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Green living extends to our daily shower habits.
If you think about it, we use a lot of water and other resources when we take a shower each day.
In fact, roughly 25% of indoor household water consumption goes to bathing:
- A 10-minute shower uses about 40 gallons.
- A bath takes around 37 gallons.
I never even realized just how much water I was using bathing and showering until I took an environmental studies course when I was in college.
So, as it would seem, living a green lifestyle would mean that a shower no longer could include heat, steam, water pressure… all the things I love about taking showers.
However, this isn’t the case at all!
You can still keep your shower routine green without having to give up the joys of hot showers.
Here are 3 tips that I have used to keep my shower habits green (and even help keep my wallet a little greener in the long run, too!)
#1 – Install a low-flow shower head.
For as little as $10, you can go to your local home improvement store and buy a low flow showerhead, which can reduce water consumption by half or more and help keep your home green.
Installing a low-flow showerhead is an investment that will definitely pay for itself very quickly, and will also conserve tons of drinkable water too.
#2 – Take shorter showers.
If you love taking long, hot, steamy showers, then you may be less than inclined to heed this particular tip, but it is something I’ve forced myself to get used to.
I’ve done so simply because shorter showers help to save more drinkable water and – again – will save on my water bills.
Need some tips to help you stick to shorter showers?
#3 – Take Navy showers.
When my water heater wasn’t working properly a couple years ago and I couldn’t stand taking a cold shower, I used a method whereby I got my entire body wet under the showerhead for about 30 seconds before turning the water off. I then lathered up my shampoo and soap, scrubbed my body, and then turned the water back on for about 1 minute to rinse away the soap.
Turned out, I took what is called a Navy shower – and apparently these are quite popular for those who are practicing water conservation.
In fact, this green shower technique uses only 3 gallons of water on average and can save a person up to 15,000 gallons of water every year!
Any Green Shower Tips To Add?
So, my green shower tips start off at reducing shower pressure in the first tip, evolve into taking shorter showers for the second tip and, in the third tip, turning the water off during the middle part of your shower.
Green living in general often requires simple, baby steps like these.
While breaking habits that aren’t so good for our planet (or even our pocket books) can sometimes be challenging, adopting a greener lifestyle doesn’t have to be difficult.
These green shower tips represent just 3 of the many simple ways that we can help our planet stay a little healthier in the long run.
Aside from the 3 shower habits that I’ve personally adopted, do you have any green shower tips to share?
As an advocate for good health, I usually try to choose the 'greener' option over other more dangerous and/or wasteful options. Generally speaking, if it's bad for your health or the planet, I try to avoid it. In my effort to live green, I like to find new (healthier) budget-friendly ways to do things — from cleaning to recycling to home decorating. My goal is to help you take the chore out of living green by sharing fun new ecofriendly ideas that you can try today… or <em>any</em> day! My all-time favorite way to live green is to repurpose items and give them a new use — I've written a lot of useful DIY articles.
