Shortage of water is a real problem hitting all parts of the world, and depriving water accessibility of billions of people for months. Some suggest that water scarcity could spark massive wars, and in a situation like that, we all have the responsibility to conserve our natural resources like water.
People spend minutes to hours in a shower that they even lose the track of time while trying to relax or simply enjoying the hot water after a long day. We lose gallons and gallons of water in minutes without even bothering about it at all. An average shower lasts for 8 minutes and uses up to 17.2 gallons of water.
Everyone takes into consideration the underdeveloped part of the world that is deprived of water, but the developed part often remains out of discussions. Many areas of the world have reached a record high temperatures this summer. Italy was one of those countries that were hit by drought. Beatrice Lorenzin, the Health Minister, warned,
“An eventual suspension of the supply of water in Rome could seriously compromise the level of hygiene of all the accommodation structures, restaurants, and public offices. But above all, it could seriously compromise the provision of essential health services.”
The European Environment Agency (EEA) recently published a report on Water Stress Areas throughout Europe. The future challenges were detailed by Mikhail Gorbachev, the founding president of Green Cross International. He said,
“Continuation of water consumption at 20th Century rates is no longer possible…[as politics and the economy are tied to water consumption,] we, therefore, need to rethink the goals of economic development.”
Saving shower water alone is not the solution to end the world’s water crisis, but it sure does a big part in it. Elisabeth Buecher, a London-based artist, came up with the idea of curtains that will force people out of the shower after a while, so as they do not waste too much water. She explains the motivation behind the design saying,
“I looked at the environmental issue of excessive water consumption. I designed a series of water-saving shower curtains which inflate after four minutes spent under the water, taking over the space and discouraging long water-wasting showers.”
The idea is not only practical but also aims to spread awareness about the water crisis that we will go through in the future. Two models of the product are available, one of which is Spiky and the other one is Trap. They are meant to cause a little discomfort and uneasiness to demonstrate the idea that a lot of discomforts are brought to the people who have no access to water.
The artistic community has shifted more towards addressing environmental issues than any others. The genre of art termed as Ecological Art is meant to imprint a conscious impact on environmental activism.
One pretty-smart and unique idea to solve the world’s water crisis!