::The Slate Green Challenge
by Brittany Jacobs, Seattle on 12. 6.06
You might be surprised to find out that using your dishwasher is typically more efficient than handwashing those dirty dishes. Washing your dishes by hand uses an average of 10 to 15 gallons of water, while automatic dishwashers use around 8 gallons. When you use your dishwasher, make sure the energy-saver option is on and wait to run the dishwasher until it is full. If you rely on old-fashioned elbow grease to wash your dishes, try to turn off the water while you’re scrubbing. This will not only save gallons of unused water but also cut back on your utility bills.
To learn how your water usage and other daily activities relate to your carbon emissions, head over to The Slate Challenge with Treehugger. Join the 29,292 people who have pledged to reduce our collective CO2 emissions by 20 percent. It all starts with a carbon footprint quiz and continues with information on how to reduce your impact on the Earth. If you are one of the first 500 lucky challengers to complete the challenge, you could walk away with a brand-spanking new t-shirt from our sponsors at I’m Organic. ::Slate Green Challenge Welcome ::Slate Green Challenge Week 7: Water
While you provide some good advice, there is a bit of bad information in your advice. Food should never be thawed at room temperature or under hot water. To safely thaw food, place it in the refridgerator. If you don't have the time for that, place the food in a bowl and place it in the sink under constantly running cold water. The recent foodborne illness outbreaks should illustrate the need to safely handle all foods.
I've heard it said several times that washing dishes by hand is less efficient because it uses more water, but doesn't a dishwasher use electricity too? Washing dishes by hand has the benefit of being electricity free (sans water heater out back), and it's a lot more fun.
I see these silly statistics all the time -- the dishwasher manufacturers are probably circulating them.
I wash my dishes by hand. In the UK, we have condensing boilers to heat water. The most efficient way to use a condensing boiler is to fill up (ex-milk) jugs with hot water all at once, and then wash your dishes. So I know that I use about 5 litres each time I wash dishes -- that's about 1.5 gallons. I wash dishes twice a day, so that's 3 gallons, without even considering the electricity used.
I don't think a dish-waster can beat that.