Maximize Your Dishwasher
Washing by hand uses less water and electricity, but if you’re going to use the dishwasher (and who doesn’t like using the dishwasher?) make sure the machine is full, to ensure maximum efficiency. Avoid prerinsing when possible (quality plate scraping helps the process) and stop the machine at the drying cycle so the dishes can air-dry on their own -- just open the door and pull out the rack for complete drying.
Take a Two-basin Approach
If you have a two-basin sink, use one for soaking and scrubbing dirty dishes (fill with warm water and dish soap) and one for rinsing. This will cut down on the need for running water.
Turn off the Faucet
Although it’s tempting to allow the water to run freely while rinsing soapy dishes, using water sparingly will save gallons each month. Your water conservation options: Use half of a two-basin sink as a rinse receptacle; turn on a thin stream of water or use short blasts from a sprayer.
Use a Foaming Dish Soap
Self-foaming dish soaps can be applied directly to a sponge, eliminating the need to fill up a sink with water. Just wash and rinse -- no soaking required.
Invest in a Quality Dish Rack
Air-drying hand-washed dishes saves time and energy and keeps one less dish towel out of the wash. Invest in a sturdy, spacious dish rack that can accommodate pots and pans as well as plates and silverware.
Marisa Belger’s work has appeared in Travel + Leisure Family, Natural Health, Prevention
and TODAYShow.com, where she wrote a column about eco-friendly living. She was an editor at Lime.com and collaborated with author Josh Dorfman on his bestselling books, The Lazy Environmentalist
and The Lazy Environmentalist on a Budget. She is the managing editor of and frequent contributor to
Green Goes Simple.