Green Bathroom Remodel Tips
How to Renovate Your Washroom and Help Save the Environment
May 27, 2009
Renovating the bathroom is one of the best ways to add value and functionality to any home. As far as Mother Earth is concerned, too, there's plenty of room for improvement in most bathrooms. The following earth-friendly tips can help you get the most out of a green bathroom remodel.
Low Flow Showers
There are almost too many choices in showerheads, and they're all more or less the same. But wait! A low flow showerhead can reduce water use by up to 50%, which not only helps the environment, it saves money on water and heating costs. When hot water alone can account for as much as 25% of your heating bill, that's a substantial savings.
Low flow showers can be inexpensive to install and with a good low flow showerhead it's hard to notice a difference between that and a normal, water-guzzling shower. For additional savings, make sure that your shower and sink faucets are properly installed to avoid water waste or damage from leaks and drips.
Dual-Flush Toilets
The toilet is one of the biggest wastes of water in the entire house – but that can easily be remedied with a low-flow or a dual-flush toilet.
- Low-flow toilets have smaller tanks to use as little water as necessary with each flush.
- Dual-flush toilets have two flush options that enable users to flush with less or more water, as needed, saving gallons of water every day. These toilets are much more common in Europe but are beginning to be seen in North America as well.
A low-flow or a dual-flush toilet can save huge amounts of water over the course of a few months.
Sustainable Materials
One of the decisions that must be made in remodeling the bathroom is choosing materials for the sink, counters, bathtub, floors, walls and more. Some of these have high environmental costs, while others are sustainable – they are easy to produce at very low cost in pesticides, pollution, waste, or in energy drain on the land.
Renewal natural fibers and construction materials include:
- Bamboo
- Cork
- Wheat board
- Eucalyptus wood
- Local stone
Other sustainable resources include recycled materials like:
- Richlite (made from recycled paper)
- Marmoleum (linoleum made from linseed oil)
- Icestone (made from concrete and recycled glass chips)
- EnviroGLAS (recycled glass)
VOC-Free Paint
Paint and wallpaper and usually among the last additions to a renovated room, but it's a good idea to plan ahead as you design the bathroom remodel – not only in picking out colors, but the type of paint. Normal paints and finishes contain Volatile Organic Chemicals or "VOCs" – chemicals that smell awful, pollute the air, and contribute to headaches, fatigue, allergies, and toxic reactions for people who are exposed to them.
Most paint brands, fortunately, offer a line of VOC-free paint that contains minimal amounts or none of these harmful chemicals. VOC-free paint and other materials can make a huge difference in the health aspect of a green bathroom remodel.
It's not only paint that contains VOCs – pressboard and other cheap, processed materials have a heavy cost on the environment and on health as they release formaldehyde and other VOCs for years after they are made or installed. Remember to watch for things like pressboard and wood finish that contain VOCs, and your bathroom reno will be well on its way to being clean, green and healthy.
Resources
- BC Hydro, "Use a Low-Flow Showerhead," BCHydro.com, last modified 13 May 2009.
- Loechner, Erin, "Go Green without Going Crazy," Curbly.com, 14 September 2007.
 |
