Green Bathroom Makeover | National Geographic

hi I’m patty Kim whether you’re getting
ready to take on the morning or just
soaking in the shower at the end of a
long day the bathroom could be a retreat
from the world but it’s also we’re over
sixty percent of the water used indoors
gets consumed nice to save water and
money the bathroom’s great place to
start let’s take a look and the biggest
consumer of water in the bathroom tada
the toilet toilets made before 1993 use
up to eight gallons of water per flush
compared to only 1.6 gallons used by
modern fixtures it’s a good idea to
replace pre-1990 three toilets if you
can now if you’re not sure exactly how
old your toilet is well all you have to
do is take the lid off the tank and
check out the underside because usually
there’s a manufacturing date stamped
underneath even if you can’t replace
your toilet right away you can still
save water using a one liter plastic
bottle just fill the bottle with some
pebbles or sand put the cap back on and
place it in your tank so it reduces the
water used with each flush believe it or
not plumbing leaks account for about
fourteen percent of the water used in
the average home so it’s a good idea to
check your toilet for leaks here’s how
put five to ten drops of food coloring
into the tank now put the lid back on
but don’t flush wait about 15 minutes
and check the toilet bowl if you see any
food coloring there’s a leak that’s
wasting water well a steaming hot shower
can certainly be relaxing but it also
happens to be the second biggest
consumer of water in the bathroom shower
heads made before 1992 can draw up to
five and a half gallons of water per
minute so check to see if your
showerhead is old or new simply turn the
shower on full blast catch all the water
in the bucket and wait exactly two
minutes if the bucket is overflowing
then the shower head isn’t a low flow
model new shower head start at around
ten dollars and installing one that
draws two and a half gallons or less
minute can save you fifty percent with
every shower now faucets also have flow
rates and if you take a look at the
screw on tip called the aerator that’ll
tell you exactly what the flow rate of
your faucet is now if you suspect that
your faucets a water hog all you have to
do is unscrew the aerator and take it to
a hardware store and match it to a new
aerator that’s the same size the most
efficient models have flow rates of no
higher than one gallon per minute now to
find the last water saving device in
your bathroom just look in the mirror to
save water all you have to do is learn
these few easy tricks and you’re on your
way when you brush your teeth turn the
faucet off and use a glass of water to
rinse remember to put trash in the
wastebasket instead of flushing it away
skip the bubble bath and take a shower
instead taking a bath can use up to
seven times more water than a short
shower with a few simple changes right
here in the bathroom you can keep plenty
of water and money from going straight
down the drain thanks for watching and
we’ll see you next time to find out how
green your bathroom is click on the link
below to take the quiz