Daily Green Audit Tip: Bathroom H2O Habits
February 5, 2008 by Jennifer
This week we’re talking about bathtub and shower audits. Yesterday we discussed some basic all around tips for greening your tub or shower – today we’ll talk water habits.
The habit discussion isn’t that long. You can sum it up in about three words…
Use less water.
Not enough? Ok, more tips…
First off there’s the whole, which saves more water argument, showers or baths. According to the Environment Agency, “A 5-minute shower uses about a third of the water of a bath. But remember that power showers can use more water than a bath in less than 5 minutes.” It’s really variable. If you have followed some of the tips for greening your shower, then a shower is the better choice. However, it’s going to vary considerably per person.
In one house I had, I did an experiment, before I installed a low-flow shower head. All I did was plug the tub and take a shower. I took a typical length shower for me (which is pretty short) and the tub still almost filled up with water. I did the experiment again after installing the new shower head and the tub did not come close to filling. So, it does depend. Also, if I try to get Cedar to take a shower, we waste a lot of water. He fusses and messes around thus making the shower take years to finish – Cedar saves more water by taking a bath.
You could also try washing your clothes at the same time; like this kid…
Just kidding! But there are other (real) habits to try:
- Only take a shower every other day (seriously, how dirty are you getting each day). I lived out of a truck one summer – on a road trip, showering only when I found a camp site with showers, or I’d jump in a river or lake, and guess what, I lived. That was with a lot of hiking involved too. Not showering won’t kill you.
- Turn off the water when you shave your legs, scrub up, or apply hair treatments.
- Shower with a friend.
- Shower with your kids. I have friends who pull this off. I can’t do it because Cedar hogs the water side of the shower, but it works for some.
- Put all the kids in the tub at once.
- You can use a timer to make sure you keep your showers under a certain time frame. I hate this option by the way – I don’t like being forced into stuff by time or clocks – but it works for some people.
- Turn the water down some to save energy. Hot water is bad for your skin anyhow. It can dry your skin out and cold water makes your hair shiny.
- If your tub is big enough, you can place a plastic bin in the tub with you as you shower (don’t trip over it!). Collect some water and use it to water house plants or outside plants.
What other water saving habits can you think of?
not showering will clog up my pores and give me acne! which means using more environmentally unfriendly acne creams, which is not only toxic to the environment, but to your health as well. AND they bleach clothes! so that means you have to buy clothes more often!
now, if your onw of those people with rhino skin, go for it.
but please, i beg of you, shower every day. the person standing next to you will thank you!
Well, I have good skin and I don’t shower daily. But I guess if you have to you have to. Also, the whole you’ll smell bad if you don’t shower every day deal – highly overrated in my opinion. I think, though, that this is going to be one of those personal opinion type questions.
I find showering with a ‘friend’ takes longer
! But showering every other day is totally doable most of the time (especially since I work at home). It’s better for my eczema-prone skin, too. WIth 4 eczema-prone kids, this is a standard house rule for all but my husband who is greasy and dirty on a regular basis as a heavy equipment operator.
I recently read a tip from a Hollywood hairstylist that said washing your hair daily is a bad idea anyway, and he recommended working a small (not graying) amount of baby powder into the scalp on ‘off’ days to keep grease and oil at bay and improve texture. This, too, has actually been working wonders for me since I have fine hair that is easily dried out (but yet somehow always greasy when not washed…go figure).
I have to sit on the side of the tub to shave my legs or I destroy my legs, but I had to work out a better way to rinse the razor than leaving the faucet running, which was a tremendous waste. I ended up filling a cup with water to dip the razor. It’s okay, I guess. It’s better than putting some water in the tub because I would have to rinse off the resulting ring around the tub.
This has nothing to do with water, but has anybody heard the story about the guy who invented disposable razors? He was an advertizing executive and made the pitch to the razor company to make disposables the standard because they created endless marketing opportunities. Ugh.