5 Tips for Greening Your Bathroom
National Geographic

The other day we posted some easy bathroom fixes. And, in fact, the bathroom's an ideal spot for starting, or tweaking, your eco-friendly life. Here are five easy tips from National Geographic's new True Green Home book for practicing conservation in the smallest room in the house...

Sink or Swim: Even after you've fixed your dripping faucet, practice water conservation by not letting the water run while you do common activities like brushing your teeth, shaving or washing your face. Instead, fill a basin with water and use it.
Flushed Away: You've heard the saying, "if it's yellow, let it mellow..." That's one way to save water. Another is to put a toilet dam or plastic bottle in the tank to reduce the amount of water used in each flush. Check if your toilet has a leak by dropping a little food coloring in the tank. If it shows up in the toilet bowl, call in your plumber to fix the problem.
Reading Material: You're already using recycled toilet paper, right? If you are (and you'd be surprised how many people aren't) take it one step further and switch to single ply.
Light Showers: What's better than a shower after a workout? Don't swap all the good you're doing your body by being bad to the planet. Use a timer to cut your shower time; take a military shower (lather up and only turn on the water to rinse off); swap out your old showerhead for one that's energy efficient; collect the gray water to use to water your plants; switch to cooler showers and install a thermostat to keep your hot water temperature down so that you don't have to waste cold water.
Picking up the Steam: If you don't have a window in your bathroom to let out the humidity after a shower, a fan is a great way to keep mold and mildew at bay. Make sure you use one that is energy efficient. Choose one that's not connected to the light switch, so they turn on when the air temperature rises rather than when someone turns on the light. And don't forget to clean the fan's filter once a month to make sure it's running at peak performance.

To purchase the book and find more easy tips for greening your home, click here.

What about you? What tips have you learned that you can you share with us? Let us know in the comments.

[image: Living, etc.]

Comments (8)

i put my watering can on my window sill to collect water while i'm waiting for hot water in my kitchen but i haven't thought of collecting shower water. i guess you would put a bucket beside you while showering? any other ideas?

I'm blind without my glasses so I don't think I'd put cactus so close to the shower, where my fumbling could mean disaster. Still, I like the idea, esp. in those bathrooms that have that one tiny window up high...

Amen, jrboitel! :)

Low flow shower head. Very easy installation & not expensive. Use baking soda & vinegar to clean i/o chemicals. Shower less frequently- bird bath wash instead.

Check to see if you can buy shampoo and shower gel from the bulk section of your grocery store (bringing in the same reusable bottles to hold the product). Cuts down on all the plastic bottles that cycle through your shower each year.

Switch to bath products with natural ingredients (such that fish and other aquatic life might have a prayer at metabolizing your shampoo without harm once it passes through the treatment plant and into their river). I'm currently trying to switch to a more natural shower gel and like Dr. Bronner's so far.

BTW - a really good low-flow showerhead is Delta's H2OKinetic showerhead ($25-30). Highly rated on Amazon (we love ours too), it drenches you with water (doesn't seem like a low-flow but it is). Works great.

Switch to solid shampoo/conditioner and soap instead of shower gel to cut down on packaging, water use during production (hopefully!), weight of goods to be transported.

If you have a shower over the bath, put the plug in the bath, have a military style shower, then use the water in the bath to bucket-flush the toilet (raise the toilet lid & seat, pour half to whole bucket of water straight down). This cuts your total water usage unbelievably!

FoodieGreenie, I was about to say exactly the same thing - if you're using shower gel, it's using a lot of oil to transport all that water, even if you re-fill your plastic bottles.