One thing nearly everyone of us likes to do is shower. There is something about the shower. It is so relaxing that it can be easy to spend 20 minutes in the shower after a really long or stressful days. However, while that may be the best thing for your body and mind, but it is certainly not for the environment.

As we begin to face the awareness that water supplies may be drying up, and that water conservation may become the norm, we are going to have start looking for ways to conserve water, especially in the shower. Thankfully, there are ways to conserve, and reuse water in the shower, as my wife and I have found out as part of Our Green Year.

First of all, you can time your showers as we do. Our shower-head releases 9.5 liters of water per minute. So, in a 20 minute shower, we use 190 liters of water. However, by limiting our showers to only five minutes,  you will use only 47.5 liters of water. That means we will save 142.5 liters of water per person, or 285 liters of water for the two of us. To make sure we stick to it, we have a timer in the bathroom that buzzes when five minutes is up.

Second of all, you can do things like wash up some clothes while you shower. Obviously, they can't be large things, but a quick wash and rinse of a shirt (then drying it outside) means you won't be using the washer and dryer for that shirt, which saves water and energy.

Third, you can take a bucket into the shower. We all wait for our water to heat up so we can have a warm shower, and that means wasted water for about 30 seconds. Why not put a bucket under the tap and turn the faucet on. Then, when your temperature is right, take the bucket out and use it in the garden to water your plants. You don't want to have the bucket in the shower with you because soap and shampoo may get into the water and pollute your garden.

Lastly, conserving water in the shower can be a lot of fun. If you and your partner want to use half the water you usually do, then you can shower together. Who said conserving water wasn't fun?