If you’d like a way to live more sustainably while also saving money, consider how you use water at home. Americans, on average, use more water daily than people anywhere else in the world, but, as times of drought have hopefully taught us, water is a finite resource that we shouldn’t take for granted. Use these tips to conserve water use at home for you and your family focusing today on the bathroom:
At Home Water Conservation:
Toilets:
When flushing, depending on the age and type of your toilet, you could be using up to 7 gallons of water with each flush! Multiply that by the number of times you flush per day along with anyone else you may share your home with, and you’ll realize that this could be a considerable amount of water consumption. There are a variety of ways to conserve water just by examining your toilet alone; here are a few:
- Reuse water that originally had a different application (bath water, water used to boil pasta, water used to wash produce, etc…) to use as a bucket flush, like you may have seen when visiting a third world country or at your grandparent’s home. By using just around a gallon of water (compared to up to 7), you can simply pour that water in your toilet and most models will automatically flush.
- Test your toilet for leaks annually to ensure that you are not losing excessive water beyond your knowledge.
- If you can afford to, upgrade older toilet models with newer, water preserving ones, such as a dual-flush toilet. Dual-flush toilets allow you to use a half-flush for liquid waste and a full-flush for solid waste.
In the Shower:
- Examine your showerhead and see if it fills up a gallon bucket in less than 20 seconds. If so, you may want to consider an upgrade.
- Try to keep your shower time to 5 minutes or less, or, if that’s too tough, try to shorten it by a couple of minutes—really anything helps!
- Avoid taking baths, as they can use up to 50 gallons more water than a standard shower. If you do take a bath occasionally, try to think of ways you can reuse your bath water, like using it for bucket flushes!
- Turning off the water while you wash your hair can save you over 100 gallons of water per month. Lathering up doesn’t require water, so consider turning off the water while you do so.
- If your showerhead or bath faucet drips water when it’s not in use, you could be using up to 5 gallons of water a day without even realizing it! Check for leaks and find a solution.
There are many more ways to conserve water in your home’s bathroom and beyond. What other ways can you think of?