Conserve Water by Taking “Navy Showers”

I’ve noticed that a lot of this blog includes me admitting things about myself to the internet. For example, I love long, hot showers. Especially in the winter. I like to emerge from them hot pink from the temperature being a little too hot. All of that being said, you might remember that this is a blog about how to lead a socially and environmentally conscious lifestyle. So, what’s a girl to do? 

In preparation for this winter, I googled some information on showering. How many gallons are used in an average 10 minute shower with a regular showerhead. Are you ready? It’s 42 gallons of water. Isn’t that startling? One suggestion that I repeatedly read was to buy a new low-flow shower head. I think this is a great idea – but we’re getting ready to move out of the country so I don’t want to buy anything that I might not be able to take with me.

Now I’m on to finding a way to conserve water while showering with a regular shower head. The main argument that I came across was implementing a “navy shower.” From what I’ve read, water is limited on submarines and ships. So in order to conserve water for drinking and cooking, those on board turn the shower on and soak their bodies. Then they turn the water off and lather with soap and shampoo. Then they turn the shower back on to rinse. I need conditioner – so here I need to turn the water off again and put in the conditioner. Then, there’s time for one more rinse.

On average, I would say I take an 8 to 10 minute shower. I’m primarily basing this off how many songs I usually listen to while showering.  From what I’ve read, it seems perfectly reasonable to get this down to around 4 minutes, or one song. For the past couple of days, I’ve tried the navy shower and timed myself. Each time, I come in a little under 4 minutes.

Today, however, was the real challenge. I ran this morning in 25 degree weather. Usually after a run in the fall (even though it feels like winter), I want to take a long shower to warm myself back up. So, I set my timer this morning and took my shower in 3:43! Is it weird that I’m proud of that?

I think this worked due to me changing my routine a bit. Instead of immediately getting into the shower like I usually do, I stretched inside and got some water. I then picked out what I was going to wear to work and finally got in the shower. You don’t really need to hear that part except to know that I let myself warm up just by being in my apartment before actually going into the bathroom.