Which is more conservative?

Question

using paper plates every night or running the dishwasher every night

Answer 1

Let your dog l**k your dishes after you're done eating.

Then wash them by hand.

Answer 2

while running the dishwasher is more expensive, Using paper plates is less eco-friendly. I say you have 6 in one hand and 1/2 dozen in the other.

Answer 3

Running the dishwater every night. Disposables create more problem. the problem of production and problems of disposals too.

Answer 4

both suck. Try harder.

Answer 5

The real answer to this lies in where you are.  If you are in an area where there is a lot of water nearby (requiring less pumping) and landfill space is at a premium or you're a long distance from a recycling facility, then the dishwasher is the better choice.  If you live in an arid area where water is at a premium and there's lots of room for landfill, then paper plates might be the better alternative, especially if you use the time saved in clean up on some eco-friendly activity.

BTW, the same rationale holds true for disposable vs cloth diapers.  There have been studies that show the total energy consumption/eco-footprint of these choices are pretty much a wash, although I'm unable to cite a source directly (sorry about that).

Answer 6

running the dishwasher.  they have a point on the Yahoo! plan for conserving energy about how it is safer to use reusable silverware and plates then disposable ones.

Answer 7

Good one. It depends how many plates you use, I believe. If you somehow manage to fill the dishwasher every night, go for the dishwasher, because that would be a package of paper plates a day.

But if you only use about three or four plates, you might as well go for the paper plates.

Answer 8

It depends.

Washing dishes of a usual amount, running the dishwasher is more conservative (because paper comes from trees).

Answer 9

Why not just do the washing-up by hand...?  No electricity, just a few litres of hot water, a few litres of rinsing water, a few drops of detergent, no noise, no fuss.  Especially if it's only a couple of plates.

Paper plates not only need resources to make them, but they have to go into land-fill after use -- no excuse for such waste and laziness!  Dishwasher has to be better, if too lazy to wash up -- and of course you're making sure it's full before running it.

(I don't think you meant "conservative" -- that's a political position, not an ecological one.  Conservation, not conservatism...  "What's better conservation", or "which is greener" would have covered it.)