Daily Decisions: Hand washing vs. Dishwasher washing

Perhaps as you go about your journey to save electricity and water you have asked yourself which one is better.

I recently watched a (corny) video from PGE where they tested and compared energy consumption done by a few different types of hand washing and a few different types of dishwashers.  As a note, they didn't discuss the amount of water used, which is an important factor to consider.  You also can't tell how full they fill the dishwasher which is clearly a large factor as far as energy and water efficiency go.  It's also challenging to factor in the environmental costs of creating and shipping a dishwasher in the first place!

I currently only hand wash items that can't go in the dishwasher, and I will wait until I get a stack to do these dishes.  The way I currently do the rest of the dishes is by running a (very full) dishwasher on light wash instead of normal wash.  I get away with using light wash by pre-rinsing all the dishes.  I don't use extra water to do this, though.  We put dishes that need rinsing in the sink, and they get water in them as we wash our hands/produce/etc over them.  Then  I use the scrubby brush to brush the food out.  We also, of course, air dry the dishes instead of drying them with heat.  We also try to minimize the number of dishes that we use.  For example, his mug for his morning coffee becomes my mug for water or tea during the day.  This all takes a bit more effort than just using whatever dishes we want to or running water whenever it's convenient for us, but it becomes routine, and it's really not that challenging in my opinion.

Personally, I think that video makes one thing clear: By being conscious of the energy and water you are using, you will save a ton when compared to taking the resources for granted.  It's very challenging (at least for me) to know what "the best" way to do some things is, and I think that it's OK to just be thoughtful and do our best!