navy showers

A week or so ago, a friend sent this link to a shower head with a toggle switch that turns the water on and off -- so you can cut off the water in the middle of the shower, when it's not needed, to reduce the amount of water used.

At some point in high school -- back in the 1980s -- I got myself into the habit of turning off the faucet in the sink while I was brushing my teeth. I'm not sure what prompted this, but by college this was second-nature. After graduating from Duke, some friends and I filtered cross-country to the modified desert of Los Angeles -- where water consumption was very much a concern. After a few months there, I was having lunch with one of these friends, and over California pizza he admitted that he was still running the faucet while shaving and brushing his teeth. What struck me was how foreign a concept that seemed to me. He said he was working on changing this habit. I just shook my head and smiled.

Last year, while writing an article for the Portland Tribune about home energy audits, I was talking with an energy auditor about water consumption and flow restrictors. That's when I realized that I'd picked up another habit somewhere along the way, of shutting off the faucet while soaping up my hands. I know I've not always done this, but I don't remember making a conscious decision to change my hand-washing behavior. Did this green habit develop organically, as part of a natural progression toward more eco-friendly living? I really don't know. Not a bad habit to have, though.

So I gave serious thought to this product that my friend was recommending. Of course, I really like my shower-head -- one of those things on a hose that makes much easier work of rinsing out my hair, or washing the dog -- and I've already got a flow-restrictor on it. So what was keeping me from just reaching down to shut off the shower myself, without a special toggle? Nothing.

About a week ago, I started taking these "navy showers" -- first instituted on military ships where limited fresh water supplies had to last a lot of people for a long time. It was strange at first, but an easy habit to get into. Yes, it can get a bit chilly soaping up in the shower without the water running, and I'm not sure how feasible this will be come winter. And yes, the water -- at least in my shower -- comes back on colder than it had been, and needs time to warm up again.

Also, the dog gets confused. She hears the shower shut off mid-way through, and thinks I'm done. She comes trotting into the bathroom to greet freshly showered Jen, only to hear the water get turned back on again. So she lies down on the tile and sighs. Loudly.

I won't personally see a reduction in my water bill, since my community pays into a communal account, but the end result is still the same -- reduced water consumption, even on a small scale, does make a difference.

The Incredible Head Power Shower Showerhead does look like a good product -- and a good buy at $5 -- for folks who will use it, but I think I'll stick to my "manual override" for the time being. Plus, by not buying the new shower head, I'm not paying for or using manufacturing and shipping resources that I don't really need.

What are your water conservation tips?