[SustainableTompkins] Dishwashers

[James Hogg]

Tony,

A dishwasher does not use endless amounts of water. It circulates the  
same water through filters, pump, and sprayers during each cycle. New  
ones really do use about 3 gallons of water for a complete wash. I  
agree that washing dishes as described is better than using a  
dishwasher. I am happy knowing that the many people who use  
dishwashers are probably being more responsible, without knowing it,  
as they might otherwise be by letting the hot run during an entire  
hand dishwashing event.

This summer I installed an 18" Danby dishwasher in our kitchen. My  
wife and I have three kids so there are plenty of dishes. We use it  
after dinner to wash the day's dishes. When my wife hand washes  
dishes, she lets the water run. No amount of spousal suggestions can  
completely change behaviors. I hand wash dishes like the below  
descriptions.

The dishwasher has eliminated one thorn from our domestic bliss.

I really wish I could have learned more from my grandparents about  
living with less.

Jim



On Sep 18, 2006, at 11:32 AM, Tony Del Plato wrote:

> Corvia (aka Fern),
> I agree with you. I do dishes with 1/3 to 1/2 sink of hot soapy  
> water and
> spray rinse kitchenware. Intuitively, without having checked the  
> stats on my
> dishwasher which is now used as a storing unit, I believe that  
> handwashing
> dishes, etc, uses far less water with a lot less noise for much  
> less time.
> The first few times I used my dishwasher I was amazed and annoyed  
> how much
> noise it made seeming to spray endless amounts of water for about 45
> minutes. Nuff of that stuff. My double sink does the trick. and  
> besides, my
> dish rack becomes a daily sculpture.
> Tony
>
> On 9/18/06, Corvia Ballefuocco <paleocorvus at myrealbox.com> wrote:
>>
>> 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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>
>
> -- 
> "In times of universal deceit, telling the truth is a
> revolutionary act."
> George Orwell
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