Bumping this thread since I've been giving some thought to this problem lately. I've read/heard quite often that dishwashers use less water than hand washing, and each time I reply "That depends on how you wash".
This article has a similar statement to that in Paul Scheckel's book:
Quote:
Dishwashers More Efficient Than Hand Washing
Scientists at the University of Bonn [pdf] in Germany who studied the issue found that the dishwasher uses only half the energy, one-sixth of the water, and less soap than hand-washing an identical set of dirty dishes. Even the most sparing and careful washers could not beat the modern dishwasher. The study also found that dishwashers excelled in cleanliness over hand washing.
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Unfortunately, the link to the PDF appears to be broken.
But how do I hand wash efficiently? I mean, what can a dishwasher do that I can't? Googling doesn't bring up much more than I already know, like this page:
Maximizing Hand Dishwashing Efficiency in 5 Easy Steps. The first step (
Use two sinks) got me thinking that using a bin instead would ease the collection of grey water for toilet flushing. This would save water, but more globally, the dishwashing process itself would still use the same amount.
I read a while back that a certain dishwasher model stores an amount of grey water to use for pre-rinsing the next load, which supposedly reduces overall water usage.
On the other hand, I usually use hot water only for greasy stuff, while the rest only get cold water. And rinsing is cold, too, to save energy.