing is, you probably start and end your day in your bathroom, so it makes sense to try to make it as cozy and pretty as possible.

1. Read your To-Do list while brushing your teeth

Or while doing your make up and hair. Organize your day and go over your tasks just as you are waking up with a little dry-erase board for your bathroom counter. If you are confused about where to buy a tiny dry-erase board, you can make one with a photograph frame, a white sheet of paper and, of course, a dry-erase marker.

2. Make your shower feel bigger with a curved curtain bar

Showers are the actual best thing, it’s the one moment of your day when you can relax and let your thoughts wander while the hot water soothes your muscles. And they would be infinitely more relaxing if they were not as tiny and cramped as they usually are. The good news is that you don’t have to rear your bathroom down to enjoy a roomier shower. All you need is a curved curtain bar, that you can get for less than $20.

3. Ditch your big plastic bottles

If you are anything like me, your bathtub or shower is basically a graveyard for half-empty plastic bottles for shampoo, conditioning, lotion, bubble bath, body wash and more assorted goo. But this not only takes up a lot of space, it looks ugly and cramped too. To solve this, take your Starbucks frappuchino glass bottles, clean them out well and reuse them to store “portion sizes” of your bathroom products. You can keep your big bottles out of sight under the sink and your bathtub or shower will look cute and cleaner, which will put you in a great mood.

4. Bring a tiny spa inside your bathroom

This is one of those things that look super expensive and actually cost nothing. For a spa-like experience, reinvent your bathroom mat with ocean stones. All you need is a common rubber mat (with holes in it, to drain water), water-resistant glue and a lot of soft, round (and relatively flat) stones, like the ones you find on the beach. Glue them to your mat and feel the relaxing sensation of walking barefoot on the beach every time you get in or out of the shower.

5. Move your shower caddies under the sink

The shower is not the only place in your bathroom that needs organizing. And the cabinets under the sink are usually pure chaos. Get a couple of shower caddies and secure them to the walls, and you will always be able to find that one bottle you need.