The Navy Shower

Several better-read (but not better-written!) online green-news destinations (HuffPo Green, Planet Green) have lately discussed a new way — based on a decades-old way — to save water.  It’s called the Navy Shower.

Due to an obvious shortage of freshwater on Navy ships (at least in the past), dirty sailors would get in their tiny shower stalls, run enough water to get wet, then shut the water off and soap up all over.  Then they would turn the water back on, rinse off, get dressed and it’s man your battle stations!

This technique can also be used by us hardy souls looking to help out with the Earth’s short supply of fresh water.  A regular shower can consume up to 60 gallons of water, while a navy shower can use as little as 3 gallons.  That’s a lot of saved water — up to 15,000 gallons a year.  Not enough to fill an average backyard pool, but nonetheless quite a bit.

Still, there probably aren’t many people who are willing to give up their 10 minutes of hot spray in the morning.  For some, it’s the difference between a good day and a bad one.  I myself have not tried this yet.  And we can’t forget the minute-or-so it takes to heat my water up in the morning.

But I promise to try the old maritime shower routine and see how it goes.  Perhaps I’ll ask the wife to join, to try and make it more fun.  Maybe I’ll report back.  Anyone else?

(Huffington Post Green, Planet Green)