My wife, Leslie, had long had the idea to build an outdoor shower inside of a bamboo grove where the bamboo would be the shower curtain. At our last homestead we planted some Stone bamboo but did not have a place for the shower. However, after we arrived at our new place, I found an ideal location for the shower. We hoped to purchase some bamboo after the sale of our old house and plant it and let it grow until it was thick. Then I had a rough idea of what kind of shower I wanted to build.

The bamboo shower itself would give us a back system to our current bathing practices of an indoor shower and bath. The outdoor shower helps to conserve both water and power as the water can be heated by the sun. It would also provide its own gray water system as the water-loving bamboo will absorbing the water running out of the shower. Bamboo shoots can be harvested in the spring so the walls of the shower would also be a perennial food source.

This project was just an idea that we looked forward to attempting sometime in the future. However, about a month ago we drove by an abandoned house about a ½ mile from we where live that has a giant bamboo grove growing right next to it. A sign had been posted that read “Free bamboo. Take as much as you want (at your own risk).” Since buying bamboo is not only expensive but you limited as to sizes you can buy, we took advantage of that opportunity placed in our path. We transplanted a great deal of the bamboo as well as took a variety of bamboo poles that had been cut down to use for the shower walls.

The species we now have is the Yellow Groove variety which produces sweet shoots and tolerates cold temperatures. Since it obviously thrives locally, we feel blessed to have so many specimens. After transplanting the bamboo, we built the shower itself which is captured on the attached videos linked below.

We have already been enjoying the use of the bamboo shower in this hot weather. Bathing outdoors has an exhilarating affect on your system. And the bamboo has an otherworldly presence of its own. Being able to gaze up into the bamboo canopy while showering and hear the wind rustling through the leaves is not only relaxing but cleansing on all levels.

We are concerned by typical American water practices. Most of us are completely dependant upon electricity to power our water supply and waste disposal. Most other people worldwide do not have the access to fresh water that we have here in the US. http://www.rivers.gov/waterfacts.html As you can read from the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System website, facts about fresh water are staggering. Here are just a few:

:The United States consumes water at twice the rate of other industrialized nations.

· 1.2 Billion — Number of people worldwide who do not have access to clean water.
6.8 Billion — Gallons of water Americans flush down their toilets every day.

· Each day almost 10,000 children under the age of 5 in Third World countries die as a result of illnesses contracted by use of impure water.

· Most of the world’s people must walk at least 3 hours to fetch water.

· By 2025, 52 countries with two-thirds of the world’s population will likely have water shortages.

· The average single-family home uses 80 gallons of water per person each day in the winter and 120 gallons in the summer. Showering, bathing and using the toilet account for about two-thirds of the average family’s water usage.

· The average person needs 2 quarts of water a day.

· During the 20th century, water use increased at double the rate of population growth; while the global population tripled, water use per capita increased by six times.

· Water use in the United States alone leaped from 330 million gallons per day in 1980 to 408 million gallons per day in 1990, despite a decade of improvements in water-saving technology.

· Water used around the house for such things as drinking, cooking, bathing, toilet flushing, washing clothes and dishes, watering lawns and gardens, maintaining swimming pools, and washing cars accounts for only 1% of all the water used in the U.S. each year.

· Per capita water use in the western U.S. is much higher than in any other region, because of agricultural needs in this arid region. In 1985, daily per capita consumption in Idaho was 22,200 gallons versus 152 gallons in Rhode Island.

· A corn field of one acre gives off 4,000 gallons of water per day in evaporation.

· It takes about 6 gallons of water to grow a single serving of lettuce. More than 2,600 gallons is required to produce a single serving of steak.

Electricity and our other usual power resources are not guaranteed to always be available. They are also finite and will run out eventually. We can’t expect that water will be pumped into our houses indefinitely. So my family is building low technology back-up systems such as the bamboo shower which are more environmentally friendly and allow us to meet our needs in a new way. Our next projects will be a composting toilet and attaching a hand pump to our well.

The first 2 videos below are of us building the bamboo shower. The 3^rd video features the completed shower. The next two videos are of us harvesting and transplanting the bamboo. The last video is of an artistic and sophisticated sustainable home in Taos, NM featuring black water and gray water systems, off the grid power, alternative construction materials and techniques, passive solar design, art work, converted fuel vehicles, indoor jungles and more.

Bamboo Shower 1

Bamboo Shower 2

Bamboo Shower 3

Transplanting Bamboo 1

Transplanting Bamboo 2

Angel’s Nest

All the best,

Paul

If you would like to support the Pockets of the Future Project, prayers, encouragement and donations are always welcome.