Sustainable Ideas for Washing Dishes

Personally speaking, I do not enjoy the time I spend washing dishes. There is always somehow a large amount of plates and chopsticks to wash, and this is an activity I have to engage in multiple times a day. Thinking about the time and energy I have spent in just the past year alone, they really add up.

However, it is not just the time that is used. The amount of water we let down the sink just for dish washing is also not to be scoffed at. While I agree that this is something that is not easy to avoid, there are ideas to make our everyday dish washing more environmentally friendly, and here are three ideas to share.

1.    Saving your shower water

Before you get disgusted and click away, hear me out. I am not asking you to save the soapy water that come off your body as you shower and shampoo and then use that for washing dishes, because that is gross. Instead, if you have a basket at home, put it in the shower room with you. For many of us, when we turn the shower on, the water does not heat up for the first couple of minutes. Some people just leave the shower on and let the water go down the drain until the water warms up.

What about using that water for washing dishes later? Use the basket to gather the water, then bring it to the kitchen later. Sure, the water is cold so it might be harder to use against greasy dishes, but they are perfectly fine for soaking bowls with rice stuck on top or for rinsing plates. We actually do not have a basket, so we have turned our extra laundry basket into this.

2.    Choosing your sponge

Yes, I know, the sponges at hundred yen shops are really cheap. 100 yen for 8 sponges is unbeatable, and even the nicer sponges are just 100 yen a pop. However, they also create a lot of micro-plastic that is quite harmful for the environment. Lake Biwa, for example, has suffered from sponge plastics, and that beautiful lake is not the only one.

One alternative and environmentally friendly option is the Vegetable Fiver sponges. These sponges are made entirely out of vegetable fibre so that they can be degraded and return to earth when you throw them away with burnable trash. The texture feels different, but they work well. 440 yen for 2 on Amazon is not the cheapest thing you can find, but you are doing it for the Earth.

3.     Investing in a dish washer
I have yet to get to this stage of my life because dish washers are bulky and expensive, but this is my dream one day. Not only does it remove the responsibility of washing dishes away from my daily to do list, they are also designed to help conserve your water usage. I wish I can share the experience but I do not have one yet. One day!

Do you have other ideas to share regarding sustainable dish washing? Share them with us!