[SustainableTompkins] Dishwashers

[Valorie Rockney]

My grandmother washed dishes the same way Fern's grandmother did.  She
and my grandfather had a cistern to catch and save rainwater from the
roof for washing and baths, and she heated it in the wood stove (a
hassle in August).  They hauled drinking water from a well several miles
away.

She also believed that pouring a teakettle full of boiling water over
the rack of rinsed dishes cut down on colds and flu.

My grandmother would also let the used dishwater cool and pour it around
the plants in the garden.  If the dishwater was fairly clean after the
dishes were washed (say in the summer when they could just steam fresh
vegetables for dinner), she'd often use the dishwater to scrub the
kitchen floor before the water finally went into the garden.

It was really fun to be a child in their house.

Valorie



-----Original Message-----
From: sustainabletompkins-bounces at lists.mutualaid.org
[mailto:sustainabletompkins-bounces at lists.mutualaid.org] On Behalf Of
Corvia Ballefuocco
Sent: Monday, September 18, 2006 10:16 AM
To: sustainabletompkins at lists.mutualaid.org
Cc: sustainabletompkins at lists.mutualaid.org
Subject: Re: [SustainableTompkins] Dishwashers

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
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