Taking Shorter Showers

I am guilty of often taking much longer showers than I should, often until the water runs cold. On some days, I even shower close to 20 minutes, which is not necessary for hygiene and extremely wasteful of fresh water. I almost always have the hot water flowing at maximum power, which is also very wasteful. So, when it was time for the DOT project, I decided it was time to change my habits.

I have now started timing precisely the amount of time I spend in the shower each day and recording it here so I can use this information to figure out how much water I’ve used. My goal: Keep every shower under four minutes and only shower once a day. I will also turn down the flow rate and the temperature later in the project. If I do this I will more than half my average water consumption and lessen my negative impact on the environment.

Although water may seem like a simple commodity that simply flows out of the tap, wasted water has many negative effects on the world around us and it is a precious resource that millions of people don’t have easy access to. Untreated wastewater can be disastrous for environments, and when you waste water in your shower you are diverting it from other vital uses, such as agriculture.

I hope you will follow me on my journey towards improving my daily habits to lessen my environmental impact on the world. I recorded my baseline last week so I can see my progress and I have been taking shorter showers for about a week now. I have made a lot of progress towards lessening my shower time and I will try to maintain this habit even after the DOT project has finished.