Permaculture author Paul Wheaton demonstrates how hand washing a standard sized load of dishes can only use around a gallon of water. In comparison, a standard dishwasher uses 15 gallons of water per load and energy-efficient dishwasher use around 9 gallons per load.


It is said that using a dishwasher saves more water than doing a similarly sized load of dishes by hand, but that is assuming you fill an entire sink with water before starting and running your faucet to rinse throughout the process. If you instead start with your smallest items and use rinsing water to fill the washbasin you can wash dishes more efficiently by hand as shown above.

A side benefit of washing by hand is that you never have to rewash food items that a dishwasher was unable to remove. Video by Paul Wheaton


Washing Dishes By Hand Vs. a Dishwasher | Permies.com