Shower power

Home

Shower power

Take shorter showers

Impact

Effort

What

James Bond took cold showers to 'harden himself up' and the Spartans thought warm water was for the weak and unmanly. Machismo aside, there are loads of reasons to take shorter, cooler showers: saving time, money, water, energy and improving your health.

On average we spend 8 minutes a day in the shower, making up about 25% of our water usage5 and costing the average family up to £918 a year.1

Why

Whilst water is everywhere – it covers 70% of the Earth’s surface and it seems to fall from the British skies endlessly – most of it is either salty or is locked away in our ice caps. Only 0.007% is available for drinking,2 and we use a lot of that precious 0.007% in our showers.

Even if you live in a famously wet and rainy country like United Kingdom, water is a precious resource that we shouldn’t flush away needlessly. Thanks to high populations and high water use, even the UK is often subject to water shortages - making it the 8th most water scarce country in the EU.3

The average Brit's daily shower can easily use twice as much water than a person in Africa uses in a whole day.4 That's mind-blowing, right?

How

This one isn't rocket science, but there are a surprising number of tips and tricks for how to keep your shower short, sharp, and as environmentally friendly as possible.

  1. Be cool: Turn the heat down, take a slightly cooler shower. End each shower with a cold burst to boost your health.
  2. Tune in: To help you keep your shower to 2 - 3 minutes, we've put together this Spotify Shower Power playlist. One song per shower - can you do it?
  3. Time it: If music (or our music taste) doesn't do it for you, get yourself a free shower timer from Save Water Save Money.
  4. Turn down If your boiler or cistern allows, turn down the water temperature so your shower can’t get so hot in the first place.
  5. Stop it: Try turning the water off in the middle of your shower, Navy style. Turn the water off to lather up, then pop it back on to rinse off.
  6. Flow it: Power showers use a huge amount more water than traditional showers; for the same powerful effect with half the water usage, invest in an aerated or low-flow shower head.
  7. Share it: Yep, you read right. Share your showers with your loved ones and half your water use. Just remember to keep it short!

References

  1. Edie.net (2011)
  2. National Geographic
  3. European Environment Agency
  4. Average daily water use per person in Africa is 47 litres (FAO). The average UK shower is 8 mins (Edie) . Water flow of typical showers varies between 6 and 13 litres / minute Water.org.
  5. Water.org
  6. Michigan State University
  7. Medical News Today
  8. Thames Water
  9. The Guardian
  10. Environment Analyst