Save Water with Shorter Showers

I grew up in a house with three women and one tiny bathroom. I learned early on how to make good use of what little quality bathroom time I was allotted every morning by taking short showers. Of course, during that time in my teenage life I was more concerned about maximizing my allotted primping time in the bathroom mirror time than saving water, reducing the water bill (much to my mother’s dismay), or saving the planet.

However, now that I am an adult who now pays the water bill, I want to find ways that will reduce my water usage, reduce amount of money in the water bill, and save the planet (you're welcome.) The first thing most water-saving how-to type articles tell you to is save water by taking shorter showers. However, in the grand scheme of green things, I couldn’t find much information on how many minutes in the shower are considered water-saving short. Or, for that matter, I couldn’t find much information on how many minutes in the shower are water-wasting too long. Crunchy Domestic Goddess has some answers and a water saving challenge. She writes:

Did you know that the average shower length is 8 minutes*? By reducing that to 5
minutes, you can reduce the amount of water you use by nearly one-third, or
roughly 10 gallons per day. And that’s where this challenge comes in. I’m
challenging all of my readers to reduce their shower time to 5 minutes. If you
already take a 5 minute shower, perhaps you’ll consider cutting back a little
bit more? Reducing the length of your shower by just one minute could save you
up to 1,825 gallons** of water each year.

*GreenPrint Denver ** Utah.gov

I like this challenge. It’s one of those simple sustainable ideas that won’t cost you anything but time (well, actually, it should save you time) and will help you save money in the process. Give it whirl for the summer. If you can’t stand short showers, try to find another way to save water, such as showering with a friend. What water-saving tips do you have?

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