Travel | Camping

Canada has a lot of water. We have Great Lakes, medium lakes, and small lakes, access to two oceans and lots of ice and snow.

The majority of Canadians have access to municipal water and never learn to conserve it. There is usually more where it comes from.

Abundance is not always good for us. A conservation mindset is a learned behavior.

I was no better than others, growing up in a city apartment with a water tap that never ran dry.

I didn't learn to turn off the water tap while brushing my teeth until much later. Until we started camping.

Tent camping teaches you to wipe the dishes with a paper towel before washing them. When you have to carry the water in and out (rain or shine), you will think twice before wasting it.

Then, there is RV-ing. We don't own an RV, but our renting experience taught us to always think of the water gauge.

The RV mindset comes with using public facilities whenever possible. This fully sinks in after getting stuck in a snaking RV dump station lineup when the sun is bright and you want to be on the road, enjoying the scenery.

And then, there are the ultimate teachers — the coin showers.

We first got acquainted with them RV-ing in British Columbia. Our Alberta camper van experience was nothing like it — there were showers in every campground that you could use for as long as you needed. Since the air was on a cooler side, nobody lingered anyway.

In British Columbia, many RV campgrounds are set up with coin showers: pay-per-wash. The time limit is doable, but not generous, usually 4 minutes.

How did we learn it was doable?

From a coin shower where the coin machine was outside.

You drop a coin and go in. Turn on the water, and the timer starts. The water turns off automatically after 4 minutes. If you are not done — too bad. The coin machine is outside. What are you going to do about your problem?

From a usability perspective, it was a ridiculous design. Why not put a coin machine closer, within reachable distance of a hapless naked customer?

From a water-saving perspective, it worked like a charm.

I would take my daughter into the shower stall with me — already saving a lot of water.

We both learned to shower and wash our hair in one go within 4 minutes in a cramped space. Something that a seven-year-old might not accomplish if she had the whole shower stall to herself.

British Columbia, next time I'm booking a hotel.