“Don’t put those dishes in the dishwasher! What a waste of money, you ungrateful child. Don’t run that monster. It uses so much energy. It’s terrible. Put them in the sink and I’ll wash them,” my mother exclaimed.
This piece of article would just kill her.
Minimize appliance water consumption
Outside the bathroom, most water is used to wash clothes and dishes. Rather than wearing dirty clothes and using paper plates, keep these tips in mind while tackling daily chores:
- Fully loaded: Dishwashers and clothes washers should be operated when full for optimum water conservation. If you must wash partial loads, adjust the water levels as appropriate.
- The dishwasher is your friend: Even old-school dishwashers don’t use as much water per dish as hand-washing. Newer, more efficient dishwashers use only 1/6 of the water used during hand-washing, and save 230 hours of your time each year.
- Scrape, don’t rinse: Pre-rinsing dishes before loading the dishwasher is unnecessary. Scrape off food and then trust that bad boy to do its job.
- Pass on permanent press: Avoid the permanent press cycle when washing clothes, which uses an additional 5 gallons for the extra rinse.
- Upgrade your equipment: Consider buying a water-saving front-loading clothes washer, or a top-loading one with no central agitator. Check ENERGY STAR for ideas and ratings.