Wave (I know its bad, but I’m all out of water puns) Good-bye to the SBC Challenge

When I first read the posts from the other members in my community, I was shocked by two things; I’m really stupid for not thinking about getting a water-proof watch, and that most, if not all of us pretty much used the same techniques, encountered the same barriers, and still felt at least a little torn about whether or not we will continue with out short showering habits even after the challenge has concluded. As far as techniques went, I (for some reason) thought that the best way to time myself in the shower every morning was to use when the custodian came into the bathroom as a time marker. If I always got into the shower at 9:00 and he came in in at 9:06 every morning, I knew that when I heard him, my time was just about up. This was tenuous at best, and often times lead me to go over my allotted time. It worked well enough, I guess, but it would have been way easier to just buy a water-proof watch for $5 dollars instead. In terms of barriers, I appeared to be in the same boat as everyone else. We are all tired, lazy, and heat-loving creatures; the thought of leaving the steaming shower minutes after we just woke up pretty much appealed to no one. However, from the looks of things, it appears that all of us succeeded in our goal; we reduced our shower times (and apparently everyone else thought to decrease their temperatures too, but not one told me. Thanks guys.) and saved a lot of water in the process.

I’m going to be frank about this; being in the Short Shower community really didn’t impact me at all. I guess you could say I have strong convictions, but seeing how everyone else was fairing pretty much had no effect on me and the state of my challenge. I told myself from the beginning that I was going to suck it up and take reasonably timed showers, and seeing my peers struggling or succeeding in the same challenge as me had no effect on me. Some people said that thought the SBC was a miserable experience, that they hated shortening their showers and would go back to their normal times once the challenge was over. However, I will look back on the challenge fondly. I changed an unnecessary behavior for the good of the environment, and I wouldn’t give up the experience of that for a few more minutes in the shower. I enjoyed the challenge, and other people’s opinion one way or the other isn’t going to change that.

Well my legions of faithful readers (a.k.a Professor Brummel), its been a pleasure documenting my experiences during the SBC with all of you. I’d be lying if I said that I won’t miss these writing these weekly blog posts, but I’m sure all of us will find a way to deal with it. Go forth and change the world, eco-warriors.