Conserve: Water in the Shower

I am all about greening up my life style, but I am not about to suggest that we all stop showering or something. I want a clean Earth, not a smelly one. So I decided that I would go out onto the world wide web and bring back for you the best water conservation tips I could find about saving water in the shower.

#1. The number one most important tip to saving water in your shower is to install a low flow shower head. You can find them at The Shower Head Store, Evolve Shower Heads, or you might even head over to your local Home Depot or Lowe's to see what they have if you don't feel like ordering your stuff online.

#2. The next thing you should consider doing is using a bucket to catch the water that runs before your water warms up. You can use this water for any number of things like watering your container garden or flushing your toilet. Personally, I'm going to use it to water the garden ... when I get it started.

#3. Also, consider shortening your shower as much as your can. Even a minute or two will help. Some ideas to shorten your time under the water are ...

1. Cut out the conditioner.
   
1. I've stopped using it in the shower and just use a pray on when I get out. It works great and I don't have to wait two minutes before I rise it out.
2. Shave out of the shower.
   
1. This might not be a problem for you guys out there, but when I shave my legs in the shower I usually end up adding 5-6 minutes to my overall shower time. Use some of the water you collect in your shower bucket for your shaving. You can warm it up on the stove and off you go!
3. Multi task when you can.
   
1. I put on my body wash and then put on my face wash while I'm rising off my back. It works great and saves me a little time.
4. Don't mess around.
   
1. When I was a kid I could take 45 minute showers because I wanted to play in the warm water. If you want to enjoy the water and take your time, consider taking a bath instead. At least that way you're using a fixed amount of water instead of having a running flow the whole time.
   

I use these tips myself and I can say that I have cut my shower time down by about 4 minutes. It's great in the mornings because I hate getting up early. So the faster I can shower, the later I can sleep. It's incentive enough for me!

Want more ways to conserve water in the bathroom? Check out my next article where we take conservation bathroom wide!