Saturday July 5th, 2008
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The Green Dish on Dishwashing
Posted by Kimberly Delaney on April 3, 2008 - 12:10pm.
The day I read that the average dishwasher uses 3.5 gallons of water per load while a person hand washing the same sized load uses 15 to 16 gallons was the day I stopped using my automatic dishwasher. Considering the fact that my dishwasher was so ineffective I was basically doing both, I figured I was using just under 20 gallons of water per load! I had to figure out how to do my dishes by hand without wasting all that water. Here’s what I found out.
Greener hand washing
Choose a nontoxic, vegetable-based dishwashing soap. Check out the offerings from Seventh Generation, Earth Friendly Products or Ecover.
Scrape the dirty dishes and stack. Fill one side of your sink or a plastic tub with hot, soapy water and the other side of your sink or another tub with rinse water. To make your water last longer, start with the dishes that are least dirty, like glass and flatware, and progress from there. Save the greasy pots and pans for last. Rinse and place clean dishes on a drying rack. Change the water in sinks or tubs as needed.
Greener automatic dishwashing
If your dishwasher is more effective than mine, there are still a few things you can do to make it even greener. Look for a detergent that contains mostly plant and mineral-based ingredients and that is fragrance-, chlorine-, dye- and phosphate-free, like the dishwasher offerings from the aforementioned brands.
To conserve energy, load your dishes so you’re not wasting any space. That said, don’t cram it to the point that water can’t flow around each item to clean. Arrange flatware so individual pieces don’t overlap or stack. That means don’t put all the forks in one place. And although it’s easier to empty when you arrange plates by size, they’ll be cleaner if you mix the sizes together so the water flows more freely around each plate.
Run the dishwasher during off-peak hours and on the lowest setting that will clean your dishes. If you’re in the market for a new dishwasher, look for one that is Energy Star rated.
And finally, if you're really serious about conservation, you can always take your dirty dishes in the shower with you in the morning and make double use of the hot water and soap you're already using.
We kid, we kid. When facing pending eco-doom (and/or a mountain of dirty dishes), it always helps to have a sense of humor. Happy cleaning!
I'm new to dishwasher-using (having lived for 15 years in apartments that lacked one) and I've been wondering myself which method is more effective. I've discovered that pre-rinsing dishes going into the dishwasher is an unnecessary waste of water, and I'm obsessive about arranging and rearranging my dishwasher to maximize the load.
But I've been disappointed in how poorly the "natural" dishwasher detergents work. Seventh Generation left my dishes gritty and unclean. Anyone have better luck with a different brand?
I'd suggest trying Ecover tablets. My friends with good dishwashers swear by them--plus you are buying a lot less packaging. Sometimes poor dishwashing performance is more about your water than the machine. If you think you have mineral deposits, try Ecover's rinse aid too and you should have good results.
I was thinking about the quandary of lunch packing and plastic bags vs plastic containers vs parchment paper vs paper bags vs lunch bags. Sometimes you just don't know which is the lesser of the evils. I've been having my boys use paper lunch bags since they can't carry backpacks in school and I'm hoping to convince them that a wipeable fabric might be a better option when I have time to stitch them one. The lunch box is too bulky to carry with all their books and when lunch is over the can fold the paper bag and reuse it for weeks, or till I spill tea on it like this morning. But the plastic container vs the plastic bag vs parchment paper is my biggest quandary! I reuse plastic bags so I wash both bags and plastic containers. Since the boys use paper bags, the last thing they want to do is carry around the plastic containers all day. Parchment paper works well with many things, sandwiches, cookies, even grapes if you allow them to dry. But then you're adding to other problems. Which brings me back to the plastic bag since it's washable and folds nicely. I'm still looking for the "nasty" wax paper bags from when I was a kid. But, how are they processed? Which then brings me back to the parchment paper..........Any other ideas worth trying out? I'll have to see if I can find the Ecover dish tabs. I've tried their laundry soap and love it, but now my local Costco has stopped carrying it so I'm looking for another source. I'll have to check for a web site.
Two reasons for having dogs -
1. cleaning the food my kids drop/throw on the floor during dinner.
2. "Pre-rinsing" dishes before they go in the dishwasher.
momof2boys, i utilise the dog pre-rinse too and it's the best thing ever! until you stack the dishwasher wong and the spray arm gets stuck, or you forget to turn the dishwasher on... because the dishes look clean, you unload them all only to find that, when you add water/food, they're all slimy! by this stage you can't rember which of the 'clean' dishes in the cupboard might not be so clean after all!
i also find that eco-friendly dishwasher powder is less effective than leading unfriendly brands. i tend to pick any friendly powder and then use rinse-aid. i must admit that i have trouble finding eco-friendly rinse aid in my area and will usually just go with whatever is available. i'm halfway there!
Ok, so you caught me. The dog things isn't so much to be environmentally friendly, but out of pure laziness - or when I'm just in a rush. It's so much eaiser to set a couple of plates on the floor and let the dogs have at it, than to spend 5 minutes rinsing them off. I don't think we did this as much before we had kids. And yes, we do use hot water on our dishes when we know the dogs have participated in after-dinner clean up. Which probably isn't the best thing, but again, I think it all goes back to the kids thing. Sometimes the stuff my 16 month old has chewed and spit out on his plate is more offensive than thinking about the dog slobber that was on my plate last night.
Kim,
Thanks for the info! I checked out the sites and they're great ideas. I have a stock pile of fabric and wanted to utilize that in some way. I found a site that gives a recipe for oilcloth. I had no idea that what they are marketing today as oilcloth is PVC coated. I guess I should have figured! Being an artist, I should have known that linseed oil was involved! Funny thing is, I remember making something like this eons ago when I was in Girl Scouts, I think it was a "Sit-upon", a campfire cushion to keep your rear clean. I can remember trying to get the dirt off it, brushing is not so easy!
~Kim
This is great post...there are so many little things that can be done (especially have your dogs do the pre-rinsing - nice work momof2boys!)
Personally I love my Mrs. Meyers (for washing by hand) and 7th Gen for my dishwasher, but I literally "Stumbled Upon" (anyone else use that service?) a great comprehensive list of green dishwashing options here:
http://greenhome.huddler.com/products/category/dishwashing-soap
Tons of reviews of the big green names and some lesser known options. Thanks again Kim!