A new ad campaign is running in Brazil asking people to “Go Green – Go in the Shower” – urinate in the shower to conserve water.
Brazilian environmental group SOS Mata Atlantica says the campaign, running on several television stations, uses humor to persuade people to reduce flushes.
The group says if a household avoids one flush a day, it can save up to 4,380 liters (1,157 gallons) of water annually.
SOS spokeswoman Adriana Kfouri said Tuesday that the ad is “a way to be playful about a serious subject.”
The spot features cartoon drawings of people from all walks of life — a trapeze artist, a basketball player, even an alien — urinating in the shower.
Narrated by children’s voices, the ad ends with: “Pee in the shower! Save the Atlantic rainforest!”
What do you think? Do you/would you pee in the shower? I’ll fess up and admit to doing it myself from time to time. I really don’t see what the big deal is.
If you are looking for other ways to conserve water, you can let it mellow if it’s yellow OR save your pee to water/fertilize your garden.
Hat tip to my cousin Rebecca for posting this video on Facebook, where I discovered it.
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Barb says:
I do if I need to, but I don’t think I’ll hold it for the shower. ;) I don’t have a problem with urinating in the shower, but it tends to happen before I’ve washed below; I probably wouldn’t if I’d already washed.
We used to “let it mellow” in the toilet, but that caused problems in our last toilet (which was low-flow), and made it impossible to get it clean. We’ve now got a super-low-flow that gets flushed most of the time.
August 18th, 2009 at 11:11 am
Anonymous says:
LOL I pee in the shower. Sometimes when I take a shower!!! All I can think of is the Seinfeld episode where george pee’s in the shower at the health club and gets turned in and is banned from the health club. First Crunchy gets me to pee in the garden, now you are asking folks to whiz in the shower!!!
August 18th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
robj98168 says:
Ahem that was my comment BTW, I hat anonymous comments!
August 18th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
Anonymous says:
well I like anonymous comments only because Im not fessing up to this one. I’ve been teased before for peeing in the shower. It goes down the same drain that the toilet flush goes, so what is the big deal?
August 18th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
mudnessa says:
I pee in the shower if I am in there and I have to, it doesn’t save much for me because I don’t shower often so I think the water I save by not showering daily makes up for my toilet use. When I am home alone I let it mellow but my husband is one of those that HAS to have a CLEAN bowl when he goes. I don’t get that need.
August 18th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Tiffiny says:
I say do it.
When I first heard about this, I was like, “Uh, yeah, I already do that.” Then I thought, “Do they mean ALWAYS pee in the shower, like don’t use the toilet anymore?” Glad that’s not what was meant. It’s one thing to pee in the shower, but to *only* pee in the shower? Well, that’s just not realistic. ;)
August 18th, 2009 at 12:27 pm
Abbie says:
Wait, like pee in the shower when you take one, or just randomly throughout the day? I would think the latter would be easier for the boys.
When we were kids, my brothers always peed outside in the summer. Hey, would peeing in the pool save water? Or does the fact that you have a pool mean you use too much water?
August 18th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
Abbie says:
Haha! Rob I thought of George, too!
Also- I guess it would save toilet paper, too.
August 18th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Niecey says:
I love the ad! I’m going to post this on facebook…
August 18th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
Green Bean says:
And why not!! Love it. :)
August 18th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
Crunchy Domestic Goddess says:
OK, so I took it to mean pee in the shower while you are in there taking a shower, not to pee in the shower every time you have to pee. I can do the former, not the latter, though I could see how it’d be easy for guys to do the latter, but if you aren’t running the water after you pee, it’d get stinky really fast. :P
August 18th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
Elliott - 21st Century Dad says:
A few of you thought of George from Seinfeld. I thought of Madonna’s interview with David Letterman where she admitted to peeing in the shower to help prevent athlete’s foot.
August 18th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
Condo Blues says:
Elliott – I thought of the Madonna reference too. Although I still think that washing the sweat and grime between your toes with soap and water and drying your feet/toes completely would be a better solution then trying to aim for your feet in the shower, especially the ladies.
August 18th, 2009 at 3:16 pm
sufficiency says:
we tend to do the let it mellow plan… learned that from growing up during a drought in california. we also keep a bucket in the bathroom to capture the water coming out as you warm things up before your shower… then use that bucket to flush the toilets. also use dehumidifier water for that.
August 18th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Penny says:
well if I need to go when I’m in there washing, I’m not about to leap out of the shower just to take a slash. ;)
August 18th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Rachelle says:
I have been peeing in the shower for years and felt even better when I heard about the aforementioned Madonna interview. Urine is sterile and mostly salts…I like to think of it as maintaining my efficiency in my morning ritual. :)
August 18th, 2009 at 4:12 pm
Amber says:
I didn’t pee in the shower until my first pregnancy. Towards the end it reached the point where I couldn’t pee well anywhere else. Now I will admit I do it. I am glad to have environmental justification. ;)
August 18th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
hillary says:
I pee in the shower and we do let it mellow. Urine is actually anti-bacterial and quite clean to let go down the drain with running water. I remember reading way back when that peeing in a public shower was a way to keep you safer from other nasties. I’m not sure everyone would agree with that though ;-)
August 18th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
Veggiemomma says:
I’ve always done this. Same with hubby. I really can’t think of any reason NOT to! Urine is sterile (as already mentioned) and who gets out just to get everything all wet? Not me!
August 18th, 2009 at 7:30 pm
Megan@SortaCrunchy says:
Yeah, I pee in the shower. Like Veggiemomma noted, I can’t think of any reason not to! We let it mellow overnight, but during the day, we do flush. Interesting campaign they have going there.
August 18th, 2009 at 8:16 pm
Lee says:
My mother tells me that peeing in the shower while you shower is actually really good for your feet — the antifungal properties or something help clean them.
August 18th, 2009 at 10:33 pm
robj98168 says:
Who knew peeing was on your feet was good for you! I was ahead of my time!
August 18th, 2009 at 11:15 pm
Ada says:
I didn’t realize people DIDN’T do this. If you’re in there already and you have to go, it’s never occurred to me to get out of the shower just so my pee goes down a different drain.
August 19th, 2009 at 4:44 am
Barbara says:
Crunchy, you did it again! I giggled when I read this post because for years I have peed in the shower. It is so natural feeling the urine run down my legs with the hot water of the shower…kind of therapeutic. Crunchy, I think you should fess up to doing it more than just “time to time”. :)
Let it mellow if it is yellow is quite disgusting as it tends to stink. I would rather you all pee in a bucket and fertilize the lawn with it as Crunchy suggests!
Gotta go tinkle now! Hee hee!
August 19th, 2009 at 6:37 am
Elizabeth says:
I do it sometimes, too. Our water goes right into a septic tank, so I don’t see much of a different.
If, however, we switch to a greywater system, I will think twice about it!
August 19th, 2009 at 9:41 am
Catherine @ Evolving Mommy says:
I don’t see anything wrong with peeing in the shower, honestly, but only while taking a shower. I don’t really see myself climbing into the shower and squatting instead of using the toilet.
August 19th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
Lynn says:
No offense (because, believe me, I am not a good housekeeper/cleaner), but: “Ewww.” No, I don’t do it. Maybe this seems gross to me because I usually take baths! But I never pee in the shower when I do take showers. I’m kind of surprised that you all do. I think I need to go clean my shower! My usual thought is: how dirty can it be? It’s only water and soap in there. Uh oh. :)
August 23rd, 2009 at 11:48 am
erica says:
people are so strange about pee… it’s just filtered blood, for crying out loud.
August 24th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
Nathalie Lussier says:
When I was traveling in China, often the shower was just a “hose” in the bathroom. And the toilet was just a hole in the middle of the bathroom. So it was totally natural to pee in the shower there. :)
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it, and I do let it mellow if it’s yellow, and pee in the shower when I need to. ;)
August 26th, 2009 at 1:25 pm
Olivia says:
I pee in the shower if I happen to need to go. We also “let it mellow” in our house.
August 27th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
The Mouthy Housewives » If You Love Me, You Won’t Pee in the Shower says:
[...] to accept this vile habit because it saves water and is very earth friendly. In fact at one point, Brazil had an ad campaign to encourage people to urinate in the shower as a way to conserve water. Apparently, if a [...]
July 27th, 2010 at 10:02 pm