Taking showers everyday is very American and unnecessary

[politicat]

152. Most of the US is S of 40N latitude, the same as S. Spain, N Egypt, and Tel Aviv.

Northern Europe is a much, much cooler climate with far more moderation than the US -- that Gulf Stream keeps it much warmer in winter. (Paris is at the same latitude as New Foundland and Winnipeg; Sitka, Alaska is on the same line as Kiev, and Calgary with Dresden.) Much of the US is subtropical in climate. (Do recall, they're in the midst of a heat wave, of daily high temps in the 80s. This is very uncomfortable for them, while most USians find the 80s comfortable enough even without AC.)

It's a better comparison to peg New York City to Naples or Istanbul, both of which have a long tradition of near daily bathing (going back to the ancient world). (The big difference of course is in having many public and communal baths which are less water intensive.)

Do we bathe too much? Eh, not compared to other subtropical climates. We do use too much water and could reduce that with more public pools and water infrastructure. We certainly use too many detergents and products and would probably be better off with a daily 3 minute sluice/scrub.