Eco bathroom designPart 5This last page of my eco bathroom design articles focuses on eco furniture, lighting, ventilation and soft furnishings. Lastly I will end this group of articles with a look at the bigger picture - what is the ideal?
Bathroom furnitureWhen looking for bathroom cupboards, vanity units, bath panels and shelving, eco friendly choices are; certified sustainable timber, bamboo and wheat board. Bamboo would be the ideal material as it holds excellent moisture and humidity qualities.Check the finishes and sealants are both suitable for bathrooms/wet environments and are eco friendly e.g. water based, natural ingredients like plant oil or do not contain chemical additives.
Bathroom lightingMake the most of natural daylight in your bathroom with unobtrusive window dressings. Where artificial light is needed, choose energy efficient light bulbs such as compact fluorescent bulbs which use a lot less energy than traditional bulbs – saving money on your utility bills and reducing the negative effects on the environment. You need task and ambient lighting for a number of activities; putting on make up, plucking eyebrows, shaving etc.
The fitting is similar to a typical ceiling light and allows natural light to be evenly distributed around the bathroom. They are less expensive than traditional skylights, do not require structural alterations and do not allow as much heat to escape.
Bathroom ventilationEssential for any bathroom is adequate ventilation & humidity control to prevent mould and mildew growth from the high exposure to moisture. Mould and mildew lower air quality levels and are associated with illness such as respiratory conditions. Most homes use a combination of natural ventilation through the use of windows and mechanically assisted ventilation such as extractor fans.
Bathroom soft furnishings
Towels and bath robes are available in the following materials: bamboo, hemp, certified organic cotton. Look for products that have been dyed with vegetable/plant colourings, are unbleached and without chemical additives. Eco choices for bath mats are cork, certified organic cotton and certified sustainable timber. For wash cloths, back scrubs and scrub gloves hemp is an ideal fibre which is 100% natural and renewable.
The bigger bathroom pictureUnless you are in the position to build your own eco home and specify the materials used for construction; your home will have been built without the environment & your health as the priority. This means that the underlying materials cannot be easily made over to be eco friendly.
However, before you begin ripping out your bathroom in an effort to make it as eco as possible, think less is more. Any rubbish and waste you create by remodelling your bathroom needs to go somewhere and unless 100% can be recycled, you will be adding to landfill sites, increasing the demand for new manufacture of products and subsequently damaging the environment. Try and keep waste to a minimum by avoiding remodelling your bathroom unless absolutely necessary. Although no bathroom will be 100% eco friendly, there are areas that can be improved and even small steps towards a more environmentally friendly home and lifestyle are in the right direction. The key to eco bathroom design is to achieve the maximum aesthetic, functional and practical enhancement with the minimum amount of materials, resources, energy, hazards to your health and negative effects on the environment. I hope you have enjoyed reading my group of artciles on eco bathroom design, if you would like help with a bathroom project you are working on, feel free to contact me for professional advice and guidance.
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For bathrooms that do not have any windows or sources of natural light source tubular skylights / solar tubes. They draw natural sunlight through a tube from the roof to your bathroom and disperse daylight through a lens / diffuser fitted in the ceiling. 
