Save a Gallon or 10: Earth Massage Handheld Showerhead (+Giveaway)

My family recently moved into an apartment in an older building that comes with a lot of quirks. The water running from our faucets turns brown on days with a lot of rain, and no matter what we do to get rid of them, we find at least a few occasional spiders and bugs. We can’t do much about these issues, but there were some changes we knew we wanted to make. Among them: Installing a low-flow, handheld showerhead.

The Earth Massage Handheld Chrome Showerhead by Niagara Conservation operates at just 1.5 gallons per minute, which really adds up when you consider the fact that many showerheads spit out water at 2.5 gallons per minute or more. When they contacted me, I couldn’t wait to review it. We can’t see or feel the difference, which is a good thing. In fact, the water pressure is better than it was with our previous showerhead, and we are showering just as effectively now as we were before we made the switch. Knowing that we’re conserving water without any extra effort is a great feeling, and to maximize those savings, we try to keep our showers as short as possible. One of the upsides of living in an older building is that the water gets hot immediately, so there’s no water waste while we wait for the water to warm up.

My favorite feature, by far, is the 72″, tangle-free hose, which makes bathing my 4-year-old a whole lot easier. As I mentioned, we live in an older building, and the surface of the tub shows its age. I’m not really comfortable letting her sit on the uneven surface for a bath, so I turn on the shower and hand her the showerhead, making the experience much more interactive for her and a heck of a lot easier for me.

I do wish that the showerhead came with a few more spray settings. It comes with just 2 settings, although you can moderate the water pressure one of the two settings by rotating the edge of the head. I use the highest settings when I need a hot, massaging shower, and lower pressure when bathing mini me, as she’s not fond of the sensations of dozens of streams of water pounding her sensitive skin.

Overall, I’m thrilled to know that we have a stylish, quality showerhead that is saving us water and energy, even if we don’t have to pay a separate water bill (it’s included in our rent).

Why It’s Green:

• Uses a low 1.5 gallons per minute, which can save thousands of gallons of water a year compared to traditional shower heads
• Can save up to 40% more energy than traditional shower heads

Price: $29.99

(review)

Want to win?

Three lucky readers will win their own Earth Massage Handheld Chrome Showerhead! So how do you win? Visit Niagara Conservation site, then come back here and leave a comment about something you liked or learned. It could be a product or something you learned about the company. Do this by 11:59 p.m. EST on Wednesday, October 28, 2009, to enter.

Want to enter more than once? Boost your chances of winning by completing one or more of the tasks on this list. Please leave a separate comment for each entry:

1. If you haven’t already, sign up for Green Your Decor’s email updates by 11:59 p.m. EST on Wednesday, October 28, 2009. You must verify your email subscription to be eligible. After you sign up, FeedBurner will send you a verification email. Please do not ignore it — your entry will be invalid if you do not verify. From now on, subscribers will no longer be entered automatically. This will help me avoid choosing a winner who is a subscriber, but who doesn’t necessarily want a specific prize. If you are an email subscriber and you want to be entered, please leave a comment saying that you are an email subscriber and interested in this giveaway. Subscribers will not be entered automatically. You must leave a comment saying that you are a subscriber in order to enter.
2. If you’d prefer to receive your updates via RSS, sign up for the GYD feed. Then please leave a comment letting me know that you’ve done so, and be sure to include your email address. RSS subscribers are anonymous otherwise. This will let me know that you want to be entered in this giveaway.
3. Blog about GreenYourDecor.com and post a link to your blog entry here.
4. Stumble or give a thumbs up to any page at GreenYourDecor.com via StumbleUpon and post a link to your SU profile to verify your thumbs up.
5. Fave Green Your Decor on Technorati. Then come back here and leave a comment with your Technorati user name so I can verify it.
6. Follow Green Your Decor on Twitter. Then tweet about GYD or this giveaway and leave a comment with a link to your tweet.

You have until 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, October 28, 2009, to enter. U.S. mailing addresses only! A winner will be chosen via Random.org and contacted via email. Good luck everyone!