Greener Shaving: A Win Win Solution

The Independent reports that a major American brewery has launched an attention-grabbing way to encourage men to save water at home. The campaign is timed to run during the days and weeks before this year’s environmental awareness Earth Day on the 5th of June. It wants us chaps to actively stop shaving, and pledge to grow a beard. The reason is that our shaving uses up a tremendous amount of water every day.

If the company’s calculations are correct, all of us using a wet shave razor are likely to use a whopping 108 litres of water a week shaving from Monday to Saturday. If we also shave on Sundays, the figure jumps to 126 litres. And all that water has to be pumped to our homes, increasing the household carbon footprint. There’s also the environmental impact of chemical based shaving foams, and landfill waste or litter from discarded disposable razors. All in all, using conventional razors has been estimated to consume 30 x more energy than using electric shaver would.

Although it’s a fun campaign and who knows, perhaps this year's newest look will indeed be the ‘Earth Day beard’, I can sadly see just one little problem. Many of us are just not going to be able to go to work sporting a new beard over the next few weeks. And that means daily shaving. You could always use an electric shaver, but you’ll still have to pay for the electricity and it generates more carbon emissions. Or you could use a battery powered one, but then there’s the cost of replacing the batteries, or paying for the electricity to recharge recyclables. Not to mention how to dispose of the old batteries. So my proposal for the run up to Earth Day and beyond is simple: use a dynamo shaver instead. It gets you neatly around all these problems. It costs nothing to run and you’ll save water; plus the cost of shaving products and blades; and the cost of electricity.