Ready, set, shower!

Woah. Not only do these calculators provide a look into my consumption, but also a realization of “how the other half lives.” I am aware other individuals do not live close to my lifestyle, but rather I never put it in terms of consumption. 5 Earths for everyone to live my lifestyle? My 21 tons of CO₂ eq/year compared to the world average per person at 4.9? Ironically I can donate now to “offset my carbon footprint” with $285. Shockingly, I do not think that $285 will cover anywhere near the amount of damage CO₂ emissions create. On top of, this the gap between the average emissions per person and my own are extraordinary.

So what to change? I first considered cutting meat out of my diet, but it was not the biggest contributor to my consumption. I thought about decreasing the amount of driving from my house to campus. But I then recalled the multiple times I fell on ice while walking up/down the hill. I saw this goal as short sighted because I would likely not stick to it by finding some excuse (rain, sore, tired, ect). So I should choose to cut down on shower time. Shower after swim practice and another in the morning before class. I know I cannot possibly cut out these showers, but I can eliminate the time procrastinating getting out of the shower. We all do it when we do not want to start our day or are simply ignorant of the time we spend in the shower (when your hands start to prune its time to get out).

The biggest challenges I foresee include negligence and water running duration. In the morning I could easily forget that I need to keep track of my time in the shower due to grogginess. Extended shower negligence could also result from that moment where you realize that you still have a glop of conditioner in your hair that needs to be rinsed out. Over the next few weeks I can imagine that I will be tired of these fast paced showers. When accounting for water running duration, who really wants a preemptive entrance into a luke-warm shower? Not me.