So our dishwasher finally stopped functioning well. It has never been great, but now it was functioning more like a food spreader than a dishwasher. One morning I woke up to a messy coating of chocolate pound cake on all the dishes. It took two more cycles to get it all clean. What a waste of water, gas and electricity! I had even scraped the bowl that I put in the dishwasher.
Anyway, after much searching I found a dishwasher that will use less water, less gas, less energy and even clean the dishes too!!! In my research I found a division of consumer reports that uses environmental criteria. It might be helpful next time something breaks at your home. - http://www.greenerchoices.org/ You can also go look at the energy star ratings at energystar.gov
Lastly a tip - the newer dishwashers handle scraped dishes - they do not need to be rinsed. This habit change saves an average of 20 gallons per dishwasher load. On average this is 6,500 gallons per year. I save more than 7,000 per year with not scraping. Scrape those veggies etc. into a composter - decrease your garbage and get free fertilizer for your garden. For more tips on dishwasher efficiency http://www.greenerchoices.org/products.cfm?product=dishwasher&page=GettingMostValue
