CorpComms Magazine

Sing while you are in the shower, but only short songs, is the advice from Thames Water today.

Thames Water's new campaign is to get people to sing (or rap) shorter songs in the shower so that they spend less time in the shower, and therefore use less water.

If we all spent one minute less in the shower each day then it would save enough to supply London with water for up to four months, according to Thames Water. And the company points out that singing has the added benefit of being good for mental well-being.

Jayne Farrin, head of corporate communications at Thames Water, said: 'I'm no psychologist but it is well-documented that singing can have positive psychological effects, and that the act of singing releases endorphins, the brain's 'feel good' chemicals.'

The challenge is to spend four minutes or less in the shower. 'Love me do' by the the Beatles (two minutes 22 seconds) topped the chart as the best song to sing. 'Love me Tender' by Elvis Presley came in second followed by 'Dance wiv me' by Dizzee Rascal. 'Could it be magic' by Take That and 'It's raining men' by The Weather Girls also scored highly for their brevity.

Farrin said: 'The reason we're asking people to sing short, water-efficient songs of four minutes or less in the shower is...part of our ongoing work to help people value water and use less. Each of us uses 160 litres of water a day on average, and when showering use 10 litres of water a minute. As well as helping lower water bills, using less water can also reduce energy bills, because all that water requires energy to heat up.'

Leading the way in the top five songs to avoid at all costs while in the shower is 'Stairway to Heaven' by Led Zeppelin coming in at just over eight minutes. 'American Pie' by Don McLean at eight and a half minutes, 'I would do anything for Love' by Meatloaf at more than 12 minutes, 'Rapper's Delight' by Sugar Hill Gang at more than 14 and a half minutes and 'Echoes' by Pink Floyd at more than 23 and a half minutes came in second, third, fourth and fifth respectively.

Thames Water found that more than a third of Brits sing in the shower, while in the Northeast almost half admitted that they sing in the shower. More than two fifths of people in Wales sing in the shower and 46 per cent of those in the WestMidlands are partial to a bit of a sing-song. Almost four out of ten Londoners admitted to the same, while in Oxford just a fifth are likely to break into song in the shower.

Thames Water said that on average, seven and a half litres of water is used just from flushing a toilet, while more than six litres are used each minute if a person leaves the tap running while brushing their teeth. And 55 litres of water is used during each washing machine cycle. During summer, to fill an average sized paddling pool just 30 centimetres deep uses more than 2,100 litres of water.

This campaign supports Start Today which is a charitable organisation run by The Prince of Wales to encourage people to take make little changes towards more sustainable living.

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