Dishwasher vs.. Hand washing dishes

A few months ago, Colin Beaven printed a article I wrote on his fabulous blog, No Impact Man.  You can read the whole article here-  Thirty-one tips for reducing your impact while saving money.  A reader made this comment….

Alison said…   Thanks so much for the tips! I work with Electrolux and in the spirit of conserving water, have another tip to share: use your dishwasher instead of washing dishes by hand!

I was shocked to find out that it takes an average of 27 gallons of water to wash a load of dishes by hand but only 5 gallons to wash the same size load in a modern dishwasher! That means that a household can save 4,730 gallons of water per year by leaving hand washing in the dust! The Water Savings calculator from Electrolux breaks down results to show the effects of conserving water on a household, town, state and national level: http://www.electrolux.com/watersavings_us. Hope this helps your readers! 🙂

I wanted to address the fact, as I said in my article, that I use tow dishpans, each with slightly more than a gallon of water in each one.  When I am through with that water I pour it on my flower bed.  I use organic dish soap, but still do not use the water on veggies.  Here is a picture of the flower bed, just outside my kitchen where the water goes.  I have never turned on the outside spigot to water these flowers.

I am not using any electricity while I am washing those dishes, I supply the energy!

It is FAR more economical to do the dishes this way; no cost of manufacturing that dishwasher, no paying to transport it to the store, no electricity to run it.  I run my hot water heater a half hour a day, during off-peak hours, it is fully insulated.  This gives me a quick shower, normal use of water for dishwashing, etc.  Most of the year I use the solar shower in my back yard.  I do not use a flush toilet, I use a sawdust toilet.  My water bill is a 1/10 of what it used to be, and I have always been careful!

There’s no comparison!