I have noticed that in the War on Saving Water there are two teams at my house. There is me and there is my husband. The suggestions I come up with are mundane and occasionally gross—like trading veggies with neighbors or not flushing the toilet with number 1. The suggestions that my husband comes up with involve advanced technology and lots of money—like installing a roof full of solar panels and purchasing a hybrid SUV. Oh, but not this time! My husband, the eco-super hero that he is, has now come up with the ultimate plan for saving water at our house….sharing the shower.

He heard this story on the radio, about how in parts of Australia that water is so sparse that families are forced to shower together. LIGHT BULB. He is envisioning an every morning ritual—romantic, steamy, lots of soap lather—something you might accidentally flip your TV on to around 1AM in the upper channel range—me, him—us–making the world a better place “saving water”. I heard the same story and got a completely different take on it. I am thinking girls locker room, you know the gross showers where there is other people’s hair caught in the drain—don’t touch me I am running late—excuse me, pardon me—you’re getting soap in my eye—yes, I do need to shave my arm pits this morning–me, him, the kids!  OMG did he miss that part? These people are not just on a romantic love boat cruise every day, they are all diving (yes, including their kids) into one small shower together for mere moments just to try to keep away the stinks.

So the Battle of the Sexes continues as we try to come to a happy compromise on how often JUST we two will jump in the shower together in the name of saving water. Hmmm, I am thinking that there’s a good chance that two people in the shower will actually use up twice as much water as the showers will be at least twice as long (but twice as fun, no doubt). I am sure there is some kind of high tech, super expensive water use timer for the shower that I can steer him towards instead.