water down the drain. too much environmental pain.
Long, hot, showers produce CO2
One day I was showering and the shower head fell off. I picked it up and saw the numbers 1.75 GPA (gallons per minute). I didn’t really know what these numbers meant at the time but now I have cracked the code!
A few weeks ago, a project about how we can reduce our impact on the environment was introduced in my 8th grade science class. For my Do One Thing (DOT) I decided to take shorter showers. In preparing for this project I learned that one way to know the flow rate of your shower is to look for the number of gallons per minute etched into the shower head itself. Boom! That’s what those numbers I noticed on my shower head were for!
Do you think that taking long showers does not affect the environment at all? Well, yes, taking long showers is actually bad for the environment. I thought that my hour-long showers didn’t impact the environment. Those relaxing showers. Those choking numbers of wasted gallons of water. Some things that I didn’t know is that long, hot showers release large amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere. It takes energy to heat your water tank and keep it hot. A five-minute shower creates 2.25 lbs of CO2 and a ten-minute shower 4.5 lbs of CO2. My long hour showers released around 27 pounds of CO2 gas.
Fun facts according to the USGS:
It takes up to 2 gallons of water to brush your teeth for 1 minute (if you leave water running).
It takes 1.6 to 4 gallons to flush a toilet.
It takes 10 to 25 gallons of water to shower for five minutes.
Come help my class and me today. Do something about climate change and pollution. Give us a hand. The environment depends on us helping it and taking care of it. You can help recycle, use a drink bottle (no plastic), turn off the lights when you don’t use them, say no to plastic bags and BYOB (bring your own bag), and lastly help pick up litter on the streets. Or, like me, you can decide to take shorter showers.
