Beginning the Challenge

So far, I have been consistently taking shorter and shorter showers. It has become almost a game with myself to race the clock and see if I can get out of the shower in a shorter amount of time than I did the last time. My lowest time thus far has been 4 minutes. The other part of my challenge, lowering the temperature, has been a bit more difficult. It is not easy to take a shower that is not as warm as you would like it to be.

The hardest thing about changing my behavior was seeing myself turn the temperature up in the shower after not being able to be in a slightly colder shower for a couple of minutes. Although I obviously prefer my showers to be hotter, I have to remind myself how much energy I am using by having a hotter shower. The best thing about changing my behavior thus far has been learning to be less wasteful of water in general. I find myself turning off the water as I brush my teeth also, which saves water too. It’s good to know that just a couple of simple actions are actually helping me live a more sustainable lifestyle.

This behavior change has not had too much of an impact on me other than making me more conscious of how much water I’m using. Being temporarily uncomfortable in the shower has not had too much of an impact on me because right after I get out of the shower I generally forget that I was ever uncomfortable to begin with. In the weeks going forward, I will attempt to lower the temperature of my showers for the entire duration of my shower, and I will also continue to keep my showers nice and short. I have also attached a link to a blog that talks about how much energy you can save by taking shorter showers.

http://blog.oregonlive.com/pdxgreen/2010/10/wash_those_long_showers_away_a.html