Gone are the days of relaxing in the shower and basking in the hot stream of water. Nowadays, we all have to be very aware of how our bathing habits are affecting the environment around us. An average American family uses 40 gallons of water each day in the shower which equates to 1.2 TRILLION gallons of water in the US each year. Why are we continuing to let all of this valuable water wash straight down the drain?

One tactic to reduce the amount of water wasted whilst showering is to limit the amount of time someone spends using it. But how are you going to make sure the person finishes their shower at a designated time? Elisabeth Buecher, installation artist, has come up with a novel concept. She has designed an intelligent shower curtain which has an inbuilt timer. You get into the shower and start to wash normally…

There is absolutely no time to waste once your inside, so you had better concentrate on the task in hand. There won’t be any singing in the shower with this design!

Once the four minutes are up, the hollow spikes on the inside of the shower curtain inflate, spiking right out into the shower cubicle. This renders the shower cubicle completely unusable and subsequently ends your time in the shower.

Isn’t this a clever idea? And fun too. You can challenge yourself to race against time so you don’t get spiked. And, of course, you’re helping save the planet too. Bonus!