By Home and Garden Television
Scripps Howard News Service

The bathroom is a great place to go green. Here are some ideas:

1. Think Organic Cotton

Bath linens made from organic cotton are not only comfy and soft, but they require less pesticide to produce than regular cotton towels. Manufacturers that use the slightly more expensive organic cotton also tend to use natural dyes and softeners that are less toxic to the environment.

Consider replacing your vinyl shower curtain with a heavy cotton duck curtain, says Annie B. Bond, author of "Home Enlightenment" and executive producer of green-living content at Care2.com, a site devoted to natural health. "The plastic in a shower curtain is PVC, and the plasticizers in PVC are hormone disrupters," she says. "Those toxic ingredients can become airborne."

2. Try an All-Natural Approach

Natural bath products are friendlier to your skin than chemical-laden offerings from major cosmetics companies, and they won't create toxic air pollution. Visit the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep Web site, http://www.ewg.org/reports/skindeep2/index.php, to research products you currently use and discover healthy alternatives.

3. Be Water-Wise

A low-flow showerhead can reduce water consumption by 30 percent, yet still provide a pressurized spray. Another nifty gadget, a gray-water diverter, sends used water from the shower or bath to a collection container for distribution to your garden.

Insulating your water heater and lowering its thermostat to 120 degrees makes a real difference in the amount of energy used to heat your morning shower. And consider replacing your toilet with a low-flow model if it's more than 12 years old.

4. Use Recycled Building Products

Remodeling your bathroom? Seek out tile made from recycled materials for floors, baths, showers and countertops. Thanks to the popularity of recycling, colors and finishes are plentiful. Recycled glass tile is a particularly good choice for low emissions.

5. Clean Green

Get rid of the harsh chemicals you use to clean tubs and toilets. Pay attention to the government-mandated warning labels on cleaning products; the terms used, from least to most toxic, are "caution," "warning" and "poison/danger." Aim for products that say "caution" only or seek out environment-conscious brands like Seventh Generation and Ecover.

(For thousands of other ideas visit www.hgtv.com. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service.)

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