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GreenWerks | 
Jul 10th, 2010 | 
Don’t be fooled by its size. A bathroom – often the smallest room in a house – offers plenty of opportunities to go green and make a positive impact on the environment. Be it through water conservation, eco-savvy bathroom systems, environment-friendly building materials, moisture control, or green cleaning and personal care products, you can, in more ways than imaginable, save money and save the earth as you take on a green bathroom remodeling project.
The best way to start is by knowing the traits that make a green bathroom.
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Water conservation
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Reusable, recycled bathroom products
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Moisture and mold control
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Green flooring and cabinetry
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Tankless water heaters
Did you know that toilets account for close to 30 percent of your home’s indoor water consumption? Add to that the water from your bath tub, faucets, and showers. A green bathroom makes more efficient use of water by utilizing eco-savvy technologies like low-flush, high-efficiency toilets (HETs), water-saving showerheads (those that do not look like a socket wrench!), and faucets with low-flow aerators. When looking to replace these components of your bathroom, check out models that carry the WaterSense label. This indicates that the toilet, showerhead, or faucet has met the EPA standards for water performance and efficiency. No need to worry about comprising style: these green bathroom components come in different varieties, materials, and finishes to fit your home décor and lifestyle.
A green bathroom is equipped with plenty of personal care products that are recycled and reusable. So opt for more eco-savvy products the next time you go shopping. These products include reusable and durable items like mops, rags, sponges, recycled toilet paper and paper towels, and non-toxic personal care, bathroom cleaning, and pest control products. With reusable, recycled items, you’re doing more than just closing the loop; you’re also saving yourself the energy and time you’d otherwise have spent on disposal of one-time-use items.
Being that it’s the place where you shower and take those nice, relaxing baths, a bathroom should be spotless and clean – and free from mold and other biological growths. (Eww, right? That’s not we meant by “green” bathrooms.) The key to doing this is moisture control, which basically means drying the wet spots in the bathroom within a day or two and not giving any time for mold to grow. Moisture control techniques include installing exhaust fans in the bathroom, opening your energy-efficient windows, fixing leaks, and addressing drips and seepage problems. Not only do these keep the bathroom in your home dry and clean; they also prevent you from suffering from allergic reactions, asthma attacks, and other health hazards introduced by biological growth.
If you’re remodeling your bathroom into a greener one, consider replacing the vinyl flooring with linoleum sheets. That’s because linoleum is made naturally from linseed oil, a more sustainable and durable choice (with a lifespan that lasts decades) compared to vinyl, which is basically a synthetic, petroleum-based material. Linoleum is also 100 percent recyclable: its leftovers and waste products can still be used for future production.
When it comes to bathroom cabinets, meanwhile, it’s best to avoid materials that contain formaldehyde-based adhesives or finishes. That’s because formaldehyde is a kind of Volatile Organic Compound, or VOC, a harmful chemical and indoor air pollutant. Green alternatives include low-VOC or VOC-free materials like bamboo, certified woods, and cabinets made with recycled materials and finished with natural oil wood finishes.
If you’re serious about making a smart investment for your green bathroom and home, consider getting a tankless water heater. Using high-powered burners to heat water as it runs through a heat exchanger, this kind of heater can give you multi-fold benefits – like greater energy savings, reduced carbon dioxide emissions, easy maintenance, the availability of on-demand hot water, and valuable floor space (look Ma, no tanks!).
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