13 Jul The Dish Experiment

It was a crazy thought. One that could get me lynched (well, severely ostracized, anyway) in some circles. Nonetheless, it was a thought I couldn't shake.

My thought (as I stood in my clients' kitchen, amidst the piles of dishes that had taken over the countertops in the few hours since we'd last loaded the dishwasher), was: "Are dishwashers actually MAKING MORE WORK for people, and consuming MORE time, than washing dishes by hand?

It’s silly, of course, to think that an appliance would make work or consume time. After all, it's just a machine, with no mind of its own. Not so silly, however, is the idea that something about the way WE HUMANS interact with our everyday appliances, is actually sucking up our time and making more work for us.

The family (a fairly typical American family of four) had engaged my services to help organize their kitchen, identify and address time and energy leaks, and develop systems that would allow the ('tween-age) kids to play a more active role in the everyday running of the household. They were open to hearing any suggestions I might have, no matter how crazy they might sound.

So I suggested the Dish Experiment.

We set up the simple three-tub arrangement* which I've illustrated in this drawing and described in detail below. This is a setup I've often seen and used in communal settings such as potlucks, eco-villages, and permaculture design intensives. It's designed to minimize consumption of chemicals, water, and electricity while maintaining public hygiene.

On its own, the three-tub setup would not have helped my clients save time, water, or energy. The sheer volume of dishes would've quickly overloaded the system.

Conventional, older dishwashers use about 15 gallons per load, and some of the new Energy Star models use only 4 gallons per load. With the volume of dishes this family was going through, it would've been hard for hand-washing to top this in terms of water- and energy-efficiency, even with the thrifty three-tub method.

The real heart of the Dish Experiment (the "Experiment" part) would involve a radical change in personal habits. Here is what I suggested.

Each family member would have, and be responsible for, a single set of dishes. One plate, one bowl, one cup, one set of silverware. Two or three different-sized pots and pans, a few basic cooking utensils, and a couple of Mason jars and sturdy plastic containers for leftovers, would be the only other dishes in circulation. All other dishes would be put away; out of circulation; off-limits for everyday use.

When I made this unconventional suggestion, I half-expected someone to hurl a rolling-pin at me. Instead, the eyes of both adults lit up and their faces flooded with expressions of relief. And the kids were intrigued.

During the week or so of the Dish Experiment, the household saved an estimated 20 gallons of water per day. Not only that, through the greywater collection bucket the family was putting 5 to 10 gallons of water on the yard and shrubbery each day. Water that had just been going down the drain before.

All that aside, the true savings lay in those most precious commodities of all: HUMAN energy, and time. The adults had more time and energy at the end of the day to focus on quality time with each other and the kids. Incredible as it may sound, the Dish Experiment freed up about an hour of time each day.

Makes you think, doesn't it, about how we are using our machines. Or how they are using us.

Of course, old habits die hard, and to sustain a radical change like this one requires a strong commitment by all members of a household. To make it last, everyone needs to be getting measurable benefits. But the Dish Experiment has given my client family a new reference point, and they are now free to tweak the system for their ongoing needs. As just one example, they love to entertain, so exiling all not-in-immediate-use dishes to Siberia (or even locking them in the attic) would not be an option.

*The three-tub method, with my addition of small-scale household greywater collection, consists of the following steps:

1: Scrape your plate into the compost bucket (or worm bin, pig-slop bucket, etc.)

2: Pre-wash rinse (tub #1). Rinse any remaining food particles from the plate. Dishes should be free of food particles when they go into the soapy wash water. This keeps the soapy wash water good for longer, minimizing detergent consumption and making it easier to get the dishes really clean.

3: Wash (tub #2, the tub of soapy water).

4: Rinse (tub #3). Some people like to put a few drops of grapefruit seed extract or a bit of white vinegar in the rinse tub.

5: Let the dishes dry on the drying rack.

When the pre-wash rinse water gets super dirty to the point where it doesn't do its job effectively, pour it into the greywater collection bucket. The soapy wash water might be getting a little dirty by this point too, so transfer it into the pre-wash rinse tub and refill the wash tub with fresh water and soap.

The compost bucket and the greywater bucket should be sized such that any member of the household can carry them.

I hope this little story of one family’s success encourages you to devise your own dish experiment. Or laundry experiment, or whatever else grabs you. Whatever you do, treat it as an exploration; refrain from indulging in any kind of guilt or self-criticism; and focus on obtaining a yield. (That’s the permaculture way: Obtain a yield while helping the planet!)

And if you feel moved, write up your experiments here in the Austin EcoNewsletter!