Could inCENTives do the job?

Now that we are at the halfway point of the sustainable behavior challenge, I am happy to say that this class assignment has had no serious setbacks on my well-being or day-to-day routine. Looking back on my past shower behaviors, I noticed that I have improved. Maybe I haven’t improved as much as I would have liked, but enough to say that I have successfully lowered my shower times. My original barriers for taking shorter showers still arise, but I have learned to work around them. For instance, I have decided to not shower in the mornings anymore and solely stick to afternoons and evenings because I am less likely to be a 10-minute zombie just standing there doing nothing. This new transition is also beneficial during the winter so that my hair won’t freeze on the walk to breakfast.

To keep myself aligned with my set goal of shower time reduction by fifteen percent each week, I wear a watch. Occasionally I’d be done with my shower in eight minutes (which is wicked fast for my standards) or maybe it would be back to my original fifteen minutes. This sporadic behavior seems common when attempting to change behaviors because we all slip-up from time to time. Attempting to reduce the amount of slip-ups, I will increase my incentives for shorter showers. An incentive for cutting down time each week would be a “treat myself” holiday gift that will be well deserved…maybe a new sweater or dress?

Efficiency is something I strive for everyday. I believe that taking short and efficient showers will also make my day-to-day life efficient. If I am productive in the shower and get out within seven or eight minutes, this will give me an extra seven or eight minutes to get ready for dinner or an evening out. To test my efficiency, I will attempt to take a seven-minute shower, and if I’m not out within my allotted time, then I will be forced to switch the hot water setting all the way to the coldest setting. This race against the clock could actually make for an exciting yet ridiculous shower, but it will force me to change. Who knows how many times I’ll partake in this game, but it’s worth a try. My original plan to take a “polar-bear” shower once a week never occurred because I didn’t have the self will-power, however, with this new game, my shorter and hotter showers will be more eco-friendly than a twelve-minute cold shower.

This sustainable behavior challenge will probably stick with me for the rest of my freshman year and into the summer, but the likelihood of me taking seven-minute showers for the years to come is unlikely. I’d like to believe I would keep it up, but barriers and the lack of incentives are hard to combat.

Picture: http://www.eco-novice.com/2012/03/world-water-day-2012.html