<![CDATA[Grist - Comment Feed for Ask Umbra on rinse aids]]> Grist Comment Feed en Comment #1 by veritone http://www.grist.org/article/2009-06-17-ask-umbra-rinse-aids/ Wed, 17 Jun 2009 07:15:56 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/2009-06-17-ask-umbra-rinse-aids/1 Why not stop using dishwashers altogether? The amount of energy they use could fuel a crane that might lift your house 40 feet into the air with every load. I don't have one and actually enjoy the ancient art of washing my dishes by hand. While I'm glad that "Spotless but concerned" is concerned, we are going to have to commit to far deeper changes than simply finding better chemicals to use in our dishwashers. Can you imagine trying to reassure your grandchildren, doomed to live in climate purgatory, that you did all you could do. Why you even carefully selected better chemicals to put in your dishwasher! I'm sure they'll be overwhelmed with your self-sacrifice.

]]> Why not stop using dishwashers altogether? The amount of energy they use could fuel a crane that might lift your house 40 feet into the air with every load. I don't have one and actually enjoy the ancient art of washing my dishes by hand. While I'm glad that "Spotless but concerned" is concerned, we are going to have to commit to far deeper changes than simply finding better chemicals to use in our dishwashers. Can you imagine trying to reassure your grandchildren, doomed to live in climate purgatory, that you did all you could do. Why you even carefully selected better chemicals to put in your dishwasher! I'm sure they'll be overwhelmed with your self-sacrifice.

]]> Comment #2 by billyrainbow http://www.grist.org/article/2009-06-17-ask-umbra-rinse-aids/ Wed, 17 Jun 2009 11:26:58 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/2009-06-17-ask-umbra-rinse-aids/2 In a dream world of limitless energy we could all live like George Jetson with every detail down to the flossing of our teeth taken care of by machines so that our biggest concern was "button finger-itis." Or swelling up like feedlot animals from focusing more on making ourselves comfortable than getting real things done. Oh, wait, maybe it's loo late already.

We've been all over the population explosion question recently, but the dishwasher thing pokes it really hard once again. Luxury processes that may be fine for a few people are a disaster for several billion. Further, while conservation may be asking a bit too much if it's letting your underwear go an extra day before changing, it certainly isn't too dear to insistently suggest that washing your dishes by hand will save water and electricity as well as obnoxious chemical use (and production), and that's not to mention the complex costs to the environment of designing, manufacturing, and distributing dishwashers in the first place.

i know, it's hard to believe that the world can survive without scrubbing every drink cup with special soap, "rinse aid," and spots on our dishes, but we have some amazing, quite natural tools that can easily address the threat; our hands and a few seconds with a dish towel. i mean, really! How could our ancestors possibly have survived all those millenia with spots on their dishes?

If our civilization is defined by our ability to have not just clean, but actually spotless, machine-washed dishes, then we are truly doomed. Let's all buy Hummers, burn multiple 200 W incandescent lights in every blaring TV infested room of our sprawling houses 24 hours a day, and install automatic butt-wipers in every bathroom, because we might as well milk it for all it's worth now, while there's still enough to wallow up over our heads in.







]]> In a dream world of limitless energy we could all live like George Jetson with every detail down to the flossing of our teeth taken care of by machines so that our biggest concern was "button finger-itis." Or swelling up like feedlot animals from focusing more on making ourselves comfortable than getting real things done. Oh, wait, maybe it's loo late already.

We've been all over the population explosion question recently, but the dishwasher thing pokes it really hard once again. Luxury processes that may be fine for a few people are a disaster for several billion. Further, while conservation may be asking a bit too much if it's letting your underwear go an extra day before changing, it certainly isn't too dear to insistently suggest that washing your dishes by hand will save water and electricity as well as obnoxious chemical use (and production), and that's not to mention the complex costs to the environment of designing, manufacturing, and distributing dishwashers in the first place.

i know, it's hard to believe that the world can survive without scrubbing every drink cup with special soap, "rinse aid," and spots on our dishes, but we have some amazing, quite natural tools that can easily address the threat; our hands and a few seconds with a dish towel. i mean, really! How could our ancestors possibly have survived all those millenia with spots on their dishes?

If our civilization is defined by our ability to have not just clean, but actually spotless, machine-washed dishes, then we are truly doomed. Let's all buy Hummers, burn multiple 200 W incandescent lights in every blaring TV infested room of our sprawling houses 24 hours a day, and install automatic butt-wipers in every bathroom, because we might as well milk it for all it's worth now, while there's still enough to wallow up over our heads in.







]]> Comment #3 by RichardinKRV http://www.grist.org/article/2009-06-17-ask-umbra-rinse-aids/ Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:15:07 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/2009-06-17-ask-umbra-rinse-aids/3 All the more reason to harvest rainwater and use it for dishwashing, clothes washing & personal showers/baths.

]]> All the more reason to harvest rainwater and use it for dishwashing, clothes washing & personal showers/baths.

]]> Comment #4 by Queen of Green http://www.grist.org/article/2009-06-17-ask-umbra-rinse-aids/ Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:22:19 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/2009-06-17-ask-umbra-rinse-aids/4 You don't need to put 'Rinse Aid" in your dishwasher. The best thing for your indoor air quality, your health, the fishes and your pocket book is to use vinegar. Yes, the cheap, white, distilled vinegar that you can get at any grocery store. Works like magic! See other simple recipes at queenofgreen.ca

Lindsay

]]> You don't need to put 'Rinse Aid" in your dishwasher. The best thing for your indoor air quality, your health, the fishes and your pocket book is to use vinegar. Yes, the cheap, white, distilled vinegar that you can get at any grocery store. Works like magic! See other simple recipes at queenofgreen.ca

Lindsay

]]> Comment #5 by jollyRobin http://www.grist.org/article/2009-06-17-ask-umbra-rinse-aids/ Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:09:00 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/2009-06-17-ask-umbra-rinse-aids/5 My understanding is that modern dishwashers actually use less energy than washing by hand (unless, that is, you are washing dirty dishes in cold water which is impractical if you live in a hard water area). It's hard to strike a balance between energy and chemical use and potential food poisoning, isn't it?

]]> My understanding is that modern dishwashers actually use less energy than washing by hand (unless, that is, you are washing dirty dishes in cold water which is impractical if you live in a hard water area). It's hard to strike a balance between energy and chemical use and potential food poisoning, isn't it?

]]> Comment #6 by jollyRobin http://www.grist.org/article/2009-06-17-ask-umbra-rinse-aids/ Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:16:36 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/2009-06-17-ask-umbra-rinse-aids/6 I harvest rain water and use it for flushing the lavatory and watering the garden. But I wouldn't use it for dishwashing or clothes washing, since the roof surfaces from which it drains are used by wild birds (those aviating zoological gardens) as roosting and crapping places, and to treat the water to ensure its freedom from parasites would need more technical and engineerng ability than I possess.

]]> I harvest rain water and use it for flushing the lavatory and watering the garden. But I wouldn't use it for dishwashing or clothes washing, since the roof surfaces from which it drains are used by wild birds (those aviating zoological gardens) as roosting and crapping places, and to treat the water to ensure its freedom from parasites would need more technical and engineerng ability than I possess.

]]> Comment #7 by plantqueenie http://www.grist.org/article/2009-06-17-ask-umbra-rinse-aids/ Fri, 26 Jun 2009 09:56:41 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/2009-06-17-ask-umbra-rinse-aids/7 I totally second the white vinegar!  I've lived in many apartments who all had crotchety old dishwashers, which often left my dishes with nasty bits of scum on them... a friend recommended a glug or two of vinegar right before starting the load... and wah-lah!  Sparkling clean dishes!  It's cheap, easy and works great.  :)

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]]> I totally second the white vinegar!  I've lived in many apartments who all had crotchety old dishwashers, which often left my dishes with nasty bits of scum on them... a friend recommended a glug or two of vinegar right before starting the load... and wah-lah!  Sparkling clean dishes!  It's cheap, easy and works great.  :)

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