How to Save Water Without a Shorter Shower

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Hello hello friend!

We are BACK today with another edition of Small Change Big Impact — our monthly mini-series within Make Waves Monday where we highlight just one small change that can have a big impact for the planet…without much thought or effort.

This month’s tip is honestly one of the easiest ones — switch to a low-flow shower head.

✨ Now if you live in an apartment and think this one won’t apply to you…stay with me!

I’m gonna keep this one short and sweet, so without further ado…

Let’s dive in 👇

Shorter showers are great and all…

…but letsbehonest…long showers are just so dang nice.

Many moons ago, long before A Drop in the Ocean was even a spark of an idea, I attended a national conference for zoo and aquarium professionals.

I spent four days surrounded by zoo and aquarium conservation leaders from across North America, who all came together to share their best tips for reducing both their institution’s footprint, and encouraging their visitors to take sustainability action in their own lives.

In one particularly inspiring presentation, Elizabeth (who has since gone on to become the Managing Director of Project Drawdown) shared an activity that her institution created to demonstrate to visitors the impact that everyday actions have on the planet — and how they were encouraging practical action steps to reduce those impacts.

During her presentation, Elizabeth said, “We need to stop telling people to take shorter showers, and instead encourage them to switch to a low-flow shower head.”

Because you see, we all love our long, hot showers. 

Myself included 🙋♀️

I cannot tell you how many times I’ve tried to take 5-minute showers. Every time I tell myself I’m gonna do it, the timer goes off and I’ve hardly even washed my hair.

And who wants to end their shower with a timer buzzing?? So unpleasant.

Elizabeth flipped the common messaging on its head.

“Instead of telling people to cut their showers in half, show them how a low-flow shower head can cut their water use in half.”

Same shower time. Half the water use.

Freaking brilliant. And easy-freaking-peasy.

How much of a difference does switching to a low-flow shower head really make?

Did you know that showers are responsible for 17% of residential indoor water use?

The amount of water that we use each year in the United States just for showers could supply all of New York AND New Jersey for a WHOLE YEAR 😳

And because shower water use is correlated with energy use to heat the water, using less water means using less energy, too.

Switching to low-flow water fixtures is even listed as a “worthwhile” solution to mitigating climate change by Project Drawdown! (In fairness, it’s pretty low on the list, but it is on the list, nonetheless!)

✨ According to the EPA, the average family can save about 2,700 gallons of water and 330 kWh of electricity every year just by switching to a low-flow shower head. 

That’s like not driving from San Francisco to Santa Barbara…every year. Just in one household!

✨ That means if every household in the US switched to low-flow shower heads, we would save nearly 349 billion gallons of water and 42.6 billion kWh of electricity.

That’s the same energy savings as taking 3.9 million cars off the road for an entire year, and saves the same amount of water as more than 31,700 Georgia Aquariums…EVERY YEAR.

✨ Bringing it a little closer to home, at the time this post was written, we had 3,687 email subscribers. If just HALF of those EcoWarriors switched to a low-flow shower head, we would collectively save nearly 5 million gallons of water and 608,000 kWh of electricity.

That’s like not filling 7½ Olympic swimming pools and taking 55 cars completely off the road. Just from half of this small but mighty community!!

And THAT, my friend, is something to dance about 💃

And, yes, if you live in an apartment, you can do this too!

Apartment living often means that you’re limited in the changes you can make, and how sustainable your home can really be.

But the great thing about switching out fixtures like these is that they’re not permanent!

You can install a low-flow shower head, stash the standard one in a cabinet, and when it comes time to move out, re-install the standard shower head and take the more efficient one with you.

Rinse and repeat.

Pun intended 🤓

You’ll save money on your utility bills, and won’t lose out on the initial investment when you move.

Plus, these shower heads don’t have to be expensive!

Depending on where you live and your utility provider, you may even be able to get some money back for low-flow fixtures. Just search “[your utility provider] rebates”.

💡 If you’re in Tacoma, you can event get a free one mailed to you — along with a bunch of other energy-saving swaps! My partner and I used this program a couple of years ago and it really truly was as easy as it sounds, with no catch.

No up-front investment, save money every month on your utility bills, and it’s all apartment-friendly!

I mean really…is there anything better??

So I’m curious, friend… Have you made the switch to a low-flow shower head yet? What’s your experience been like? 

Comment below and lemme know! 💙

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