Ask Umbra’s video advice on showering 10

Comments View as Flat

1. 

   Cacaoatl Posted 5:25 pm
   15 Jun 2009

   Actually, I don't shower every day. I shower every few days. Showering every day is uneccessary and bad for the skin and the planet. When I shower, I shower "Navy style": get wet, turn off water, lather up, rinse.

   Permalink

2. 

   leahs133 Posted 6:51 am
   16 Jun 2009

   Try washing only your hair under the bathtub faucet, and then just using a washcloth for other areas.....saves on a day or two of showering.

   Permalink

3. 

   GreeningTX Posted 1:26 pm
   16 Jun 2009

   1. In the summer, shower with cold water. Exhilirating.2. The rest of the year, capture the water that flows while you're waiting for the hot water to arrive. Use it later to flush the toilet, bathe the dog, water the plants.3. Try what one of my students does: capture most of the shower water in a basin for subsequent use.4. Push for building code changes that would allow gray-water systems to be installed during new construction or renovation.

   Permalink

4. 

   ewendt Posted 3:44 pm
   16 Jun 2009

   Is there an easy way to tell if your showerhead is low-flow? Mine has a gallon-per-minute rating (2.something gpm I think). Can I trust this rating? What's "good enough?" Do I have to get a bucket, graduated cylinder, and a stopwatch, or is there a simpler way?

   Permalink

   1. 

      WaterConsNYC Posted 3:52 am
      18 Jun 2009

      The current Federal standard is 2.5 gallons per minute (gpm).  There are standard showerheads available at 2.2 gpm, 2.0 gpm and as low as 1.0 gpm.  The US EPA's WaterSense program, which is the current standard-setter for water-efficient but well-performing equipment ( www.epa.gov/watersense ) is working on a voluntary standard that will have a lower flow rate but probably also specific showerhead design features.  Showering is very subjective and what actual flow you'll get from a showerhead depends in part on water pressure.  "Pressure compensating" showerheads deliver the same flow over a relatively wide pressure range.  Personally, I use a handheld showerhead.  It delivers water directly to your body instead of having much of the water miss your body and so lets you use a lower flow rate head and get the job done efficiently.  Second, they come with all kinds of useful and fun massager settings. 

      Permalink

5. 

   dobegrama Posted 6:31 pm
   16 Jun 2009

   where do we get the non-vinyl shower curtains? are they water proof?

   Permalink

   1. 

      GreeningTX Posted 7:52 am
      17 Jun 2009

      A Google search will turn up lots of sources. Or you can convert an old bedsheet. Any of these will easily keep water from penetrating.

      Permalink

      1. 

         dobegrama Posted 8:00 am
         17 Jun 2009

         since when are bed sheets water proof? by the end of a shower they would be saturated. i know because i used a bed sheet for a custom shower curtain i made. trust me, it is NOT waterproof. i have to use a liner.

         Permalink

6. 

   consciousmom Posted 8:40 am
   17 Jun 2009

   Try showering (or bathing) and stopping up the drain - then use a siphon (found at carefree spa) to drain water out the bathroom window into a collection barrel that can later be used for watering the garden.

   Permalink

7. 

   Yoyo Posted 10:27 am
   18 Jun 2009

   GreeningTX, you're on the right track!  Here in Victoria, Australia, we've had a drought so long we've stopped counting the years ... so now many of us use a bucket or two in the shower to capture almost all the water from the shower.  The showers have low-flow heads, and we limit the time under them - four minutes is ample for a healthy person.)At home, we even keep a plastic bowl in each handbasins to catch hand- and face-washing water for flushing the toilet.  We also have another bowl in the second sink, which captures vegetable rinse water; this goes straight in to the compost bucket (which takes ALL non-fatty kitchen waste), which is kept under the sink, then emptied daily into the compost heap.  Between these measures and a couple of rainwater tanks, we've been able to keep our garden green AND productive throughout the drought.
   Good on you for encouraging your students to use water responsibly - keep it up!

   Permalink