"Since the average showerhead has a water flow of 2.1 gallons per minute, each shower uses more than 16 gallons of water! Across the United States, we use more than one trillion gallons of water each year just for showering." [source: epa.gov]
After seeing this information after an initial google search, I decided that I wanted to know if there were products that could replace a standard showerhead with something that reduces water flow. Lo and behold, I found some information on a home improvement website featuring "certified low-flow shower heads". The least expensive product featured was around $40 on Amazon. I immediately thought that this product should be standard in every home in America - especially housing developments and rentals. Then I started to think about the reasons why we possibly shouldn't buy this type of shower head. For one, it seems wasteful to just to replace what is already there. Second, whta about the sourcing of materials that are required to materialize water solution products?
According to the Nickel Institute, "The world's nickel resources are currently estimated at almost 300 million tons. Australia, Indonesia, South Africa, Russia, and Canada account for more than 50% of the global nickel resources". It's likely that the sourcing of Nickel, an element found in most plumbing products and showerheads, could also be the culprit behidn habitat destruction, contamination of air, water, and soil in the area that it's sourced from.
I am so much more aware and cognizant of my water usage but also so much more since participating in the eco-challenge. I hope to learn a lot more in the coming days!
