Like you, I cook and prepare meals… a lot. Often “three squares” a day for the health and wellness of my family so I know we’re all getting good, nutritious food. But I’m often amazed at the amount of plates, bowls, glasses and utensils that are left in the wake!
I’ve evaluated hand washing vs. using the dishwasher and found, overwhelmingly, that (if you have one) the dishwasher is the route to go to clean the aftermath and conserve water, but here’s my misstep… I always felt it was necessary to do a little bit of pre-rinsing before everything went into the dishwasher… boy was I wrong.
According to Consumer Reports, up to 20 GALLONS of water can be consumed to pre-rinse what goes into our dishwasher. Ouch!… that’s not conservation! All you need to do is scrape off everything you can and load ‘em up! The other fact I’ve learned is that we really shouldn’t pre-rinse since detergents actually work better when there IS some “food soil” left. Well, my husband is going to be VERY happy about that after tonight’s dinner mess.
Besides skipping the pre-rinsing and the pre-wash cycle you should also skip the heated drying cycle. This actually saves 50% of the energy used for the load. The better option: OPEN the door as soon as the dishwasher shuts off. The contents are at their hottest and will evaporate the remaining water and moisture quickly, and in no time everything will be dry… and you’ve really, REALLY conserved!
So there you have it… skip a few little dishwashing steps but make one big step for conservation!
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Awesome ideas! Thanks for these. I always pre rinse dishes too. I think if you have a better quality dishwasher you’re bound to get better results. I’m all for saving energy and water whenever possible.
.-= Kimberly Aardal´s last blog ..Dutailier Ultra Motion Two Post Glider =-.
Kimberly – well THANKS!
I was excited to share the tip on skipping the heated drying cycle too… that one was new to me, but I tried it and it works!
So now the dishwasher is OK too? Some sources say the microwave is more efficient for cooking energy use also. I’m skeptical about both ideas but have no proof either way.
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