[SustainableTompkins] Dishwashers

[Corvia Ballefuocco]

Found this one hard to believe ~> depending on how one washes dishes by hand.  IF the soapy sponge with constantly running water method is used, then I would believe the premise is likely TRUE.  Terribly wasteful of dishsoap, too, to wash like that.

Put 3/4 of a gallon of hot water in a dishpan and a water restrictor and spray hose on your sink and DON'T rinse those dishes one at a time .... and you'll use considerably less water.  Grandmother (who had to cart water uphill when she was first married) could wash the dishes and pots & pans from a dinner for five with 3 gallons of water ~> one pan of soapy water, one pan to  "rinse", and then a large kettle of boiling water for a final rinse and sterilization.  Glasses first, then the flatware, then plates and so on in increasing order of greasiness finishing up with the filthiest pots.

Being lazier than Grandmother, but still needing to be water concious due to a low flow well in B'dale which was prone to going dry ~ I'd guestimate that it took me about 4 gallons of water to wash 3 days dishes from two people.  Hmmm.... need I mention that dishes should always be "scraped" BEFORE washing?

I note and agree with Robin Harper's (the Green MSP) comments noting the electricity used by dishwashers - and my mind turns to the energy used in the manufacture and transport of the appliances.

And the Welsh newspaper's article states:
   "Ken Humphrey, brand manager at Bosch, who commissioned the study, said, 'Many people think that dishwashers actually use more water than washing up by hand but this is simply not the case.'"

My prejudices cause me to question a study by a dishwasher manufacturer that shows they are more water efficient than washing by hand.  Seems to me "setting the fox to watch the henhouse..."

Ciao~
fern

-----Original Message-----
Date: Mon, 31 Jul 2006 21:42:50 -0400

LAZY PEOPLE CAN SAVE THE PLANET
Use the dishwasher if you want to save water, U.K. study concludes

We know your type: Your dirty dishes are piling up as you sit immobilized by the question of whether it's more enviro-friendly to use the dishwasher or wash them by hand. But live in squalor no more -- a study by U.K. nonprofit Waterwise found that the average dishwasher uses between 3 and 4.5 gallons of water per load, while hand dishwashing can use over 16 gallons.  . . . .
"Never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can make a difference.  Indeed, it's the only thing that ever really has." --Margaret Mead