How to Take a Shower

Now, I'm the last person to tell ANYBODY how to take a shower. I bathe maybe twice a week, following the gauge, "do I work in a coal mine? No." Or, "do I work on a farm? No." And that helps me determine whether or not I need to bathe daily. See, these are very taxing, sweaty, jobs to have, and unless I come home every day caked in coal dust or earth I don't think I need to take a bath.

But I think we need to start thinking about how we shower in this country, especially in thirsty parts of the country like Florida. That's why I'm advocating not only less frequent showers, but showers in which you leave the water on to get wet, turn off the water, soap up the parts that need to be washed, and then turn on the water again to get rinsed off.

Now I know that less frequent showers evokes an "eww" response in many people (the more people I talk to the more I realize how outlier my bathing habits are) so I'm not saying you HAVE to reduce your showers per week. A blogger I used to follow was part of the 90% Solution movement and only spent 3 minutes a day using water for her daily ablutions. That equates to about 3 gallons of water, depending on your water pressure. You have to go with what you're comfortable with - if you don't like the thought of going without a shower each day, at least consider shortening your showers. I've read in places that you can use a timer, although that seems kind of lame, because what happens if you are in the middle of the most intense part of your shower (hair) and the timer goes off?

Set a limit and stick to it. Whether it's taking a long, hot shower twice a week (which is my current desire) or taking shorter daily showers, find what's comfortable for you and start conserving water. There. I said it. CONSERVE!!!