News: The Bathroom Industry is going green!

To Begin…

Leading manufacturers and distributors in the bathroom industry are answering the call to go green. With Grohe, Howdens and many more making clear efforts to reduce their impact upon the environment. This is great news for our industry and for you, the customer, Let’s look at how!

Why Go Green?

Firstly, what is “going green” and what does it mean? Going green is a cute way of saying that you are taking a more environmentally conscious approach. This includes, but is not limited to, such things as lowering your carbon footprint, including recycling in your process and designing with sustainability in mind.

Concepts such as sustainability are important, because the longer a fixture lasts, the less will have to be made or replaced, reducing the impact on the environment.

Humanity has taken a lot from our planet and we need to give back more than we do. Issues such as Global Warming have caused quite a stir in recent history, and for good reason.

Global Warming is the raising over the Earth’s average temperature. This is caused by the amount of C02 humanity generates via things such as the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation. This in turn causes further environmental damage, like the melting of the ice caps which is not only terrible news for polar bears and other life dwelling there, but for us too as it raises the sea level and causes severe change in weather.

It is easy to forget that the ecosystem is a system and while we don’t always have direct control over it, our inputs can cause tremendous change within it, both positively and negatively.

How The Bathroom Industry Is Going Green

So, how exactly is the bathroom industry going green? For one, a lot of the industry is focusing on sustainable design that can do more with less and is less likely to need replacing or maintaining. This is not only good for the environment, but for the customer as well, as these designs are much more practical.

For example, here at Durovin, we have created the Aachen 179WB, a Close Coupled Toilet and Cistern With Sink on top. The benefits of having a cistern with a basin on top is that it saves water, space and money. This is because the water used by the sink can then in turn be used by the cistern, allowing for economic use of water. As well as this, the toilet with attached sink features a Power Flush system, meaning you can choose how much water your toilet uses when flushing. So, you can use less when you need to. Not only does this help the environment, but it helps reduce your water bill.

Another way that the bathroom industry is going green is by cutting down its waste. Manufacturer Utopia Bathrooms has installed a specially made biomass boiler. This allows them to safely destroy the waste biomass they create through the manufacturing process that would usually instead go to landfill. As well as this, the heat generated from the boiler allows them to heat the factory and the offices, and even power some ovens used in their manufacturing process. They not only save their waste from landfill, they find a sustainable way to generate their own heat and power independently, so they don’t have to rely as heavily on the fossil fuel powered power grid.

Meanwhile, Whirlpool UK have managed to switch to running all fourteen of their UK sites on renewable power like wind and hydro power. This is fantastic news for the industry as it means one of its titans produces a staggeringly smaller amount of pollution. They have made such a positive impact that they have been awarded the 2022 Sustainability Rating Gold Medal by EcoVadis, symbolizing their great achievement.

How You Can Go Green

As you’re reading this, you may find yourself wondering about your own environmental impact. While the individual’s contribution to the detriment of the environment is negligible in comparison to that of corporations, there are still things to keep in mind. In the bathroom, conservation is the key to an environmentally conscious life. Saving water where you can and ensuring waste is properly disposed of are the main factors.

Generally, a big way you can help reduce your impact is to reduce your carbon footprint. One way you can do this is by incorporating renewable energy into your life. Solar panels can be fantastic additions to the home that ease your use of the power grid that relies on unsustainable fuels. Plus, while there is the upfront cost of buying and installing the solar panels, you will save money on your electric bill each year, meaning it will pay for itself and then some in no time!

To Conclude…

A lot is being done and there is a lot more to do, but the industry is making a lot of steps in the right direction. Between recycling, switching to renewable energy and designing with sustainability and environmental impact in mind, the bathroom industry is getting greener and greener.