Eco-friendly couple spend just £8 a month on their water bill

An Italian couple spend just £8 a month on their water bill – thanks to re-using their waste shower water to cook with, drink and water the plants. 

Anna Masiello, 28, and her husband, Diogo Masiello, 29, from Triesete, Friuli Venezia Giulia, northern Italy, aim to lead a zero-waste lifestyle by swapping old clothes with friends, using shampoo and soap bars and opting for a plant based diet.

Anna, an eco-influencer, also wears period pants and menstrual cups instead of using disposable period products.

The thrifty couple save money by eating veggie meals and buying cheap dried beans

Instead of buying shampoo in plastic bottles, they use eco-friendly bars to wash their hair

In a mission to save water, the pair stopped using toilet paper in May 2022 – instead opting for a portable bidet which is attached to a plastic bottle that they can use in their own home or take with them camping. 

They also save their shower water in a jar which they clean and reuse afterwards to drink, cook and water plants with. 

As a result, the canny pair only spend £8.43 a month on water.

They also claim their actions of ditching loo roll – which uses water in its production – and re-using their waste water saves nearly 14,000 litres of water a year.

Anna said, ‘It wasn’t hard to ditch loo roll – you’d be surprised how easy it is to go without it.

‘So many people were confused by the concept of the portable bidet.

‘When I shared it on social media, someone even commented they would rather die than use one.

‘There’s a bottle that you fill up with water – you attach a small shower-style head to and release water to wash yourself with.

‘You simply wipe your privates with a towel after you are done.

‘It’s perfectly clean and hygienic.

‘We’re doing our bit for the planet by ditching loo roll and our water bill is £8 a month because we re-use shower run off’

The couple use a portable bidet to clean themselves with after going to toilet. It is perfectly hygienic and saves using toilet roll, which uses a large amount of water in its production 

To re-use their shower water, they place a four-litre jar in the shower until it is hot enough to get in

The sustainability advocate explained the average person gets through 100 rolls of toilet paper per year, which use 14k litres of water when it’s manufactured.

To re-use shower water they place a four-litre jar in the shower until it’s hot enough to get into – saving the excess water which they reuse to drink, cook and water plants with.

So the water is safe to consume, they put a charcoal water filter into the jar to clean the contents.

‘It’s so simple and we save 600 litres a water by doing so,’ explained Anna.

‘When I started my zero-waste journey I felt the weight of the world of my shoulders as I was trying to do everything perfectly.

‘I’ve soon come to realise you can’t do everything perfectly and it’s a completely personal journey you have to take.

‘We just do what we can and what works for us.

‘I recommend people start with what is important to them, whether that’s food fashion and waste and then go from there.’

Anna started her own journey by looking at how much waste she was producing and trying to reduce it.

The couple only produce one black bin of waste every six months and save the synthetic fibres from their washing machine which they hope one day to use to stuff a pillow.

‘I haven’t bought any clothes from fast fashion stores for five years,’ Anna said.

‘I absolutely love thrifting and going to swap events. I try to appreciate everything I have.’

The married couple say it is easy to make simple changes to save both money and the environment 

Anna provides tips online on how to lead a more sustainable life, including being vegetarian and using a bamboo toothbrush 

She suggests starting small with making changes so as not to get overwhelmed

Anna has her own sustainable fashion brand R-Coat which creates clothing items from old umbrellas.

Her top tips to live a more sustainable life are – 

Start small and don’t try and do everything at once. Pick something like food, fashion, waste or transportation and go from there. 

Don’t try and be perfect and don’t beat yourself up if you mostly eat vegan but occasionally eat something vegetarian when you are out 

Swap your plastic toothbrush for a bamboo one, use toothpaste tabs and shampoo bars.

Make your Mondays meatless. Cutting meat from your diet on a Monday is a fun way to refresh your menu and cut your carbon footprint.

Buy a Guppyfriend – a washing bag that collects all the synthetic fibres from your washing, stopping them from going into the ocean.