The “Dribble, Stop Method” is called “Military style:”  Taking the right kind of shower uses far less water than a bath, unless you have the joy of bathing in a Japanese style furo where the water is reused many times by pre-washing everyone who enters the tub. In Hawaii, in the Japanese sugar plantation camps, under the houses there were even remaining in the 1980’s the copper furos from the 1930’s. The water was kept in the furo and reused, being heated each time by a small fire underneath the tub. I looked into buying a new furo, but the major expense violated our rule of not costing a lot of money. Too bad- I would love one. Hard to manage putting a fire underneath it, though, inside the house! New houses could design these systems in to great water-saving effect.

In the shower, the “Dribble, Stop Method” is done by, once the minute your body is wet, turning off the shower. This should take about 8 to 10 seconds. Then with the water off, take as long as you like enjoying the scrub-a-dub-dub. Only when you are done scrubbing do you turn the water back on. We use a shower head on a hose to allow for quick rinsing of all areas. Rinse quickly, capturing much of the water into the shower bucket. You are clean! And you have some water for later use.