Take Shorter Showers
Water is one of our most precious finite resources—we literally can’t live without it. Did you know up to 20% of our indoor water usage is spent in the shower? There are a few easy ways to cut back on water use in the shower, saving a bit more for other uses—and the fish!
Your Impact
Action Steps & Tips
Introduction
Did you know a 10 minute shower can use up to 50 gallons of water? It also takes a lot of energy to heat the water. Shortening your shower time just a bit can really make a big difference. The good news—there are a number of ways to save water in the shower that won’t throw a wrench in your routine. Follow these tips and tricks and you can get just as clean in less time!
1Tips for shorter showers
Time yourself. Not sure how long you shower now? Time yourself to get a baseline. The average American showers for approximately eight minutes. With a standard flow shower-head that’s about 30 gallons of water, and about half that with a low-flow showerhead. Taking even a few minutes off of your shower time can save 5-10 gallons of water. Multiplied by all your showers in a year, that really adds up!
Set a goal. After you figure out your baseline, set a goal to reduce your shower time by several minutes. Five minutes is a good goal, but if that is too much at first, start off with a goal of reducing 1-2 minutes per shower. Continue timing yourself until you get a feel for your new timing. You can use your phone or a kitchen timer in the bathroom to help keep track of the minutes, or, if you listen to music while showering, count the number of songs played. An unsung bonus—cut your shower time back by four minutes a day, and you gain an entire day every year!
Be prepared. One easy way to shorten your time in the shower is to be prepared. Have everything you need ready and on hand, so you won’t spend time looking for something after the hot water is already flowing. Soap, shampoo, loofah, towel—check! Towels ready—check!
Know your shower dial. If it takes a few tries to get the water flow and temperature just right, consider marking the valves to signal the correct position. Saving seconds can actually save gallons. Don’t turn the water on until you are ready to get in.
Shave before you shower. It may seem tempting to shave while you’re in the shower—you’re going to get wet anyway, right? However, the truth is, you can save a lot of water by shaving before you shower. A good way to shave while conserving water is to have a smaller amount of water set aside in a bowl for rinsing the razor, instead of running it under the tap. Don’t worry about leftover bits of lather if you’re heading for the shower afterward.
Go Navy! Since there’s a limited amount of water on naval ships, saving water is extremely important. Sailors developed a technique for saving water now called the Navy shower. Here’s how it works: hop in the shower and get wet all over, turn off the water while soaping up, and then turn the water back on to rinse off. Navy showers can use as little as 4 gallons of water! And you also might save money on coffee—it will really wake you up!
2Think about when to shower
Health benefits. Every time we shower we strip the skin of both natural oils and healthy bacteria. Showering too often can make your skin dry and itchy and makes some people more prone to problems like eczema. Showering less can actually make skin look and feel healthier. Also, like our gut, our skin has healthy bacteria that strengthen our immune system and help us fight disease.
Consider your needs. How often you need to shower depends on a number of factors. One is your skin type. If you have dry skin, you are probably ok to shower a bit less often. If your skin is very oily, a daily shower may make sense. Another factor is your daily activity and climate. If you have a physical, labor-intensive job, go to the gym daily, or live in a hot, humid climate, a daily shower probably makes sense.
Fight the flu. Another consideration is catching the flu. If you ride the subway often, go to the gym daily or have a job where you come into contact with many strangers or children, a daily shower might lower your risk of getting sick during the cold and flu season.
If none of these considerations apply to you, it might work to shower a bit less. Check with your doctor or dermatologist for more information and suggestions on what will work best for you.
Sudsing your locks. Just like showering, it is also great to think about how often to wash your hair. Washing your hair daily can strip it of natural oils, just like our skin. Proper care to remove dirt and oils is important, but may not be required as often as you think. Like your skin, how often depends on a number of factors.
Some hair stylists recommend that if you have normal to dry hair you can wash a few times a week. If you have oily hair, you could wash more often, maybe every other day or daily. If you have tightly curled or coarse hair, shampooing once per week may be plenty as oil tends to build up more slowly. On the other hand, if your hair is straight and fine, oil builds up more quickly and once every other day or even daily makes sense. Oil build up is also increased if you work out daily or live in a hot humid climate. Talk with your hairstylist or dermatologist for more information about what will work best for you.
Finally, if you use a conditioner in the shower, suds up and wash your body while your conditioner is working to save time. If you leave your conditioner on for more than 1-2 minutes, consider conditioning outside the shower then just rinsing your hair when you're done.
3Post a Reminder
Changing routines can take a bit of commitment and reminders to do your new habit! Post a note on your bathroom mirror to remind yourself to be prepared and keep your shower time down. Also, sharing tips and ideas with other members in your household will help everyone remember new water-saving goals. Make it fun, make it a game! The person with the shortest showering time that week gets a prize…
Extra credit - Install low-flow showerhead. Save even more water with a low-flow showerhead. A good quality low-flow showerhead will provide just as good water delivery and could save up to $50/year in heating costs. Check out the Install Low Flow action to get started.