Living conditions are getting worse and worse, and not so recently people have started to realize that we need to think about our planet in every aspect of our lives. It is not just about the car we drive when we get out of the house, or the recycling we are doing – we need to make our home completely eco friendly. Green furniture made of bamboo, organic cotton and leather has been popular for some time now, but the newest trend is a green bathroom. If you are not really sure what to do to change your living habits and how to renovate so that you are living green, here are a couple of things you can do to help the planet.
The Little Things
We often do not even notice how much time we actually spend in our bathroom, but if we leave out a little detour we make to the kitchen to make coffee, bathroom is the first room we go to in the morning, and the last one we visit at night. It is where we wash our hands regularly, face, brush our teeth, and put the makeup on. What we almost never think about is how much water we have actually spent while doing all these little parts of our daily routine. The best thing you can do is install low flow shower, as well as a faucet, and you are bound to spend at least 50 percent less water than before.
Important tip: never leave the water running. Every time you wash your teeth, or putting soap or a shower gel while taking a bath, put a stopper on a faucet, and at the end of the month, you will see a drastic difference on your water bill. Not only will you spend less money, you will help save water too.
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Everlasting Products
Paper towels have been a popular asset in our kitchen, as it is easier to mop something with them, and later simply throw them away. However, as people are slowly getting rid of them even for those purposes, the same should be done in our bathroom. Always chose microfiber towels that you can be used for a longer period of time, after washing them occasionally, of course. Perfect fabric for your towels is an organic cotton, or the one made of bamboo. Another thing people do is get a new toilet brush after they have used it for only a couple of times, but what they do not realize that those are almost exclusively made of plastic that requires a difficult process of recycling, and throwing them out on a daily basis actually actually destroys the Earth. Finally, when it comes to shower curtain, people go for the cheapest one made of PVC plastic that releases toxic, chemical gases, and can even smell badly. That is why you should always go for hemp, as with it you will never have problems with disgusting mold.
Image by Sheila Rich Interiors, LLC via Houzz
Careful with the Chemicals
Regularly cleaning your bathroom is of outmost importance, but you need to be careful what products you are using, as the ones that can be found in a local supermarket can damage the air quality extremely. That is why you should always reach for natural ways of approaching cleaning, for example with vinegar or lemon juice, that you can leave for half an hour on the surface that needs to be cleaned, and if you simply scrub it later, all the stains will disappear, just as they would with an expensive product.
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Flushing
It is hard to control how many times you and your family member go to toilet, and it is even harder to limit the number of flushes you do on a daily basis, as it is something that simply has to be done. If you are willing to do a couple of minor bathroom renovations to help save the planet, you can always chose to get rid of your old toilet (here is a list of the best toilets) and install the low-flow one. Another thing you can do is make sure that you are using recycled toilet paper, and also that the lid is down every time you flush, to prevent the bacteria from spreading all over your bathroom without you even noticing it.
Image by Peter S. Balsam Associates via Houzz
All these little tips will not require you to change your living habits drastically, nor will you have to spend large amounts of money on redecoration and renovation. New low-flow faucets and natural cleaning products are just minor adjustments, comparing to the effect they will have on our planet.
