17. Saving Water and Energy in the Shower

I will use low-flow showerheads, water collection buckets, only shower when needed, and will fix any shower leaks.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? 

According to the Department of Energy (DOE), without using a low flow showerhead, an average shower uses 10 gallons of hot water (by comparison, an average dishwasher only uses 6 gallons). This is a lot of water and a lot of energy. In the US, almost 1.3 trillion gallons of water are used for showering each year. 

There is also a lot of shower water that is wasted while waiting for it to get hot. NRDC estimates that 10% of a shower’s water goes down the drain, without benefitting anyone.

How often should we shower, anyway? Experts at Harvard and elsewhere have concluded that showering a few times per week is plenty for most people, is better for your health, and saves lots of water and energy.

Have you ever had a little shower head leak? Astonishingly, a showerhead leak of one drop per second wastes over 1,660 gallons of water a year.  

Let’s fix this!

TAKING ACTION! 

• Use low-flow showerheads. As DOE notes, you can buy some quality low-flow showerheads for very little money and achieve water savings of up to 60%. Check out this site for “Best Low-Flow Shower Heads of 2021,” which includes, among other possibilities Earth 3-Spray Showerhead, which only emits 1.25 gallons per minute and costs less than $10. Plus it is easy and quick to change to low-flow showerheads! Check out this EPA YouTube video.

• Use water collection buckets. When you are waiting for hot water in your shower, collect the cold water in a bucket. Then you can use the water for watering your plants (inside or outside), or use it to flush the toilet (here’s how). Very inexpensive 5-gallon buckets from a hardware store work great.

• Only shower when needed. In China, approximately 50% of people bathe only twice a week.

• Fix any showerhead leak quickly. There are lots of good guides and YouTube videos to help you do this.

ADDITIONAL MOTIVATIONAL THOUGHTS

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in an average U.S. household, you can save around 2,700 gallons of water annually and more than 330 kilowatt hours of electricity (enough to power a house for 11 days) by installing just one low-flow showerhead.

Every shower you do not take saves water, energy, greenhouse gas emissions and money — and helps your immune system do its work.