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Can you wash and rinse a dirty plate in 4.4 seconds using 9.5 ounces of water?

Like many in Generations X and Y, I grew up in a home without a dishwasher. What was once seen as an economic slight (the affluent homes I babysat in all had dishwashers) became a source of pride once I turned into an environmentalist. All along we were doing the right thing by not consuming gallons of water in those wasteful machines. As a perk to the chore, when I was a little girl my mom used to sew these cutesy aprons for the curvaceous dish detergent bottle of Joy, and that made dishwashing less of domestic drudgery and more of a sudsy dance alongside Joy.

Unlike cell phones, which seem to become less efficient and require more recharging with each passing model in the vein of planned obsolescence, dishwashing machines have actually made great progress in both electrical and water efficiency. So much so, that we can solve this debate right at the get-go: a new ENERGY STAR approved dishwasher is the best way to tackle those dirty dishes, in terms of time, money, and natural resources. Compared to washing dishes by hand, this machine can save you over 230 hours of scrubbing and $431 in energy and water bills. That’s money and time I could’ve spent taking actual dance classes. As for the planet, it “uses less than half as much energy as washing dishes by hand and saves nearly 5,000 gallons of water a year”. Tap into ENERGY STAR energy rebates from your municipal government as an added incentive and to offset the initially higher up-front cost.

If you’re renting or can’t afford that investment yet, what’s the second-best option: using the older machine already installed or hand washing? A machine we can measure. Humans are trickier. We have varying standards of sanitation, water temperature preference, washing methods, interruptions and emotions that can interfere (e.g. the wasteful end of the spectrum includes spiteful teenagers who dilly dally on purpose with the faucet on full blast or distracted moms that leave the tap on when a toddler has an accident). What makes us human is precisely the fact that we are not a machine.

Fortunately, a study at Bonn University in Germany was up to the task and computed the following data comparing machine vs. human dishwashing among Europeans and ranking them in order of preference:

WaterElectricity
1. New Energy Star machine3-5 gallons1 kWh
2. Efficient hand-washingUp to 8 gallons1 kWh
3. Older machineUp to 15 gallons2-3 kWh
4. Regular hand-washing27 gallons2.5 kWh

Whether you fall into the category of 2 or 4 may depend on your cultural background. Germans, the inventors of some of the most efficient machines, were also the most efficient human dishwashers; Latinos were the most wasteful. Where do you think North Americans would rank?

So if you consider yourself uber-efficient like the Germans (see tips below), go ahead and wash your own dishes rather than put them in an older model dishwasher. Don’t think you can wash 8 place settings in under 2 minutes? Better let the machine handle it.

Dishes to ALWAYS hand wash:

1.) Plastic containers. The heat inside machines reaches high temperatures that release harmful chemicals from the plastic.
2.) Large pots. They take up space that other dishes could use. Compare hand washing one huge wok versus the six plates that could take its place in the machine.
3.) Knives. You don’t want them scraping against other silverware and getting dull, but putting only one knife per compartment wouldn’t be efficient loading.

Hand Washing Eco Tips

1.) Scrape or Soak, don’t Pre-Rinse. The average faucet flows at 2 gallons per minute. Try timing yourself to see how many gallons of water you use simply pre-rinsing. Instead, use the least soiled paper napkins (if cloth not used) from the meal to wipe off the food scraps into the garbage can or compost bin. Put the dirtiest pot in the bottom of the sink and wash other dishes over it, so the stuck-on gunk gets sprayed down in the process.
2.) Wash and Rinse Separately. Fill one side of the sink or a tub with hot water and soap, and the other with cold water to rinse your dishes. Try using a big dirty pot as the wash basin and gradually fill it up with hot water as you wash the smallest, cleanest items (usually glasses) over it. Progressing from the cleanest to dirtiest helps the almost-clean dishes not get dirtier in the wash process (especially if there are greasy remnants) and require more work.
3.) Rinse in Cold. You can wash in cold, too. I’ve been living without hot water on tap for the last 8 years and never gotten sick! Hot water really is necessary to wash off grease, so I put half a cup of water in the oily pan and heat it until boiling on the stove. If the pan was used to cook meat, I’ll then boil another half a cup of water to disinfect the cutting board or plate used to prepare the raw meat. For further sanitization, you can soak the most contaminated dishes in a bowl of diluted bleach (following the ratio of 1 tablespoon of chlorine bleach to 1 gallon of water) for 5 to 10 minutes and let them air dry.

Machine Washing Eco Tips

1.) Fill It Up. Only run a full load in the washer, just as you’d do with a clothes washer. For just a couple bowls and spoons, consider whether it would be more efficient to hand wash or wait until you can accumulate more. If you won’t have enough dishes for the next meal, it’s time to make a run to a garage sale or thrift store to stock up your cabinet and avoid overwashing.
2.) Phosphate Phree. Buy detergent labeled phosphate-free to protect water sources from algal blooms that can harm the ecosystem. Look for brands like Seventh Generation or eco-labels like Green Seal or Environmental Choice’s EcoLogo.
3.) Air Dry. Instead of using the electricity-intensive ‘heated dry’ option, simply open the door and let the dishes air dry (just like hanging up your laundry is better than using the dryer).

 

CarrieABOUT THE AUTHOR

Carrie is an environmental educator, anthropologist, and translator. She took her passions for ecological, health, and women’s rights advocacy from the offices of Washington, D.C. to the streets of South America. Now in Colombia, she is slowly opening women’s eyes to the wonders of “la copita de luna” (Moon Cup) and Keepers.

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