In the effort to make our homes a greener place we cannot forget to include the bathroom. Bathrooms account for a large amount of the homes water and electricity usage. They also account for a large amount of water and electricity waste in the home. It is important to find out where the waste is happening and find ways to use water and electricity more effectively all over the home and especially in the bathroom.

When it comes to wasting water, start with finding the leaks. Leaking toilets can waste up to 400 litres a day and a leaky faucet can waste up to 5000 litres per day. Make sure that your faucets are tightened and not dripping. The toilet bowl is another common place for water leaks. To check for toilet bowl leaks put a few drops of food colouring into the toilet’s tank. If you see the water in the toilet bowl start changing colour then you have a leak which you should get fixed as soon as possible.

One of the best ways to avoid wasting water is to start with the right equipment. Installing a water saving showerhead in your shower could potentially save you gallons of water over the years. A regular shower head can use from 2 to 10 gallons of water per minute where an energy saving one uses approximately 2 to 5 gallons per minute. The water pressure might not be as good, but with a little shopping around you can find a showerhead that will save water without sacrificing water pressure. It may also be a good idea to replace your toilet with a more water efficient one. There are 16 to 23 litres of water used in each toilet flush so make every flush count. To shop for low flush toilets and energy efficient showerheads online take a look at here

There are many small things you can do to save water in the bathroom as well. Taking showers instead of baths uses less water. You can also save time and water by brushing your teeth while in the shower. Turn the tap off while washing your hands and face and while brushing your teeth. Turning off the water while brushing your teeth can save approximately 12 litres of water per minute.

Our bathrooms have the potential to be very harmful to the environment if we let them. As one of the rooms in the home that uses the most water it is very important to be aware of how we are using that water. It is so easy to reduce the impact we are have on the environment if we take small steps to reduce waste in all the areas of our lives especially our home lives.