You can make your shower more sustainable by being more conscious of the amount of time you spend and the amount of water you use. You could also consider investing in a water-saving shower.
Conserving water should be a primary concern in all households. As global warming continues, it raises increasing worry over our dwindling resources of freshwater.
The average American uses approximately 15.8 gallons of water during an 8-minute shower. Although taking a shower is more sustainable than taking a bath, you should still be conscious of the potential water waste you are creating.
Here are a few tips on how to make your shower more sustainable.
Let’s get started.
Take shorter showers
The most practical means of making your shower more sustainable would be to reduce your allotted shower time. You can do this by timing your showers or showering more quickly.
If all average Americans cut their shower time by just 1 minute, they could save a whopping 165 gallons of water per year!
By simply putting a timer on your phone every time you shower, you can reduce your water usage by over a half. Alternatively, you could make a playlist that only lasts so long and be ready to leave the shower when it ends.
If you could get your shower time down to the 4-minute mark, you could save approximately 8 gallons of water daily.
Stay conscious of the time you spend washing. Try to be proactive with your time and wash efficiently. Avoid shaving in the shower when you can.
Consider keeping your shower temperature low
Not only will warm showers help you keep energy use down, but they will also make your shower more sustainable as you will likely take shorter showers.
Spending 8 minutes in a hot shower is detrimental to the environment. In addition to keeping your shower time down, you should also aim to take milder showers.
Taking a lukewarm shower is both good for the environment and is also a sufficient temperature for cleanliness. If you keep your shower lukewarm, you are also less likely to spend a long time enjoying the warmth.
But if you like long and hot baths, you can also consider using Oasense showerhead. With Oasense, you can indulge in your shower at your desired temperature while still being eco-friendly. The showerhead prevents water wastage by lowering the water flow any time you step away from the shower.
Collect excess water
Depending on the quality of your shower, it can take a while for the water temperature to be just right. The wait causes a lot of excess water to run down completely unused. Avoid this by catching as much water as possible. Or use our intelligent showerhead that heavily reduces water flow if you’re not under the shower.
If you don’t have enough space to fit a bucket under your shower at all times, be sure to have a bucket at least at the start when the shower is heating up.
Some showerheads can use up to 2.5 gallons of water per minute. If, for example, your shower takes 30 seconds to warm up, there could be upwards of a gallon lost.
You could reuse these excess gallons elsewhere in your house. This helps you minimize wastage, as well as render your shower more sustainable.
You could use this excess water to water your plants, wash your car, or any other reason that you may require clean water.
Turn off the tap when not in use
To make your shower more sustainable, only use water when it is needed. After initially soaking your body, water is only necessary for rinsing the soap off. You could cut the shower when you are applying soap.
Turning the shower off makes soap application easier while saving a few gallons’ worth of water.
Use 2-in-1 hair cleansing agents
Cut down your shower time by using 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner products. The 2-in-1 hair cleansers will make your shower more eco-friendly as you’ll be using less water to rinse out each product individually.
There are plenty of 2-in-1 products available which can do as good a job as each product can individually. They could save you over a gallon of water per shower.
Switch to an eco-friendly shower
Make your shower more sustainable by investing in good quality, eco-friendly showerhead. The shower can reduce your water wastage massively as it dispenses only the right amount that you need. Or take it a step further with an eco-friendly showerhead that cuts down water flow whenever you step away from the shower.
Try an eco-friendly showerhead, like Oasense, which can turn the water flow on and off automatically. With multi-sensor perception, the Oasense shower reduces the water flow to 10% when the user steps away and gives 100% full pressure flow when the users presence is detected.
An initiative such as this can save up to 50% of the water you would otherwise lose when using a regular shower head.
Even if your current showerhead is working well, buying an eco-friendly showerhead will always be a good investment. You will save the environment and money on water bills in the long run.
Switching to an eco-friendly shower is one of the most effortless ways of making your shower more sustainable, as it does the work for you!
Use soap instead of shower gel
Soap takes less time to wash of than body wash shower gel. If you want to shorten your wash time to make your shower eco-friendly, invest in good-quality soap with a neutral PH.
Soap won’t create lather like shower gel does, meaning that it is far easier to wash off, requiring less soap product.
The manufacture and packaging of soap bars are also more eco-friendly as they use minimal energy compared to the production of shower gels.
Take care of leaks immediately
A sustainable shower is a well-maintained shower. Your leaking shower may not seem like that big of a deal, but the amount of water wasted through the leak over time can add up.
Although a small leak in your showerhead may seem minor, the amount of waste builds up over time, especially if left broken.
If a leaky faucet can waste upwards of 90 gallons of water per day, think how much a leaky shower head can release. The average U.S. household wastes 10,000 gallons annually through leakages in taps, pipes, and showers.
You should create a habit of regularly checking your showerhead, as well as your pipes and faucets, for any sign of leakage. Leakage could be the difference between your shower being sustainable and unsustainable.
Conclusion
To make your shower more environmentally friendly, you need to make proactive habits and investments to conserve as much water as possible daily.
In terms of habits, you could shorten your shower time to 4 minutes. You could also turn off the shower when it’s not in use, collect all the excess water in a bucket for reusing, and keep your shower temperature lukewarm whenever possible. You should also check for leaks constantly and fix them as soon as they appear.
In terms of eco-friendly investments, you could use 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner or buy a PH-neutral soap to reduce lather and the amount of water required.
Lastly, invest in the Oasense eco-luxury shower to save more than 50% water with each shower. This intelligent shower senses whenever you step out of the shower to minimize the water flow. It ensures sustainability with every shower without having to compromise your shower experience.
