Don't Wash Dishes By Hand. Don't Even Rinse Them.

Dishwashers, especially energy-efficient water-saving models, do the job better.

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Photo: Rick Rhay / Istock

By Carol Thompson

Do you need to rinse dishes before putting them in the dishwasher? Does it use more water to run the dishwasher or to wash those plates and bowls by hand? These questions plague many households.

Here's the answer.

Relying on a dishwasher — instead of hand washing — saves a lot of water.

If you don't pre-rinse your dishes, running a full load through the dishwasher will save as much as 35% of the water used to do a load of dishes by hand.

Purchase an Energy Star dishwasher and use only biodegradable, phosphate-free dishwasher detergent, and you'll be doing even better job eco cleaning! If you can hold off on that purchase until 2012, Energy Star dishwashers will be at least 8% more efficient than the Energy Star models for sale today.

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