Do you want to make your bathroom as sustainable as possible? Then you've come to the right place! For many of us, our own bathroom is a place of relaxation and care. But it is also a place where there are numerous opportunities to actively contribute to environmental protection.
Especially in times of growing Environmental awareness and the need, Conserve resourcesit is worth questioning your own bathroom routine and furnishings and optimizing them in an environmentally friendly way. Fortunately, this is also extremely simple and straightforward.
In this article, I would like to give you practical and effective tips to help you immediately and significantly reduce your ecological footprint in the bathroom. Let's go!
10 tips: How to make a bathroom more sustainable?
The table of possibilities for breathing more sustainability into your bathroom is really generously laid. It ranges from the Waste avoidance, about Fair and natural furnishings up to the resource-conserving use - you just have to strike. 😉
Your motivation should increase immeasurably when I tell you that you are not only doing something for the environment, but that you are also doing something for the environment. also still Save money sustainably can. I'll now explain exactly how it all works using my best tips.
1. implement measures to save water
Water is our most precious commodity. But it is also becoming increasingly scarce in Germany. Not least because direct and indirect per capita consumption in the year According to the Federal Environment Agency at around 219 billion cubic meters of water lies.
The bathroom is the ideal place to enjoy your own Water footprint specifically improve and make everyday life a little more sustainable.
Now this first tip logically consists of many small tips. I have therefore put together some ideas here that you can implement to use less water in the bathroom:
- Shower instead of bath
- Installing water-saving shower heads
- Shower as briefly as possible
- Bathe less often and do not fill the tub too full
- Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth or shaving
- Use the toilet flush carefully
- Convert cistern to rainwater harvesting
- Repairing dripping taps
- …
Tip: More advice on the Saving water at home can be found in the linked blog article. You'll be amazed at what you can do.
2. consciously save energy
Our energy consumption is also steadily increasing. And seven if environmentally friendly green electricity comes out of our socketsthere is still great potential to use this resource consciously and sparingly - especially in the sustainable bathroom!
Of course I also have some simple tips for you, which you can use directly:
- Use daylight instead of artificial light
- Replace light bulbs with LEDs
- Reduce hot water consumption (e.g. Cold shower check out)
- Dry towels on the towel rail and not on the heater
- Short bursts of ventilation instead of long open tilt windows
- If possible, air dry hair and laundry
- Use Eco program on washing machine and dryer
- …
Tip: More Ideas for saving energy at home will be explained again in a separate blog post.
3. prefer natural and resource-saving furnishings
In a sustainable bathroom, you should pay particular attention to environmentally friendly and recycled materials when selecting furniture and other fittings. Whether Toilet, cistern, shower tray or toilet brush - Almost all of this can now be made from recycled materials. This saves many tons of waste and valuable resources, Natural resources save.
If you buy wooden furniture (e.g. a washbasin or shelf) for your bathroom, make sure that it is compatible with the FSC seal are awarded. This is a International certification system for sustainable forest management.
Furthermore, you can also try to change your Bathroom furnishings used to buy or even build them yourself. The Buying used has so many advantages - For example, you can win unique one-off items and save money at the same time.
Tip: Although toilet paper is more of a consumable than a furnishing item, it is possible and advisable to give preference to products made from recycled materials.
4. opt for ecological and fair towels
When it comes to sustainability, quality and durability are the be-all and end-all. This applies to fashion as well as to soap and towels, which we for bathing and showering use
When you is committed to sustainability and would like to buy a towel, you should pay particular attention to the fact that it is Made from high-quality, natural materials is. For towels, for example, terry towelling has proven its worth. It consists of either pure cotton or cotton and cotton blends that are processed in the form of yarns. The towels feel pleasantly soft on the skin and are characterized by their high absorbency.
In addition to these factors, the Color quality, weight and thickness important clues for recognizing genuine quality.
For sustainable use of the towels, you should use them Use several times if possiblebefore you put them in the washing machine. This way, you protect the material permanently and directly save water and energy.
Tip: How you can change your Washing laundry sustainably by the way, I explain in more detail in the linked blog post.
5. use solid soap instead of shower gel and shampoo.
Avoid plastic waste works particularly well in the bathroom! For example, by simply replacing liquid soap, shower gels and shampoos with solid alternatives.
You can find the corresponding natural soaps online or in all modern drugstores. It's also best to get a soap dish or soap box so that you can store and transport them easily and waste-free.
The application of the best hair soaps or solid shampoos is really easy. However, you should still give your body Allow a few days to get used to it. I can also recommend the use of a Soap bag.
Tip: How you can create a "Bathroom without plastic" again in the more detailed, separate blog article.
6. furnish the bathroom in a minimalist style
A minimalist approach in bathroom furnishings can not only be aesthetically pleasing, but can also contribute significantly to the protection of nature. When designing your bathroom, simply focus on the essentials and necessities. This way you automatically avoid unnecessary purchases and reduce your ecological footprint.
Above all, fewer products mean fewer resources used, less packaging waste and lower disposal costs. You also save a lot of money and create a reassuring overview in the bathroomthat is guaranteed to make you happier. Because more space creates more room for relaxation.
7. care for teeth sustainably
If you want to do something for the environment, you should also help the Dental care on environmentally friendly alternatives to fall back on. A toothbrush made from renewable raw materials such as wood is a great start. One popular material, for example, is the extremely fast growing bamboo wood.
Toothbrush tablets are also suitable as Green alternative to toothpaste from the plastic tube. You simply put it in your mouth like a chewy sweet and chew it up. Then use the resulting foam to brush your teeth as usual. Please remember to turn off the tap while you are doing this.
8. use natural cosmetics
When it comes to cosmetics, less is always more. The fewer chemical substances that end up on our skin every day, the better it is for our health. Body and the Skin Health.
And also it is better for the environmentbecause when we wash and shower, the ingredients from our cosmetic products end up in waste water and ultimately in lakes, rivers and the oceans. Particularly problematic are liquid plastics and smallest microplastic particlescontained in creams and other care products.
The solution to this problem is certified organic natural cosmetics in your sustainable bathroom. This contains exclusively natural raw materials and is manufactured in an environmentally friendly manner.
Tip: What else you can do to Avoid microplasticsyou can find out in the corresponding article in the blog. Take a look there too, if you like.
9. clean the bath with natural products
Cleanliness and hygiene are of course important factors in the bathroom. But to keep it clean, you need to Do not use aggressive chemical cleaning agents.
Fortunately, five biodegradable household remedies are actually sufficient as an alternative: Curd soapvinegar essence, baking soda, soda and citric acid. Depending on the degree of soiling, you can simply mix your own cleaning agent for cleaning, descaling or disinfecting.
If you still prefer to buy cleaners from the drugstore, make sure that they are available in the Recycling packaging and their manufacturers focus on environmentally friendly and healthy ingredients. Another eco-tip is to specifically look for products in more environmentally friendly Refill packs to set.
10. give preference to reusable instead of disposable products
Zero Waste (i.e. "zero waste") is the philosophy of more and more people who consciously Reduce or completely avoid waste in everyday life want. Replacing disposable, single-use items with reusable alternatives is one of the most important basic rules for this endeavor to be successful.
In your sustainable bathroom you can, for example washable makeup remover pads instead of disposable wipes, Menstrual cups made of silicone instead of tampons and disposable pads, and Metal ear cleaner instead of using cotton buds. The possibilities are there, you just have to know and use them.
Tip: All my Zero waste tips for everyday life in the linked article. Feel free to use them to immediately create significantly less waste with simple means.
Sustainable bathroom? No problem!
It's not rocket science to make a bathroom more environmentally friendly. If you consciously save water and energy, give preference to resource-saving products and use natural cleaning agents, you are already on the right track. Simply implement these and all the other measures mentioned here one by one if you want to breathe even more sustainability into your bathroom.
"What we do today will determine what the world looks like tomorrow."
Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (more at Environmental protection quotes)
I very much hope that I have been able to help you with this article. Do you have any questions, suggestions or other ideas for making your bathroom as sustainable as possible? Then I look forward to your comments.
Stay sustainable,
PS: A lot of waste can be saved not only in the bathroom, but also in the kitchen. How to minimize Plastic-free kitchen can look and work, you can find out now in the next blog post.
