The carbon footprint of a shower

Four ways to lower the environmental impact of that morning shower

Consider this: every 10-minute shower you take under a conventional showerhead adds about 65 cents* to your monthly power bill.  That’s about $20 per month if you shower daily.

Each shower also results in emissions from generating that power: in New Brunswick, over three kilograms of carbon dioxide; in Nova Scotia (where most power comes from coal), over five kilograms.  Ouch!  (You can check out carbon dioxide emissions per KWH of electricity in your province here or in your state here {fourth page}).

Here are four quick ways you can reduce those costs and emissions:

1. install a low flow shower head, a simple installation that will pay for itself in about a month

2. consider taking shorter showers

3. consider lowering the temperature of your shower a little

4. consider showering every second day instead of daily

*6.6 KWH @ 10 cents/KWH

An audacious dare

Here’s a challenge for you: skip a shower sometime this week.

When I issue that dare to audiences, I often hear a snicker and a murmur that sounds a lot like, “uh-uh”.  Yet if truth be told, most of us shower every morning not because we’re dirty; we shower because it feels good.  It’s our wake-up therapy.

But our daily shower habit is one of the reasons we North Americans use more water per person than anyone on the planet.  And – even worse – much of that water is hot water, heated by fossil fuel-fired electricity.  Our morning feel-good isn’t very good for the planet.

So here’s the challenge again: skip a shower this week, and every week.  You can make a big difference for the planet!

An easy way to use less hot water

The average person reaches for a faucet many times each day.  Without thinking, we often grab the hot water tap – even when we need such a small amount of water that hot water never actually reaches the faucet.

But, regardless of its temperature, every drop that comes out of the hot water tap costs energy (and money).  That’s because every time the hot water tap is opened, hot water starts moving from the hot water tank toward the faucet.  If it is ‘stranded’ somewhere along the way, it just cools and its energy is wasted.

So when you need just a little water, reach for the cold water tap – and save some precious hot water.

Small gadget, big savings

Toilets are a home’s biggest water users.  If you can’t change out your old toilet (which probably uses 13-20 litres per flush) for a new one that uses just 6 litres per flush, here’s a simple and inexpensive alternative.

It’s called a a toilet tank fill cycle diverter – a tiny device that installs in a toilet tank in seconds, and limits the amount of water that flows into the bowl during filling.  It saves water every time you flush – potentially saving over 10,000 litres per toilet per year!

Here’s a three-minute video showing what a diverter is, how it works and how to install it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bhu1PU2Wb8.

You can find plenty of models and suppliers by Googling toilet tank fill cycle diverter.

Two more strategies to save even more water:

- put a brick or bag of water in your toilet tank, so it uses less water every fill-up

- pour a few drops of food coloring into your toilet tank.  If any of the color seeps into the bowl before you next flush, your flapper probably needs to be replaced – a small cost for HUGE water savings.  Here’s a one-minute video showing you how to do it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ejvb5lx5UxE .