Running partial loads of dishes uses just as much water and energy per cycle as running full loads. A household that typically runs a half-load of dishes every day could save ... read full tip

Running partial loads of dishes uses just as much water and energy per cycle as running full loads. A household that typically runs a half-load of dishes every day could save more than 1,000 gallons of water and over $30 in energy costs per year by washing full loads just every other day.

If every automatic dishwasher in the U.S. were to run one less cycle per week, the annual savings would include 65 billion gallons of water and $3.8 billion in energy costs. The money saved would be enough to buy a brand new Energy Star-rated dishwasher for every new house and apartment unit built over the next two years.

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