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As the whole "green" thing has become commercialized (I have already stated my position which is that less consumption is the greenest thing to do) I have seen more and more silly products come to the fore.
One which particularly stood out was a plastic frame on which to put ziploc bags into the dishwasher. It never seemed to click that dishwashers themselves are a massive waste of water and energy. Or that the energy and resources that went into manufacturing, packaging and shipping the frame were wasted too.
What other commercialized and absolutely redundant "green" items have people seen out there?
I see so many people jumping on the green bandwagon who go out and buy all of the latest green gadgets even though their current gadets are working just fine. Though many of these new green gadgets are truly greener than their older counterparts, alot of the hullabaloo is just a marketing ploy to separate the gullible from their hard earned dollars. IMO those who most exemplify a green consciousness are those who find ways to CUT consumption rather than buying more gadgets, green or not..
I have already stated my position which is that less consumption is the greenest thing to do)...
What other commercialized and absolutely redundant "green" items have people seen out there?
Here here! But you're not going to see any commercials telling you to buy less crap.
The worst violator I've seen is a little battery-powered temperature sensor that screams at you when the fridge gets too warm. Oil for the plastics, gold/silver/copper for the electronics, then the ecological nightmare of the batteries...
Just shut the darn door fast, idiots! Unplug the little lightbulb too.
Sometimes you need to stop and think. Smart manufacturers are getting top dollar for "green merchandise". Why? Because people need to feel good about doing something to save the planet and will spend money on "green merchandise" to feel good.
I find that my reasonably new dishwasher uses less water than I would at the sink. It also does a better job and helps heat the place in the winter. In the summer I let it air dry the dishes.
Dishwashers use much LESS energy than washing dishes by hand. A regular size dishwasher uses about 15 gallons per cycle...it would take much more than that to wash all of those dishes by hand. We have a condo size dishawasher and it uses 6 gallons on the normal cycle. Overall, dishwashers are not a massive waster of energy, but are quite efficient.
You might be right about the H2O use of dishwashers in general, but any dishwashing machine would be hard pressed to use less H2O than I use washing them by hand. I am a water miser. Additionally, my sweat equity puts no extra strain on the power grid or on my wallet.
Dishwashers use much LESS energy than washing dishes by hand. A regular size dishwasher uses about 15 gallons per cycle...it would take much more than that to wash all of those dishes by hand.
Ok. How can a dishwasher use less energy. Do you mean human energy, because I dont have to plug into an electric socked to do the dishes. I also dont see how you can use 15 gallons of water to wash the supper dishes.
Ok. How can a dishwasher use less energy. Do you mean human energy, because I dont have to plug into an electric socked to do the dishes. I also dont see how you can use 15 gallons of water to wash the supper dishes.
Think about how much a full size dishwasher holds...it's more then one supper setting for most. For an average size family, it probably holds 3-4 supper settings. To wash one supper setting for a family of four would probably use 5 gallons. Multiply that by 3 as a conservative estimate, and you're already at 15 gallons. it also takes energy to heat the water you are using to wash the dishes (gas or electric) whereas a dishwasher's water is heating internally and much more efficently than water from a water heater. To give an example, my next door neighbor and I have the exact same size and style townhouse. Same water rates, etc. We wash as much as possible in the dishwasher. We run it about every 3 days (again ours is a condo size smaller machine as hers is). There are two people in our house, but she is the only one in hers, yet her water bill is about 10 dollars more and about 2000 gallons more per month. Neither of us have watered our lawn in a year because we can't and we can't wash our cars, and we both only flush toilets when necessary. She doesn't seem to have any leaks either.
"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.
."
If your dishwasher was made after 1994 it uses at most 10 gallons per cycle.
Once again, machines are more efficient than humans.
Some dishwashers, like Bosch, don't even have heating elements - they let the residual heat from the wash cycle dry the dishes.
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