HOW MUCH WATER DO YOU SAVE BY NOT DOING DISHES…(by hand)

I always have a small internal fit when guests offer to help me with the dishes and the tap gets turned on. Consider that the amount of water that runs to rinse dishes non stop is 2 gallons a minute for the next 30 minutes (yikes!). I never know if I should say something or just be quiet and have another glass of wine! Watching this got me thinking and since I am by no means a scientific expert I went online and did a little research. Did you know that hand washers use approximately 27 gallons of water compared to 4 to 6 gallons when using a dishwasher (depending on how energy efficient it is)?

TIPS

  1. FILL YOUR DISHWASHER – This seems to be a difficult concept for my family! However, you can save 1000 gallons if you fill up the dishwasher before running it
  2. DETERGENT – Please choose a dishwasher liquid/detergent that is free of phosphates and petroleum (sorry Cascade!)
  3. AIR DRY – saves on energy
  4. SKIP THE PRE-RINSE – At 2 gallons per minute I don’t pre-rinse my dishes before loading them in the dishwasher. I just take a paper towel, wipe the dish and put it and all table scraps in the green bin
  5. AVOID PEAK HOURS – Try to run your dishwasher (and washing machine!) at off peak hours. If you don’t know when these are click here!
Monday, November 17th, 2014
 Categories: Homeowner Tips