To wash or not to wash?
Karen Pugh from Brantford, Ontario writes:
Every time I pack yet another school lunch bag (ugh!), I debate the merits of the "litterless lunch" vs. filling up my dishwasher with yet another pile of plastic re-usable containers. While I understand the need to reduce garbage, I can’t imagine that using more energy to heat the dishwasher water and using all that soap is any better for our environment. I know I could handwash those dishes, but in reality, "it ain’t gonna happen." Any thoughts?
Green Room host Gail writes:
Actually, there is some evidence that a dishwasher is more energy efficient than hand washing, especially if you have a dishwasher that’s energy-efficient.
The three R’s of eco-friendliness fall into a kind of hierarchy. It’s best to Reduce as much as possible first. So, you are correct in choosing a "litterless lunch" because it will keep stuff out of the landfills. And Reusing is more important than Recycling, because recycling uses energy and it’s always better to do the best you can to reuse things (such as your food containers) rather than purchasing new things, even when they can be recycled.
Whatever you practice in preparing school lunches, the kids that are eating them are becoming encultured to it - they’ll do what you did when they make there own lunches or (in future) make lunches for others. Thanks for helping to protect nature!
Tags: dishes, dishwasher, litterless, lunch, plastic containers, recycle, reduce, reuse, soap, washing, water
September 10th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
The statistic I’m familiar with says that if your washer was built after 1996 and you run it on full, low energy cycle and don’t do the heat dry…it is indeed more efficient than hand washing.
As for the soap in the dishwasher, use less. Most people fill each compartment and that’s too much. Experiment with how little you can use. Also use a brand that has no phosphates and no dry chlorine, try an eco-brand or make your own with washing soda and Borax (see our recipe lists).
November 24th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Another opinion on hand washing vs. dishwashers from the website: http://www.ecojoes.com/dishwasher-versus-hand-washing/
Water Use
A modern dishwasher will use less water than you would if you hand-washed your dishes. But this is assuming that you hand wash your dishes several times a day instead of leaving them in the sink for a “big wash”, which I always end up doing. This also assumes that you don’t use too much water pre-rinsing the dishes. So basically, it all boils down to efficiency of scale (doing a large load is more efficient than doing many smaller loads of dishes). If you only do large loads and moderate your water use, hand-washing is more efficient. But the smaller your loads are and the more water you use, the bigger the advantage of using a dishwasher.
Energy Use
Most of the energy for washing dishes (whether by hand or by dishwasher) comes from heating up the water (unless you like to wash your dishes with ice-cold water). Obviously, the dishwasher uses some electricity on top of that, so hand-washing wins this battle.
Time
Dishwashers will save you time. Just put in some dishes, turn it on, and walk away. But sometimes you open the dishwasher when it’s done, and some of the pans and dishes are still dirty [oops! A re-wash is in order!!]. The more that happens, the smaller the time advantage that dishwashers have.
Overall Environmental Impact
Hand-washing wins this one. There are phosphate-free soaps available for dishwashing or handwashing, but the energy and materials used to make a dishwasher is considerable. Plus, dishwashers take more energy, sometimes use more water, and sometimes even take more time. So unless you are doing a huge load of dishes (or unless you work in a restaurant), then hand-washing is the way to go. So put on them yellow gloves, fill up a pot with hot, soapy water, and get ready for some good ol’ hand-washing.