Most of us are concerned about our impact on the environment these days and we try to do whatever we can to reduce it.

There are all sorts of things you can do like changing your eating habits and only buying products that are produced in a responsible way. But it’s the home that takes the biggest toll on the environment.

Your home uses so much energy and most of that energy probably comes from unsustainable sources so going green at home is essential if you’re concerned about the environment.

That means cutting down on your electricity consumption and maybe even installing some solar panels to produce your own power rather than relying on unsustainable sources. But one thing that people often forget about when they’re trying to go green at home is water.

People tend to think that water shortages are only a concern in incredibly hot countries but that’s not the case. It might not be that bad yet but there are warnings about lack of water in the next few decades in all countries, mainly because we use so much of it without really considering it.

If you’re serious about your dedication to helping the environment, you need to start taking steps to make your home more water efficient. We may all have to limit our usage at some point in the future so you might as well start now.

Even if you aren’t that bothered about the environment and you aren’t convinced by the warnings about water shortages, it’s still a good idea to cut your water usage because it’s going to save you a load of money every year.

All you’ve got to do is make these simple changes.

Start Collecting Rainwater

The easiest way to save money on your water bill is to stop paying for it at all. If you collect your own water in a tank, you can usually get enough to supply most of the water that you need around the home.

If you live in a particularly dry area then you might still have to get some of your water from elsewhere but you’ll still save yourself a good chunk of money. If you’ve got a small house without much space in the garden and you think that you don’t have the room for a big water tank out there, don’t worry.

You can get some great slimline water tanks that still hold a good amount of water but they won’t take up that much space at all. Just find an area at the end of the garden where you can discreetly install it and you won’t even notice it’s there.

If you really want to get the most out of your water collection tank and reduce your impact on the environment even further, you should install a recycling system.

You’ll be able to recycle the water and use it 2 or 3 times which is ideal if you’re in an area that doesn’t get quite as much rain.

However, it can get pretty expensive to install all of that stuff so consider how much you’re spending on water bills and weigh up whether it’s worth it or not.

If you’re collecting your own water, you’re probably going to need to cut down on your usage as much as possible to avoid running out. Here are some of the easiest ways to do it.

Take Shorter Showers

This sounds like an obvious one but people often don’t realize just how long they spend in there and how much water they could save by cutting down a tiny bit.

The average person spends about 8 minutes in the shower which doesn’t seem like that long and a lot of people out there will easily spend double that amount of time in there.

If you cut down the time of your shower by just 1 minute, you’ll save around 2 gallons of water. Most of us would be able to cut down by 2 or 3 minutes at least and when you’re saving that much water every day, it quickly adds up.

If you regularly have baths, it might be time to switch to showering because filling a bathtub is going to use way more water than the average shower. That doesn’t mean you should never get in the tub again, just don’t do it on a daily basis if you want to save water.

Replacing Fixtures

Even if you cut down massively on the amount of time you spend in the shower, you could still be using more water than you need to if you’ve got an old shower head.

Newer shower heads are generally way more efficient and you can get specific low-flow ones that save even more water. It’s cheap to replace and it’ll save you a lot of water over time.

The same goes for the taps in the house too. Spend a bit of money now and you’ll save a lot in the long term.

Flushing the toilet uses a lot more water than you’d expect as well so if you buy a new, eco-friendly one, that’ll really help you to cut down on your usage.

If you can’t really afford to buy a whole new toilet at the minute, you can get some floats to put in the cistern or even just a bottle of water at the back which stops it from filling up quite so much.

Fix The Plumbing

One of the biggest water wasters that you might not have considered is leaky pipes. Even a small leak can lose a lot of water every day and you’re paying for all of that water even though you never used it.

If you’ve got a dripping tap, you can easily fix that yourself. Otherwise, get a plumber to come in and do a complete service of the house. They’ll be able to fix all of the leaks and you’ll notice your water usage drop drastically.

Managing your water usage and making cutbacks is important if you want to reduce your impact on the environment and it’ll save you a load of money at the same time.