Press "Enter" to skip to content

Green Bathroom Makeover | National Geographic


00:00:04hi I’m patty Kim whether you’re getting

00:00:07ready to take on the morning or just

00:00:09soaking in the shower at the end of a

00:00:11long day the bathroom could be a retreat

00:00:13from the world but it’s also we’re over

00:00:15sixty percent of the water used indoors

00:00:18gets consumed nice to save water and

00:00:21money the bathroom’s great place to

00:00:23start let’s take a look and the biggest

00:00:27consumer of water in the bathroom tada

00:00:29the toilet toilets made before 1993 use

00:00:33up to eight gallons of water per flush

00:00:35compared to only 1.6 gallons used by

00:00:39modern fixtures it’s a good idea to

00:00:41replace pre-1990 three toilets if you

00:00:44can now if you’re not sure exactly how

00:00:47old your toilet is well all you have to

00:00:49do is take the lid off the tank and

00:00:51check out the underside because usually

00:00:53there’s a manufacturing date stamped

00:00:55underneath even if you can’t replace

00:00:58your toilet right away you can still

00:00:59save water using a one liter plastic

00:01:01bottle just fill the bottle with some

00:01:04pebbles or sand put the cap back on and

00:01:06place it in your tank so it reduces the

00:01:08water used with each flush believe it or

00:01:11not plumbing leaks account for about

00:01:14fourteen percent of the water used in

00:01:16the average home so it’s a good idea to

00:01:18check your toilet for leaks here’s how

00:01:20put five to ten drops of food coloring

00:01:22into the tank now put the lid back on

00:01:25but don’t flush wait about 15 minutes

00:01:28and check the toilet bowl if you see any

00:01:30food coloring there’s a leak that’s

00:01:32wasting water well a steaming hot shower

00:01:36can certainly be relaxing but it also

00:01:39happens to be the second biggest

00:01:41consumer of water in the bathroom shower

00:01:44heads made before 1992 can draw up to

00:01:46five and a half gallons of water per

00:01:48minute so check to see if your

00:01:51showerhead is old or new simply turn the

00:01:54shower on full blast catch all the water

00:01:57in the bucket and wait exactly two

00:01:59minutes if the bucket is overflowing

00:02:01then the shower head isn’t a low flow

00:02:04model new shower head start at around

00:02:06ten dollars and installing one that

00:02:09draws two and a half gallons or less

00:02:11minute can save you fifty percent with

00:02:13every shower now faucets also have flow

00:02:16rates and if you take a look at the

00:02:18screw on tip called the aerator that’ll

00:02:21tell you exactly what the flow rate of

00:02:23your faucet is now if you suspect that

00:02:25your faucets a water hog all you have to

00:02:27do is unscrew the aerator and take it to

00:02:30a hardware store and match it to a new

00:02:32aerator that’s the same size the most

00:02:35efficient models have flow rates of no

00:02:37higher than one gallon per minute now to

00:02:40find the last water saving device in

00:02:43your bathroom just look in the mirror to

00:02:45save water all you have to do is learn

00:02:48these few easy tricks and you’re on your

00:02:50way when you brush your teeth turn the

00:02:52faucet off and use a glass of water to

00:02:54rinse remember to put trash in the

00:02:57wastebasket instead of flushing it away

00:02:58skip the bubble bath and take a shower

00:03:01instead taking a bath can use up to

00:03:04seven times more water than a short

00:03:06shower with a few simple changes right

00:03:09here in the bathroom you can keep plenty

00:03:11of water and money from going straight

00:03:14down the drain thanks for watching and

00:03:16we’ll see you next time to find out how

00:03:20green your bathroom is click on the link

00:03:22below to take the quiz