Make Your Shower Greener | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: Make Your Shower Greener | Previous Challenge Entry
By Karen Lucille Gross
01/21/17
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Back in Grandma's day, she used to tell Grandpa "Soap is cheap and water's free!" to get him to take a bath more than once a week. The only green she had to think about was on the back of Grandpa's neck. Most folks had a well out back, so the water was free. To get running water in the house, Grandma would send a kid or two out to get a bucketful from the well.

Now times have changed. Most of us have running water in abundance, pumped right to the plumbing fixtures in our homes. But it isn't free anymore. Most folks have to pay for the water as it comes in, and then pay municipal taxes so we can send the water back as sewage. Our communities have to do a bunch of expensive treatments before giving it back to the planet. "Going green" doesn't refer to the stains on anyone's shirt collar anymore. These days it means to use less water.

For most of my fifty-one years, I was in the habit of showering every morning, using more hot water than Grandma used in a week. I have never been quick with my shower time. I am one of those people who could spend ten minutes getting the cap off the shampoo bottle before noticing that it has a flip top. I saw nothing wrong with letting the hot water run while I read the ingredient list on the conditioner bottle. If I had time, I would have a shower and then fill up my over-sized jetted tub for a luxurious tubby time.

In this decade, I have mended some of my wasteful carbon footprint leaving ways. I discovered to my shock and amazement that I can turn the water off while I shave my legs, and just turn the water on to rinse my razor after every two or three strokes. Then I turn it on to shampoo my hair, rinse and repeat; and then off again while I use my scrubby thing to soap and scrub all over, and put conditioner in my hair. On once more to rinse, and I am clean. Ergo, a green shower.

With all the water I save, I feel justified in filling the tub once or twice a week for luxury. I can even throw in some eucalyptus oil and have an actual green bath. It is relatively easy to be green.

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