Why these U.K. students say you should urinate in the shower

TORONTO –   There’s a campaign underway in the United Kingdom aptly named #GoWithTheFlow to get people to pee in the shower.

It’s a contentious approach to environmentalism spearheaded by students at the University of East Anglia to get people to save water.

“We’re trying to get people to conserve water because particularly in the Western world, it’s a resource that people take for granted. And by 2025 it’s going to be a resource that half the world’s population don’t have a consistent supply to,” Chris Dobson told Global News over Skype.

The university student is spearheading the campaign with fellow student Debs Torr. They crunched the numbers and reported that if the entire 15,000 person student body of the university peed in the shower once a day, the university would save about $230,000 a year on water.

“We figured if we could get everyone in the UK to do it (urinate in shower) we could save 720 million litres of water in a year.” says Dobson.

Approximately 12 Litres is used with the average toilet flush. That would equal 4,905 Olympic sized swimming pools full of water that could be saved a year if the entire population of Toronto urinated in the shower once a day.

“Yes, urine is pretty sterile – at least for showers,” Dr. Julia Carroll, director of Compass Dermatology told Global News. Carroll says urine also contains urea which can help exfoliate the skin.