4 Ways to Measure a 5 Minute Shower

Save water and energy: Reduce your shower time!

Did you know the average shower in America is 8 minutes long? The EPA estimates that the standard shower heads use 2.5 gallons of water per minute. That’s 20 gallons of water for the average shower! Try shaving just three minutes off your shower to help reduce your water footprint.

Delivering, treating, and heating the hot water for your shower is also extremely energy intensive. The longer you run the hot water, the higher your energy use and utility bills rise. According to the EPA, letting your faucet run for five minutes uses about as much energy as letting a 60-watt light bulb run for 22 hours.

Using less water will not only lower your energy costs and conserve water, but will keep that water in the environment for natural geological and ecological cycles.

Take the challenge, here are four ways to measure a five minute shower:

1. Set a watch timer or watch the clock.
2. Listen to any five minute song. Our REPs suggest Paul Simon’s “You Can Call Me Al” (It’s actually 4:35, so give yourself 25 seconds after it ends!)
3. Sing the ABC’s 10.5 times. Stop after M on the 11th time.
4. Count backward from 300—this is helpful, relaxing, and meditative!