Going green is the morally right thing to do and, as it will often save you money, it is also the practical thing to do. While it may seem like you personally can’t do much to help the environment and prevent climate change, that’s far from the case. Indeed, this guide, produced by Splashdirect, is split into 3 sections to show YOU how YOU can make a real difference by doing very little with your bathroom.
1. Always Choose Recycled Products:
Worldwide 27,000 trees are cut down each day, solely for toilet paper. Choosing recycled toilet paper will drastically reduce this figure, so don’t be a prude: using recycled toilet paper isn’t disgusting, it makes sense.
Why stop there? Choose bathroom cabinets and countertops made from natural or sustainable resources, such as stone and glass.
2. Green Cleaning:
When the time comes to clean your bathroom, use non-toxic cleaning products as toxic ones are hazardous to both the environment and your health.
Rather than shelling out large amounts of money on cleaning products, consider creating your own from everyday household items. A simple solution of one quarter vinegar with three quarters water, for instance, will tackle stubborn grime and remove limescale from shower screens.
3. The Importance of Saving Water:
WaterAid reports that 768 million people don’t have access to clean water, resulting in the premature and unnecessary death of 2,000 children per day. With water being so precious, we should be doing everything we can to reduce the amount of waste.
Begin with Your Toilet:
With a family of four estimated to flush the toilet approximately 14 times per day, it is easy to see how the toilet accounts for 25% of all bathroom water usage. Your toilet should, therefore, only be reserved for flushing: NEVER be tempted to flush creepy crawlies or tissues.
To save water, upgrade to a dual flush toilet. With a dual flush toilet you have two types of flushes: a 3 litre one and a 6 litre one. The 3 litre flush will empty the cistern only halfway and is suitable for liquid waste, whereas the 6 litre flush will completely empty the cistern and will be ideal for solid waste. You don’t need to perform a complete flush each time you visit the toilet so this simple upgrade will easily help cut costs.
Use your Taps Wisely:
With the average leaking tap wasting 90 litres of water per week, and 4,680 litres per year, failure to fix a leaky tap is not only annoying but incredibly wasteful.
To save even more water, consider an aerated tap. These feature a filter which is able to mix the water with air to reduce the output without compromising on pressure.As your mother always said, “Never leave the tap running whilst brushing your teeth.” This is of the utmost importance because the average tap will release approximately 6 litres of water per minute. So if you brush your teeth for two minutes, twice a day, this will result in a waste of 24 litres per day.
Avoid Wasteful Baths:
Whilst you may be partial to your bath, showers use 40% less water, so it’s a no brainer: Always choose a shower instead of a bath.
It would, however, be unwise to completely ditch your bath because it is impossible to achieve the same state of relaxation and luxury which is synonymous with a bath; so reserve this purely for a treat.
As with taps, consider a water saving shower head which has an inbuilt aeration process. These will effectively inflate the water with air to create larger water droplets. The large droplets will provide the same water coverage, but can reduce the amount of water by up to 75%.
Paul Durkin is a full time blogger for Splashdirect where he aims to make life easier for the average person through a series of DIY tips and buyer’s guides.