When giving your bathroom a makeover, think about ways to make it more sustainable. Photo: Laura Ludwig/dpa
When renovating your house, it might be a good time to consider whether you can upgrade some features to make your home more sustainable – which often saves money, too. Here are four eco-friendly features worth considering when remodelling your bathroom.
Water-saving shower heads provide the same showering experience as conventional ones but use a lot less water as they mix hot water with air to create the impression of a more powerful stream, explains Jens Wischmann, managing director of the Association of the German Sanitary Industry.
Similar technologies exist for sinks. They are still rarely found in private homes, but Wischmann recommends to at least consider installing a touchless tap in your guest bathroom.
"As soon as your hand moves away from the tap, the water stops running," says the expert.
Water consumption can also be reduced in the toilet. "There are flushes that don't require much water. These are already standard in new bathrooms in some countries." The most common is a cistern with two buttons – "one for a smaller amount of water for liquid waste and one for a larger amount of water."
Another new technology to consider when renovating your bathroom are rimless toilets.
Unlike conventional toilets, where the water is flushed down from underneath the rim bordering the entire bowl, rimless toilets flush the water in a vortex-like motion through the bowl, usually from the rear.
"These toilets are often very easy to clean, as there are no corners and edges where something can get stuck," explains plumbing expert Wischmann.
The rim of a conventional toilet has always been a dirt trap where deposits, germs and bacteria accumulate. If you buy a new toilet from a reputable manufacturer, you'll hardly find toilets with a rim anymore.
You might be confused by this tip. After all, how else are you supposed to clean yourself after going to the toilet? The answer could be an electronic bidet, a seat installed on your toilet with a nozzle that squirts warm water to clean your behind. Some bidets even provide warm air for drying afterwards. "This means I no longer need toilet paper," says Wischmann.
The materials traditionally used for bathrooms are good for the planet. "Ceramics, copper for pipes, glass and porcelain can all be recycled," says Wischmann. However, this is usually not up to you but to the tradespeople who dispose of your old bathroom fixtures and materials.Wischmann therefore advises asking them what they do with the discarded materials. This will in the long term lead to companies registering a rising demand for sustainable waste disposal, he says.
When choosing new products, you should also let the company know your preferences. "My tip is to ask the company for products that can be recycled when they need to be replaced in the future," says Wischmann.The industry's ideas for better re-use of materials are manifold and the first products are already on the market. Old fittings, for example, can be refurbished for re-use or the plastic shell of the outer casing of the fittings is made from recycled waste materials. Pipes and other parts that carry drinking water are always made of new materials for hygiene reasons, however. – dpa
