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This Cleaning Habit May Be Wasting Gallons Of Water Per Year
By COURTNEY ISOM
Whether you wash your dishes by hand or use a dishwasher, it’s important to know which method is better for the environment, and the results may surprise you. Washing your dishes by hand can waste more than two gallons of water per minute compared to the machines, which only use two to eight gallons per cycle.
Energy efficient dishwashers, introduced in 2013, can save up to 5,000 gallons of water each year by only using up to three gallons per load. Washing by hand uses more energy, as your water heater needs to warm up and is in constant use while you're washing, but most dishwashers have installed heaters that require less energy to heat up.
If you don’t have a dishwasher, there are still ways to reduce your water usage — first, simply turn off the water when scrubbing, and second, have two separate areas for washing and rinsing. When using your dishwasher, try not to rinse your dishes before putting them into the machine, as this can waste more than 6,000 gallons of water each year.