Slow Down the Flow

Ya'll want to see how my last week went?

Yeah.  It was pretty miserable here, on the Mexico border.

Anywho, despite the unwelcomed inches of precipitation last week, we actually do live in a desert!  Most of the year it's extremely dry, and always very dusty.  According to Wiki, we get less than 10in of rainfall each year, and with almost 700,000 people in this city, water isn't something we should take for granted.  I live a couple miles from the Rio Grande, and do you know how much water is in it?

It's a trickle.  If I wanted to cross it, I'd just simply take a big step.

Fact is, water is important for life - everywhere! And here in the desert, there just isn't as much of it.  I need to do my part to be a good steward (especially because we have a pool, but it doesn't get emptied every year or anything, so it is not quite as bad as it sounds).

So, mix my environmental convictions with the following disgusting picture, and what do you get?

You get a new shower head! (Click for link)

That's right! I went from a 3.0 gallon per minute shower head to one that is 1.5 gallons per minute.  That means for a 10 minute shower, I'm reducing my water usage by 15 gallons!

For 200 showers a year (I don't shower every day), I'm reducing my usage by 3000 gallons of water, in just one year!

Stephen is using the guest bath right now (still unpacking... I know, terrible) and I switched out his 2.5gpm shower head to the same one in my bathroom.  That means that his 10 minute showers use 10 fewer gallons of water - or 3,650 gallons not used each year!

So, for about $21 (only $10.39 each shower head), we are conserving about 6,650 gallons of water each year.  It's pretty eye opening - I can't believe we even use that much in the first place. 

And the best part? You can barely tell you're using less water. I can tell only because there's not as much heat to keep me warm, so I have to use a hotter temperature.  Other than that, the pressure is great... and I don't feel gross having that nasty shower head still there.  That thing haunts my dreams...

But wait, there's more!  When you buy from Amazon, the packaging is a simple ziploc bag (which they urge you to reuse).  Even the packing on this shower head is more eco friendly than anything you will find at a hardware store.

And installation is as easy as brushing your teeth!  It really is just unscrewing the old one and screwing on the new one.  If you're renting an apartment, go for it! If you own a house, replace them all!  If you're a builder, put these in all your new homes!  There's no reason not to conserve - save $, save water - and you get a shiny new shower head out of it.  

Do you guys have any water conservation tips to share?  Any other products to recommend?

P.S.:  BOO!