Showers provide a soothing, relaxing way to relieve stress after a long day's work, but they also use a lot of water, washing your hard-earned money down the drain.
However, one Redditor shared part of their creative shower routine in the subreddit r/Anticonsumption that helps them save water and cash — a double win for themselves and the planet.
They posted a photo of a purple 9.6-liter multi-purpose spout bucket they placed in the shower, which was partially filled with water.
"My shower bucket saves 3-5L of water per day. I use it to water my garden & general cleaning, or let it sit for 24 hours so it's suitable for thirsty house plants," the Redditor captioned the photo.
You might not think twice about it, but showers use a ton of water — on average, around 17.2 gallons for an 8.2-minute shower — according to the water conservation site The Water Scrooge. Many people love taking a long, hot shower to unwind, but with water utility costs rising, as AARP reported, stress will undoubtedly creep back in when the bill comes due.
Along with taking shorter, lukewarm showers to save money, you can also follow the Redditor's example and bring a bucket in the shower to catch extra water. This will help reduce your water consumption and lessen freshwater demand, which keeps more money in your pocket and more water in aquifers.
"Aside from the obvious benefits of saving water (and money on your water bill), reusing your greywater keeps it out of the sewer or septic system, thereby reducing the chance that it will pollute local water bodies," according to Greywater Action.
In the comments section, the OP explained how they use the shower bucket: "When I am waiting for the water to warm up I put the bucket in the stream. When I am rinsing off suds I just use my foot to [scoot] it into a corner. When suds are done I scoot it back. Pretty simple."
You can use the extra greywater to water your garden or houseplants or even clean around the house.
"This is one of those things that's so simple and obvious that I made an audible noise at my desk because I'd never even thought about it. What a great idea. Thanks for sharing," one Reddit user said, clearly impressed by the money-saving tip.
"This is really smart! Thank you!" someone else added.
A third simply said, "Genius!!"
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