Last winter, I wrote about a green challenge from Crunchy Chicken, titled the “Freeze Yer Buns” Challenge. From November through April, CC asked readers to turn their thermostats down for saving energy’s sake (and maybe getting in a little extra cuddle time with a loved one in the process). Since we were living in Panama at the time, living very close to the equator in winter did not affect my heat - especially since we didn’t have any. I did try and reverse the challenge for my home by turning off air conditioning units when we weren’t in the room. Let me tell you - Panama + no air = no fun.

This summer, the always inspiring Crunchy Domestic Goddess is hosting a wonderfully motivating green challenge aptly called “I’m having a quickie - The Five-Minute Shower” Challenge. Over 60 people have signed up, including yours truly, to reduce their shower time to 5 minutes (or less!) from June through August. I know for me, shower time (usually) means a few (precious, not-taken-for-granted) minutes of quiet and unwind time; often, it means lingering under the water. Next thing I know, it’s, well, way past five minutes!

You can get your kids involved by timing you, or purchase a shower timer so you can’t escape the countdown. I’m personally on the fence about a shower timer, because it tries to justify buying another piece of plastic that you really don’t need (your watch on the toilet, or a cooking timer would work just as well). But, to each is own, and there are some clever products out there to accessorize the shower you’re hopefully going to be spending less time in anyway.

The point is, showering faster saves many gallons of water, as well as energy to heat the water. According to CDG, cutting your shower time by three or four minutes can reduce your water consumption by roughly 10 gallons per day; reducing shower time by one minute can result in saving almost 1,900 gallons per year! Now, this might be enough to get you to shut down the spray faster, but getting teenagers to follow through with this might be the true challenge…

So sign up, buck up, and good luck!