As a morning ritual, to relax in the evening or as a refreshment in between – we like to shower and often. This is not always good for our skin and water consumption can be high. We’ll tell you how often showering makes sense and is sustainable.
The daily shower has a fixed place in everyday life for many people. It’s not just about body hygiene – showering helps to wake up as well as to relax.
However, the daily ritual leaves its mark: the skin can suffer from all the water and the energy and water consumption should not be underestimated. You can easily combine healthy personal hygiene with sustainable awareness.
Showering every day damages the skin
(Photo: CC0 / Pixabay / wilkernet)
The skin is our largest organ. It forms our shell and protects us from pollutants and diseases. The protective acid mantle is particularly important: it covers the skin like a film and protects it from drying out.
Water attacks the protective acid mantle by removing important fats from it. This is how the protective film dries out. This effect is even stronger with soaps and shower gels.
So daily showering damages the skin. It is dried out anew every day and hardly has time to build up the protective film again.
Personal hygiene: how often should you shower?
Experts recommend showering two to three times a week. That is enough for healthy personal hygiene without destroying the natural protective film of the skin.
You can clean some body regions such as the face, armpits and genital area daily with a damp washcloth and mild soap. It is best to rinse off heavy sweat immediately – it also attacks the acid mantle. After exercise or a hot day, you can take an extra shower.
If you depend on the daily shower, keep it as short as possible – preferably under ten minutes. Lukewarm temperatures are gentler on the skin than a hot shower, and you save energy at the same time.
How sustainable is daily showering?
(Photo: CC0 / Pixabay / Pezibear)
Every time we turn on the shower faucet, a lot of water flows out – with a normal shower head about 50 to 200 liters per shower. A saving shower head needs about half as much water.
After the shower, the water flows through the water cycle: it is cleaned and fed back in. This works all the better the cleaner the waste water is. For a sustainable use of water you should pollute it as little as possible. Natural hygiene products without chemical ingredients, for example, will help you with this.
In addition to water, showering also uses energy – especially for hot water. A warm shower uses about ten times as much energy as pure cold water. So it makes sense for the environment to save hot water when showering. Also note other tips for the sustainable use of water. Or is the non-bathing trend something for you?
A sustainable shower – for your skin and for the environment – is as short as possible and lukewarm to cool. Two to three times a week is sufficient for healthy personal hygiene.
Tip: You can also try whether cold showers are something for you.
Read more on Utopia:
- 9 common shower mistakes to avoid
- Water footprint: the real water consumption of our products
- Hair soaps in the test: Our experience of washing hair without shampoo