Eco bathroom refit

[cathbath]

Hi, newbie here. We have just moved into a house which needs modernising, and we are trying to refurbish it in an eco-friendly way where possible.

We are starting with the bathroom. We are planning to use tiles which contain at least 25% recycled ceramic waste (Johnson). However I don't know much about water-saving products. Can anyone advise on the best water-saving toilets? I am also interested in taps and shower heads that save water but also look stylish. Has anyone installed a grey-water system?

I did post on Property & DIY but didn't get many answers!

Surely its more eco to not refit?

The house next door to ours has just done a total house refurbishment and the number of full skips that just went to landfil was truely shocking.

Well the bathroom hasn't been done for 30 years or more and is leaking. Plus we want to have a nice (and efficient) house to live in for the next 30 years :-)

30 years is no time at all. The bathroom in my mums house is much older than this. Why is everything considered so disposable these days?

Just fix the leak.

Thing1Thing2 - can't you think of something more constructive to say? Clearly leaving the bathroom in it's current state is not an option

Cathbath - we are maybe thinking of somehow reusing bath water to flush loos etc - I'll be watching this thread to see if anyone has any ides on how to do this

Okay, well grey water systems are expensive. What's your budget for the job?

You can go for what are called 'reduced water' toilets - which are the ones with two buttons (one for wees and one for poos) which use considerably less water. We have one from Ideal Standard (it's a smaller than average set which is cabinet mounted - but most are wall hung these days) which uses 70% less water. It costs about 15% more than a regular loo.

Also fit aeration taps and showerheads, they use about 30% less water but you don't notice it.

In terms of ecology, you would be better to buy good quality materials that will last, don't forget to tank out the walls with cellatex for insulation before tiling and consider underfloor heating - very cheap if you do it before you lay the floor and quite ecofriendly compared to radiators.

whomovedmychocolate - thanks. I have looked at Ideal Standard and found a very stylish toilet with a 2.6/4 litre dual flush. They also do taps which reduce the flow to 50%. I definitely think it's worth investing in good quality stuff as we don't plan to refit again :) I will look into insultation and underfloor heating too.

As far as converting existing toilets to save water, I've been reading about the Interflush device - here. I think it is only suitable for older toilets (the ones with the lever handles / siphon flush) - we plan to install this downstairs.

We're also becoming a lot more aware of saving water and only flushing if necessary :)

Our budget probably won't stretch to greywater systems unfortunately.