In the winter I shower 3 times or so a week (basically after I work out or go snowboarding…), but in the summer, without A/C for the most part, I have to shower every day before bed, otherwise I’m just too hot! But cold water only…it feels really good and since it’s not heated, it’s easy on the resources (though obv. I’m still using some water). But some people DO need to shower every day…like those people who actually work for a living rather than sitting around all day! I guess it depends on your lifestyle….

I don’t notice any change of water temperature if I keep it off for the length of time it takes me to shave my legs. (which, depending on the day, could take me 5-10 minutes - I’ll often scrub my feet while I’m at it). And on the off-chance that it does cool off slightly, I only notice it for half a second. I only shave my legs 2 or 3 times a week in the summer, even though I probably should shave them every day. Sometimes I just couldn’t be bothered.

The thing that makes this kind of eco-friendly shower more do-able here, though, is that the bathrooms are fitted for this kind of shower (don’t ask me why). As in:

1. We only have those handheld shower heads, which makes shaving really easy (I sit down and shave, turning on the water whenever I need to rinse off and have the showerhead right there to take away the shaving cream quickly) and which makes the initial cold-water blast easy to avoid (I keep my feet out of the tub and use the first drips of cold water to clean the tub).
2. We have heaters that you turn on/off when you go into/out of a room. It’s great for winter, actually. I turn it on 2-3 minutes before the shower and have a hot steamy room before the water’s running and turn it off as soon as I’m done. Though the lack of constant heat does make for some seriously cold feet on late night bathroom runs in the winter, it’s much nicer than the outdoor compost toilet I used in the States.
3. We have an in-line water heater instead of one of those basement monstrosities that keep water hot all day. It’s a good way to save energy, though I do have to admit it’s the reason my showers never last longer than 5 minutes straight in the winter (I hate that icy splash at the end if I haven’t finished on time).

I don’t mean to imply that the Europeans do everything better or differently, but imagine how much easier that quick shower would be if you just had the right equipment. I still prefer the bath but until I get a bathroom big enough to fit a tub, I’ll have to stick with the super-quickie and lose the rep of being a squeaky-clean American (yes, the German stereotype of Americans is that we’re too sterile for our own well-being, but that’s another posting).

And if we all quit shaving our legs we would do 3 important things:
1) save water
2) quit making men think that women are hairless prepubescents
3) save time to think about other ways to save the environment

Really, the hair gets soft if you don’t shave it and since I have an outdoorsy job where I wear boots and heavy pants, much of it just wears off anyway.

And no, I’ve never had a complaint from a boyfriend.

The aerator is also 1.5 GPM and cost something like $5 a TruValue. Well worth the investment.

My usual “method” is get soaked, shampoo hair (i have really long hair), rinse, put on conditioner, mud mask for my face, and shave, rinse, scrub the rest of me, final rinse.

As an aside, I have always shaved my legs by one of 2 methods. Standing at the sink, stoppered with a bit of water in it, with one leg at a time up onto the counter OR sitting on the side of the tub with a little water in the bottom to rinse my blade.

All of my boyfriends and female friends have thought this is the most bizarre thing. I guess, given my upbringing, it never occurred to me to do otherwise.