Riverside, California (NAPSI) - When people think of ways to live green and save energy in their homes, the bathroom may not be the first place that comes to mind. However, Carter Oosterhouse, home and design expert, proves there are several simple ways you can make a big difference in one of the most trafficked rooms in your home.
1. Save Water with Every Flush. Put a small plastic juice bottle or laundry soap bottle in your toilet tank. First, soak off the label, fill the bottle with water, replace the cap and place it in the tank. Because the bottle is in the toilet tank, less water is needed to fill the tank and therefore less water will be flushed. Be careful that the bottle doesn’t interfere with the flushing mechanism, and with five minutes work, you can save on or two gallons per flush.
2. Purchase Green Products. You can swap your traditional toilet paper for Scott Naturals® Tube-Free bath tissue and toss the tube. There’s no cardboard core so it has major potential to reduce a portion of the 17 billion toilet paper tubes thrown away each year in the U.S., enough to fill the Empire State Building twice.
3. Reduce Waste. Use bathroom necessities with less packaging such as bar soaps, which are friendlier to the environment (and your budget). The carbon footprint of liquid soaps is about 25 percent larger than that of bar soaps. Liquid soaps also require more energy for packaging production and disposal.
4. Clean the Air. Bathrooms are one of the most humid rooms in the house. Excess humidity can cause mold, which can spur allergies, asthma and other breathing troubles. Use nontoxic cleaning solutions to remove mold, such as household ingredients (baking soda and vinegar) or other natural cleaners. Help prevent mold by better ventilating the bathroom which removes the moisture that mold needs to grow.
5. Install a Tankless Water Heater. With a tankless water heater, you only heat the water that you use, which saves energy and money. Gas water heaters give off an average of 58 percent fewer carbon emissions than electric ones.
6. Save Energy. Compact fluorescent bulbs use about 75 percent less energy than traditional incandescent bulbs and last 10 to 25 times longer. Energy-efficient bulbs can also save you money on electricity.
7. Conserve Water. Aerators on faucets and showerheads use half the water with twice the power. If everyone used one, aerators could save 250 million gallons of water a year.
