They are the generation most worried about the climate – but it seems Gen Z aren’t quite as concerned when they’re standing under the shower.
More than half of 18 to 29-year-olds spend at least ten minutes in the shower every day, according to new research.
That could mean using as much as 150 litres of water in a single wash – enough to fill around 750 standard drinking glasses.
The findings make for an awkward contradiction for a generation that has grown up with warnings about droughts, water shortages and the climate crisis.
And while a 10-minute shower might feel like a harmless daily luxury, scientists say it is far longer than necessary for washing your body.
Dr Pablo Pereira-Doel, an environmental scientist at the University of Surrey, recently told the Daily Mail that three minutes is a sensible target for a body-only shower.
Those washing their hair can add another two minutes, bringing the total to around five minutes.
And this includes the time spent simply enjoying the warm spray, meaning there is little scientific justification for lingering under the water for ten minutes or more.
More than half of 18 to 29-year-olds spend at least ten minutes in the shower every day, according to new research (stock image)
The poll, carried out by scientists at Let’s Save Water, found that younger adults were among the most likely to take lengthy showers, despite also reporting high levels of concern about environmental issues.
While 52 per cent of those aged 18-29 said they take showers that last at least ten minutes, this dropped to 39 per cent of Millennials, who are aged between 30 and 45.
Meanwhile only 28 per cent of Gen X, aged 46 to 61, said the same.
The organisation, which polled 2,000 British people from all age groups, said that women were more likely than men to take extended showers, with 27 per cent saying they showered for more than ten minutes daily, compared with 19 per cent of men.
A spokesman for Let’s Save Water said: ‘With drought conditions this summer bringing a renewed focus on this issue, Let’s Save Water is reinforcing a simple message – water is precious.
‘To protect it, we all need to use less.
‘On average, adults believe they use around 30 litres of water a day, when the true figure is closer to 140 litres.
‘Our research shows the difference between generations, with Gen Z’ers most likely to have showers longer than 10 minutes.’
Researchers have found that somebody else paying the bill, living in a soft water areas and shampooing twice increases water consumption
In the UK, household showers last around 7.5 minutes on average, according to Dr Pereira-Doel.
However, studies have shown that showers regularly run much longer, with some people spending close to 40 minutes under the stream of water.
‘As for why people linger… the answer is that for a large share of showers, getting clean isn’t the point,’ he explained.
‘Over four in 10 showers in our sample were taken for reasons unrelated to hygiene: relaxation, self–care, warming up on a cold morning. When a shower is doing that job, its length isn’t a decision anyone is consciously making.’
People in soft water areas tend to shower around a fifth longer than those in hard water areas, he said.
‘The likely explanation is that shampoo lathers more richly and rinses more easily in soft water, so the shower feels better and people linger,’ he added.
Morning showers also tend to be shorter, because most people have somewhere they need to be. Meanwhile, with evening or weekend showers, there is less of a time constraint.
Low water pressure can also extend showers, ‘because people may compensate for a weak spray by staying in longer to feel properly rinsed’.
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