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Have shorter, colder showers

Posted By: The crazyy Colombian
Posted On: April 28, 2010

(This idea was originally written as part of the article "How to reduce your carbon footprint" at Reflections of a crazy Colombian; to read the whole article, go to http://tinyurl.com/howto-rcf)

We westerners have developed the habit of staying under a hot, steaming shower for far longer than we need to. Unfortunately, this practice negatively and unnecessarily impacts our level of carbon emmisions. Heating water requires burning of a fuel (either gas at your hot-water tank, or carbon at the power electricity plant), which creates CO2 emissions of Either way, your hot shower creates green-house emissions.

TO change this habit, you don’t need to freeze in the shower every morning. One way to improve the situation is to change the way you calibrate your shower’s temperature. Instead of blasting the hot water until it’s boiling and then gently opening the cold water to arrive to the desired temperature, try to do it the other way around. Turn the shower on by first opening the cold-water tap, then slowly heating it by turning the hot-water tap. Stop at the first moment the temperature is comfortable. And stay in the shower for no more than 3 minutes.

If you are like me, you will also live in a city where there are water restrictions. Adopting the habit of colder, shorter showers will not only reduce carbon emissions , it will also contribute to saving on your water consumption.