Shower Water for Plants

It’s a cold morning. I groggily make my way to the bathroom. No one likes a cold shower, so  I grab the 1 gallon pail and put it onto the floor of the shower. I remove the shower head and place it into the pail. I turn on the water and wait for it to get warm. The water is warm almost exactly the same time the pail is nearly full. I remove the shower head and put the pail outside the shower. I step in and enjoy the feel of hot water on my back.

Once I have finished my shower, I place the nearly full bucket of water back into the shower until after I have dressed.  I take the bucket outside and either dump it into one of my three rain collection barrels that I use for watering plants outside, or I immediately use it to water several of our other potted plants.

 I know it doesn't seem like much but it adds up. Imagine, if one  were to collect 1 gallon of water per day from one or multiple showers (kids or spouses can collect as well) that could be a minimum of 30 gallons of water per month that would otherwise have gone directly down the drain while waiting for the shower water to get warm. I would have needed to water the plants anyways, so for me this is just a fairly simple way to not only save water but also money.