Bambi Eloriaga-Amago
If you want to contribute to environmental conservation efforts but can’t be bothered to plant trees or pick up trash left at the beach, here’s something you can do that will take almost minimal effort on your part—pee in the shower and help save the world.
While it may sound off-putting, even downright disgusting to some, taking a wee in the shower is one of the latest ways environmentalists are pushing to promote water conservation.
According to a recent article posted in the IFLScience! website, “An average flush for a modern, Western-style toilet uses 6 liters (1.6 gallons) of water, and the average adult pees about seven times every 24 hours. That means that each day of weeing takes 42 liters (11.1 gallons) of toilet water to flush away. Assuming that people urinate the same way every single day, this means in just one year, the average person uses 15,330 liters (4,050 gallons) of toilet water.”
The article goes on to explain that in terms of US population, about 4.9 trillion liters (1.3 trillion gallons) is flushed away each year, or—to better illustrate the fact—it would be like “flushing away 1.97 million Olympic-sized swimming pools’ worth” of water annually.
In contrast, merely reducing the number of toilet flushes—by one, if you take a pee while showering—will drastically reduce the amount of water loss. “…in just one year, you’d save 2,190 liters (579 gallons) of toilet water,” according to IFLScience!
And since we won’t exactly know when the precious life-giving liquid will run out, it’s best to make “wee as you shower” a habit right now.
