NPR

To Save Water, Should You Wash Your Hands Of Hand Washing Dishes?

The sustainable choice between the dishwasher and a manual scrub-down may just boil down to your washing style — but it's hard to beat today's efficient machines.
Dishwashers have come a long way since this 1921 model, which was designed mainly to help minimize the drudgery of housework. But today's sleek models are also designed with water conservation in mind.

When I was a kid, my mom always told me to rinse the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. This was especially true for dishware with tacky residue. Peanut butter, cream cheese, frosting — these adversaries were simply too powerful for the dishwasher's meek cleanse. Today, still harboring a distrust of dishwashers, I tend to wash my dishes by hand.

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