I shower everyday once I get home from field hockey practice after school.  I enjoy my hot, relaxing shower, knowing that once I get out, I have to start my homework.  I know I sometimes take a longer shower than necessary, and I am sure that most other people do too.  According to Carbon Rally, if one person reduces their shower time by just two minutes for a month, the CO2 being released decreases 15.3 lbs!   Recently, I have started to play music on my phone in the bathroom while I am in the shower.  I have made a rule for myself that I must be out of the shower by the time three songs are up.  Maybe someone else can use by carbon-saving shower technique too!  Here is the link to Carbon Rally:  http://www.carbonrally.com/challenges/15-power-showers

I also think that showers can be used as an escape from stress, so they end up lasting a long time and wasting a substantial amount of water and increases the carbon emissions. If showers can just be used as time to clean, then the time could be reduced to about five minutes! According to one study, if someone takes five minute showers throughout one year, they can reduce their carbon output by three hundred pounds per person! Here is the link to that study- http://westroxburysavesenergy.org/carbon-footprint/

Good point Anna!  I think that taking showers is so regular for almost everyone in the U.S. that we don't realize how shaving off just a couple minutes can truly make a difference if we all make that sacrifice together.

To add to that, there are also many other ways to relieve stress without using up resources. Even just eating healthy can lower stress. Bananas are high in potassium so it regulates the water in our bodies, our heartbeats, and it can help the flow of oxygen to our brain. There are countless other benefits of bananas. They can also boost your brain power and prevent overeating, so maybe you could grab a banana right after that five minute shower. Your stress will lower, you will get a tasty and filling snack, and you will have the energy to plow through that homework all while reducing your carbon output by a great deal. Here's some info about banana's benefits http://www.20minutestolessstress.com/Banannas.html

For the past couple of months I have been averaging two showers a day. This is because I go to cross country in the morning and soccer in the evening. Although taking a bath uses more water than taking a shower some of the showers we take tend to be very long which takes away from the goal of using less water. Cutting our shower time to 5 minutes can reduce CO2 emissions by 70 to 80%. A low flow showerhead will also decrease the amount of water used. Many low flow showerheads can release as low as 1.6 gallons of water a minute as opposed to 5-8 gallons a minute. These simple changes can have a huge impact on the CO2 released into the environment. This is where I found some of the information regarding showering. http://www.greenlifestylechanges.com/ta … e-showers/