Many cafés and fast food places these days provide disposable dishes and cutlery when you’re eating in. This used to infuriate me, but it seems to be improving slightly now as the trend has moved towards using compostable dishes instead of plastic ones.
However, it’s still waste. It makes me wonder, what is more costly in the long run? Providing customers with compostable items or running hot dishwashers and using soap and water all day to reuse dishes?
I would like to point out that the amount of materials and water to process and make compostable plates is huge. I think washing some stoneware dishes is a better plan.
People say dishwashers use less water than hand washing and they do. But the cost to get all the materials, the water to process it all, ship it, and make a dishwasher probably never come close to less in the end.
When buying stoneware, is there anything to watch out for? Seems like the kind of thing companies would seal with questionable materials. Any good reliable companies?
A lot of water and machinery is used in paper production. I’d bet the dishwasher beats any compostable on water usage amortised over its 15 year life, presuming it’s usually run pretty full
Aha, the question of whether washing by hand or using a dishwasher is better! Another person on this thread made a good point about the amount of uses a ceramic plate needs in order to offset the carbon footprint of its production.
So, I suppose the real question is can we use a dishwasher enough times to offset the carbon footprint of its production? I would say yes, and if we can assume that a dishwasher loads is less intensive than the same load washed by hand, then the dishwasher is better in the long run.
But what do we do with the dishwasher when it’s no longer usable?..
I would love to see someone do a break down of this cost. I can not imagine all the metal plastic rubber aluminum electronics being made and shipped all over the world is going to come out ahead of of a stainless steel sink that can last a life time. Dishwashers now only last 9 to 12 years or something now.
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I would like to point out that the amount of materials and water to process and make compostable plates is huge. I think washing some stoneware dishes is a better plan.
People say dishwashers use less water than hand washing and they do. But the cost to get all the materials, the water to process it all, ship it, and make a dishwasher probably never come close to less in the end.
When buying stoneware, is there anything to watch out for? Seems like the kind of thing companies would seal with questionable materials. Any good reliable companies?
A lot of water and machinery is used in paper production. I’d bet the dishwasher beats any compostable on water usage amortised over its 15 year life, presuming it’s usually run pretty full
I could see that, but still think reusable plates hand washed would prob use less than both.
Hopefully someone down the road breaks down some numbers on total cost and not the final stretch once all this stuff is made.
Hand washing uses more water than dishwashers
How much water and power does getting all the materials and making a dish washer use?
I don’t know, but it’s amortised over the life of the machine so surely pretty low. Dishwashers last quite a while
Avg is 9 to 12 years
One of mine lasted 20 years
Guessing the oldest one. 😉
Aha, the question of whether washing by hand or using a dishwasher is better! Another person on this thread made a good point about the amount of uses a ceramic plate needs in order to offset the carbon footprint of its production.
So, I suppose the real question is can we use a dishwasher enough times to offset the carbon footprint of its production? I would say yes, and if we can assume that a dishwasher loads is less intensive than the same load washed by hand, then the dishwasher is better in the long run.
But what do we do with the dishwasher when it’s no longer usable?..
I would love to see someone do a break down of this cost. I can not imagine all the metal plastic rubber aluminum electronics being made and shipped all over the world is going to come out ahead of of a stainless steel sink that can last a life time. Dishwashers now only last 9 to 12 years or something now.
I feel like there is an equation in here