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I received the following question from Ritu in Connecticut: “I am a mother of a newborn and time is a luxury! I have purchased paper plates to cut down on dishes. But, after reading your blog I was wondering if it is better to use paper plates and save the energy by not using the dishwasher or would I be better off using a regular plate and thus using the dishwasher. Please note: doing the dish by hand is NOT an option right now!” Thanks for the question, Ritu. The best choice for the environment is to use porcelain (reusable) dishes and wash them in the dishwasher. Dishwashers use energy and electricity but at least the water can be treated and reused. Although convenient, paper plates require trees to be cut down and will eventually end up in landfills where they will never fully degrade. If you are going to a picnic or find yourself in a position where you really need to use paper plates, purchase products made from recycled paper or better yet potatoes. EarthShell produces plates and bowls made from renewable corn and potato starch mixed with abundant limestone. Both Wal-Mart and Target offer EarthShell products at select stores. This may surprise you but hand washing dishes is worse for the planet than using a dishwasher. Hand washing a pile of dirty dishes can require up to 20 gallons of water which is more than five times the water used by most Energy Star certified dishwashers in a single load. Rinsing your plates before putting them in the dishwasher is just as bad and can waste almost as much water. If your dishwasher is not strong enough to remove the food from the plates, use the dishwasher rinse cycle which remarkably still uses less water than hand-washing. What green questions do you have? |
June 19th, 2008 at 8:43 am
Great site! I love the practicality of it.
Thanks for stopping by La Marguerite. It is always so gratifying to connect with like-minded concerned souls such as you.
Keep up the good work. And for a bit of humor, here is link to my latest post:
http://lamarguerite.wordpress.com/2008/06/18/tired-environmentalist-needs-shot-of-green-humor/
June 21st, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Another water saving idea that I have been doing forever is using the water from the pet bowls to water plants rather than pouring it down the sink. I also use the water from rinsing lettuce in my salad spinner and from the vases when emptying them. Basically we use the water from numerous sources to water our plants, indoor and outdoor. You’d be surprised how much water gets “reused” that way.
July 8th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
kathleen,
I like your idea for reusing water! I have 2 cats and several plants. I am going to start looking for water to reuse. Thanks for the tip!
(ps- great site!)
October 18th, 2008 at 11:07 am
[...] Originally Posted by Luap Wah Why do you use so many paper plates? Is it a finance thing or is it laziness or is it cos you don’t have potteries? I don’t get it! Paper plates are cheap, functional, disposable, and biodegradable. Unfortunately, their manufacture means they damage our planet more than washing dishes does. (And here’s something many don’t know: washing dishes in a dishwasher is better for the environment than doing them by hand.) [...]
October 19th, 2008 at 9:10 am
[...] means they damage our planet more than washing dishes does. (And here’s something many don’t know: washing dishes in a dishwasher is better for the environment than doing them by hand.) Considering that paper plate are made from trees grown on tree farms these days which actually [...]