The guest shared a photo of the 4-minute shower challenge, casually attached to a cute hourglass. The instructions encouraged anyone taking a shower to complete it within 4 minutes and lower their environmental impact with sustainability. “Beat the clock and take a shower in 4 minutes or less to be the change you want to see in the world,” the note read. The tiny hourglass had a blue highlighted sand inside that would measure the time in an old-fashioned manner, adding to the intrigue of the shower challenge.
For context, the Reddit user added that their husband tried it out despite not being an advocate for sustainability. “Saw this in the hotel I was staying at in Barcelona. Even my husband played the game, and he doesn’t consider sustainability often. He specifically said that the hourglass was what made it appealing to him. He said it has to be analog. If it were digital, he wouldn’t participate,” the post revealed. Despite the popularity of digital technology, the hotel guest suggested that the analog nature of the challenge is what encouraged her husband to try it out and save water by showering fast.
The Reddit post received 8,400 upvotes while the comments became a point of debate and discussion among people curious to know whether the hotel benefited from the challenge. “Wonder if that hotel has data on water usage/bill before and after they implemented this,” said u/jarzan. Another user, u/boogswald, claiming to be a sustainability manager, explained how the water usage data works in hotels. “I’ve been a sustainability manager for a facility before. They know what they’re paying for water, so they know their water usage in a month. If they’re clever, they’re adjusting that data too, likely water savings/guests or something like that. The actual data is gonna be messy, but over time, you should probably see if it makes a difference at all.”
An interesting comment by u/IAmABillie from Australia shared that “short showers” are the norm in their country. During the Millennium Drought, houses were distributed with two minute-timers stuck to the showers to limit long showers. “We had ads on TV about reducing water use, local regulations about washing cars, and restricted days to water a garden. Schools taught kids all about it,” the comment added. According to experts, showers with high pressure have been linked to lower consumption of water, in addition to using timers. “While the adoption of low-flow equipment might be a valuable strategy for enhancing shower efficiency and moving towards net zero, it should not be the sole focus,” a study by the researchers of the University of Surrey explained.
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