doing less and doing it less often

I was doing some housework the other day and I was wondering do we need to do all this stuff so often? Do we need to clean the shower/toilets etc as often as we do? Do we need to vac the floor as often?

Do we really need to shower every day - wash our hair as often as we do - all of that stuff. If we did it less often, we would use less water, less energy, less resources and save ourselves a lot of hassle into the bargain.

I am not advocating a rapid descent into squalor and a great lowering of personal hygiene standards - but do we really need to do all this stuff so frequently? Who says?

I used to wash all my work clothes (shirts etc) after one wear - and then it dawned on me that all I do is sit in an air conditioned office all day - don't exactly work up a sweat - so maybe I can wear them twice! Not sure if I am game to try for three times, but gee the old sniff test is still pretty reliable. So much of our behaviour seems to do with conditioning rather than common sense.

I now wash my hair once a week rather than twice, and guess what? It looks fine, doesn't hang in lanky strings and that is all it needs. All it takes is to question your habits and give it a try. Pretty low risk really.

And I can think of way better things to do with my time rather than washing and drying my hair every day and incessant cleaning and clothes washing.