How to Be Green and Frugal in the Bathroom

Bathrooms are rooms where small changes in the direction of green and frugal living can make huge differences in the amount of energy used and money spent. What follows are some simple suggestions for a greener, more frugal, bathroom.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• time and energy
• desire to be frugal in the bathroom

1. One of the first things anyone should do to save energy in a bathroom is check the faucet, shower head, and toilet for water leaks. A single drip in the bathroom sink can waste thousands of gallons of water every year. So fix any leaks in the bathroom.
   
   Showers use much less water than baths and you can learn to take shorter, more efficient showers to use even less water.
   
   Another energy saver in the bathroom is to install energy efficient compact fluorescent lights.
   
   If you have a window in your bathroom, open the top a crack in the daytime while you are home anyway. This helps to keep your bathroom vented, so you don't have to turn on the bathroom vent as often.
2. The bathroom can be decorated more frugally than almost any other room in your house, mainly because of its smaller size. Use you imagination for decorating ideas that don't cost much. A beach theme for example means you can put all those pretty shells you collected in a basket, and show them off. Inexpensive posters of beach scenes can be hung on the wall, and then you can hang a nautical theme shower curtain and matching window curtains. The idea is to use you creativity to decorate the bathroom as frugally as you can.
3. storage Storage is important in a bathroom, so put some attractive storage container in the room, the biggest that will fit, for all your bathroom stuff. Storage is important for another reason too, it pays off to stock up on certain bathroom and cleaning supplies when they are on sale and you need a place to keep these extras.
   
   Think about the way boat and RV owners manage space (and water use!), in their bathrooms and you'll see you can store a lot in very small spaces with some planning.
4. For all the products you use in the bathroom, including cleaning supplies, go natural and green, or make your own. You'll save money, have fun making your own bathroom things, and be living more green in the process.
   
   If you don't want to make your own bathroom supplies, then shop for shampoo, conditioner, and other bathroom products at your local dollar or discount store, or buy bathroom items on sale and use coupons whenever you can.