Make Sustainable Choices With These Eco-Friendly Toilets For Bathrooms

As more and more households have started prioritizing sustainable living, making eco-friendly choices for their homes is natural. Eco-friendly toilets are one such change that is an easy and immediate way of saying water. This is especially needed in some areas of the US with frequent water shortages and drought. Another benefit of eco-friendly toilets is that they can help you reduce your water consumption and, in turn, reduce the water bill, which results in long-term savings.

As it is more important to save natural resources, we have compiled a list of a few different types of sustainable toilets so that you can make an informed choice about the best eco-friendly toilet for your home.

Types of Eco-friendly Toilets

Low-flow Toilets

Many older toilets still in use in many places can waste as much as 6 gallons of water per flush. If an average person uses the toilet five times a day and shares the home with three others, just that household will flush almost 120 gallons of water daily, and this doesn’t include the water used in the kitchen or shower.

Low-flow options are eco-friendly toilets that provide the same service with just 1.6 gallons of water per flush. This means the same four people will use only 32 gallons instead of 120, a quarter of what they previously used. Due to this significant water saving per flush, the federal government has set a standard that all new toilets should use a maximum of 1.6 gallons per flush.

Dual-flush Toilets

If you want to take environmentally friendly toilet technology further, you can choose a dual-flush toilet. This kind of toilet usually has a lever or push button system at the top of the tank, giving you two choices. The half flush button uses only 0.8 gallons of water and can be used for liquid waste, while the full flush, the entire 1.6 gallons of water, is used for solid waste. This intelligent use of water can help save more water than low-flush toilets.

WaterSense Toilets

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has started a WaterSense program that functions like the EnergyStar program. It has developed efficiency standards that motivate manufacturers to create products that perform better in terms of efficiency, in this case, water efficiency. Those manufacturers who meet the given standards are given the right to use the WaterSense logo on their products, encouraging the consumer to make smart purchases.

A WaterSense label on eco-friendly toilets indicates that these toilets are 20% more efficient than conventional 1.6-gallon toilets. On average WaterSense toilets use only 1.28 gallons of water per flush.

The EPA estimates that using WaterSense toilets can reduce water usage by 20 to 60 percent. This is almost 13,000 gallons of water saved per home every year. This also helps reduce your water bill by $110 annually and around $2,200 over the toilet's lifetime.

According to the EPA, if WaterSense-labeled sustainable toilets replaced all old, inefficient toilets, we could save almost 520 billion gallons of water annually. This is how much water flows over Niagara Falls every 12 days.

Toilets with Lids Converted to a Sink and Faucet

This space-saving and eco-friendly toilet option is perfect, especially for smaller bathrooms. If you don’t have enough space for a sink in your bathroom or want to go that extra mile to save more water in your home, you can replace the existing lid of your toilet with one that contains a faucet/sink combination.

This will reroute the clean water from your supply line through the faucet. When you flush the toilet, the clean water will come from the faucet and immediately drain into the sink. The water from the sink drains into the toilet bowl displacing the water that would have otherwise been refilled when the toilet was flushed. This way, you will save tons of water and ensure your hands are always clean after using the toilet.

Composting or Waterless Toilets

A composting toilet does not need water; it is eco-friendly and uses natural decomposition and evaporation to recycle all human waste. These toilets are usually seen in vacation homes in rural areas or high up in the mountains. However, installing one in your home may be difficult as most local ordinances require a home to have flushing toilets connected to a proper sewer system.

Suppose you are considering installing such toilets in your home. In that case, you will have to speak to a representative from your city or county permitting department and get a list of all the regulations a toilet needs to meet and what permits you may need to have such toilets.

Choosing an Eco-friendly Toilet for Your Home

Check the EPA's WaterSense website for product characteristics and availability if you want to change your current toilet to an eco-friendlier option. This site has almost 144 pages of certified products you can pick from.

As with all products and appliances, you can find options that are more high-end and affordable. However, a toilet that sports the WaterSense logo will save you water and money no matter what it costs.

Take a little time to consider the options available before making your final choice. A WaterSense recent survey toilets states that the price of these eco-friendly toilets can range from $203 to over $1000. If choosing a plumber to install your sustainable toilet, it is best to either buy the toilet yourself and ensure it is ready for installation when the plumber arrives or ask them to get the bathroom you prefer.

Summary

Whichever kind you choose, you are making a choice that conserves natural resources and makes you feel good about doing your part for the environment. We at Remodel Your Home understand what a confusing decision this may be, which is why we can help you through the entire process of installation of the eco-friendly toilet. We will offer you the best choices for your home and install the one that suits you. From budget-friendly options to high-end designs, we can help you change the entire feel of your bathroom with simple remodeling ideas. Contact us today to find out how you can do your part to save the environment while also creating a space you love in your bathroom.

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