Showers for the Homeless – San Francisco Style!

A woman in San Francisco has come up with an ingenious idea to turn old public buses into showering facilities for the city’s homeless people.

Doniece Sandoval, a 51 year old PR executive and mother of one, decided to do something for the 3,400 homeless people in San Francisco. Currently, there are only 16 shower stalls available to them across the city, with very limited opening hours.

Sandoval said she got the idea after seeing a young, filthy homeless woman crying. Sandoval said “She kept saying over and over again she would never be clean, I knew she probably meant that in a lot of ways, but a light bulb went off.” She thought, if we can provide gourmet food on wheels, why not showers?

As someone who had always cared about people on the streets – donating money and time volunteering for homeless charities – she came up with the idea to transform decommissioned Muni buses into shower stalls and drive them to homeless centres. Something as simple as a shower can give people dignity, as well as help them get ready for job interviews. The programme is called Lava Mae (deriving from the Spanish “Lavame” meaning “wash me”.

Doniece now works full time for the programme, which is set to launch in March. Lava Mae currently has one bus, with three more set to join the programme if it is successful. The buses will be painted blue to give them a new look and each bus will have two hygiene units consisting of a shower, sink, toilet, mirror, changing room and bench. The programme will have three staff members (including Doniece herself), as well as a volunteer social worker who will be advising homeless people about other services available to them. There will be no charge to use the facilities, and the programme will operate completely on donations and grants.

Fancy a Fish Tank Shower?

Does it get any better than a shower with a fish tank underneath? We’re not sure it can…

An Australian company has designed an innovative spa-style Vichy showering system complete with a glass tank underneath. The glass tank can house anything you like, from any type of environment… imagine a tropical rainforest, a desert wilderness, or even the deepest ocean floor… to completely engage your imagination and senses.

Called the HydroGlass by HydroCo, it allows any type of spa treatment to be performed – body scrubs, wraps and even thermal treatments. The HydroGlass incorporates an organic design, and can accommodate tile, wood or metals to achieve any kind of look. Water efficiency has also been considered, and individual shower head flow control means that up to 80% water savings can be achieved compared to traditional Vichy Shower treatments.

Image courtesy of HydroCo.com

Gwyneth Paltrow’s Ridiculous Shower Demands

This could be the funniest shower-related story we’ve read all year….

Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow apparently demands that when using the shower at a gym she co-owns, that all previous users’ water be dried off.  According to an insider, she refuses to touch what she calls “somebody else’s shower water”, Life & Style Magazine reported.

If this story is true, we think it’s brilliant, and maybe even opens a market up for self-drying showers for over-demanding celebrities?! Who knows?

Somehow, however, despite being clearly a bit crackers (she did name her daughter Apple, after all), we think even this is a step too far for Gwynnie.