I think it’s so genious that rules regarding energy efficiency slowly get stricter and stricter. The people who aren’t environmentally conscious and replace appliances fairly often are actually unknowingly saving energy every time they purchase something! And at least where I live there’s a pretty good infrastructure for thrifting and recycling big appliances. Usually they don’t just go into landfill.
I don’t mind doing dishes, but I don’t always have the time and energy. I always feel like we’re behind - we get up, have breakfast, don’t have time to wash dishes, come home to our dirty breakfast dishes. Then we cook dinner, eat, end up being so tired, and before you know it you’ve not done dishes for two days and it’s become a huge chore. Our kitchen is fairly small so it’ll be great to get to use all of the counter space instead of seeing dishes piling up. I’m sure we’ll still wash the occasional thing by hand but it won’t be such a massive drain of time and energy. I’m never behind on laundry, because I have a machine for it. I hope the dishwasher is going to do the same.
We have solar, so we turn the machine on in the morning after the breakfast dishes. Then when the boys get home from school, they can do their jobs (chores). All the dishes are then ready for making dinner, lunches for the next day etc.
Before I started work (remotely) this morning I started both the washing machine and dishwasher. I can empty them in my lunch break and all the energy comes from our solar panels.
After I unloaded the first load from the dishwasher yesterday, I knew I could never go back to hand washing. Everything is so extremely clean, and it comes out dry, and even the glassware looks perfect.
What’s the best environmentally friendly dishwasher detergent?
I don’t want to by anything that comes in plastic. The laundry detergent we use comes in sheets in a cardboard box! When I have a bigger load, I shave in some extra soap off the laundry bar soap.
Of course, our brands are different here in Europe, but I generally try to avoid plastic as well. This machine came with a few try-out tabs from a big name brand, wrapped in plastic, and I’ve used those so far. I feel like once the plastic has accidentally made its way into my house, it doesn’t matter if I use them or not. We’re through these now, and I bought my regular eco brand from the grocery store.
The regular grocery store sells unwrapped tabs in cardboard boxes from three different eco brands, and the bulk store sells unwrapped tabs in a kraft paper bag. I’ve not found liquid dishwasher soap that doesn’t come in a plastic bottle. I do think that kind of soap is probably easier to dose, and usually standard doses of soap are way too high.
For laundry I use powder in a cardboard box. I’ve seen the sheets but they’re still super expensive here. I’ve thought about making my own laundry soap from bar soap a lot, but I have a few friends who do that and honestly, all their clothes look awful. I don’t think it’s sustainable to ruin all your clothes. I also still use Woolite from a plastic bottle, because I’ve not found a good alternative.
When it comes to sustainable living, perfect really can be the enemy of good. We have reduced our use of natural resources by a lot by renovating, but of course we’ve also used natural resources to renovate our house. We don’t own a car, but that does mean we get heavy items delivered. Our regular grocery store uses an electric vehical for delivery. I order online from the plastic-free bulk store and they sell products in reusable glass jars and paper bags, but they arrive in the regular mail, delivered from a van that runs on petrol.
The dishwasher at our last house needed powdered dish soap. I tried several brands, but liked the Seventh Generation powder best. It comes in a cardboard box.
This! For everything! If I use the standard amounts for say, laundry, my clothes still have bubbles when the last spin cycle is finished! I use no scent, no colorant, eco soaps.
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(Linda -In the year 2025, I am happy to be alive! :us:)
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Most of us do not have the dirt and sweat in our clothes that previous generations had…fabrics are also made to be stain resistant, etc. I agree…if you follow the directions, it is way too much soap!
With our hard water, we need the extra soap and it’s frustrating. We have committed to getting a water softener, which has drawback we’re not excited about - like the feel of the water and the (relatively low) expense of maintaining. BUT the benefits are clear and I’m enthusiastic about those.
Y’all. I might just finish my fence rail oiling project today! There have been a few things making the project take a little longer, but mostly those were logistic. On the days I can work on it, I have been getting up at 5:30 so I can be out there by 6:30 to get a few hours in before it gets to uncomfortably hot. Even at 8:00, when it’s not that warm, it’s sweaty in the direct sun.
Something that I do with our sheets and towels every so often to help with the build up of body oils is to do a quick wash/pre wash in cold water using laundry soap to get rid of protein based dirt (eg sweat for people, saliva and pee for pets) and then a hot(ter) wash with dish soap to get rid of the oils. The hot will set the proteins, so needs to go second.
Sigh. One more early morning on the fence, unfortunately. It was 65F at 5:30 this morning, so even starting around 6:45 it was so sweaty and unpleasant after a couple of hours.
After 6 early morning forays out along the fence line, I have finally completed reoiling the top rails! I thank my lucky stars that the posts looked great still.
Me, too. Hopefully in 3-4 years I’ll remember this satisfying result and not put it off for 7-8 years again! It should help that I have a good 3 gallons to get me started this time around.
I’m still extremely happy with my new dishwasher, but I’m even happier now that we have tap water in the kitchen as well!! For whatever unknown reason it was difficult to get the specific part needed to attach our specific sink to the waste line. I thought that was all standard sized stuff but apparantly in our case it wasn’t and one specific odd part didn’t come with the sink when it should have. Just in case, we had decided to not attach the water line either, even though we had everything we needed for that. Didn’t want to risk someone coming in, turning on the tap and accidentally flooding the kitchen! It took nearly 2 months but all kitchen appliances were delivered, installed and are in working order now. We finally have a real kitchen!
I also went and bought a paint sample for my craft room / office on my day off Monday. It’s a berry colour, a warm reddish-purple colour. I got a bunch of paper samples first, pinks and purples, and picked this colour from those. I’ve always loved purple, but I didn’t want a purple that felt too dark. I also love pink but I didn’t want the room to feel too “barbie”. I need to prime to wall first because it’s fresh plaster, and then I can paint the sample patch. I hope this is the one!
I’m still trying to decide what to do with the ceiling. I was planning to paint it standard white, like everyone’s ceiling, but then I figured, hmm, I could also do something different? Maybe a pale pink or something. Does anyone here have a non-white ceiling? There’s quite a lot of ceiling, there’s a mezzanine and you can see all the way up to the roof.
Congratulations! Having a functioning kitchen - especially the sink - makes a huge difference in feeling at home in your home.
I have no white ceilings! Some that come across as kind of white it, but none that are white. If I’m painting a ligher color on the walls, I paint the ceiling the same color, because the light hits it differently (and in some cases it’s a different texture) most people don’t notice and some don’t believe it’s the same. I have known people who pick a much lighter shade of the wall paint which also looks nice - it’s light, but just enough less stark of a contrast to feel comfortable. I have one room with a dark grey accent wall that wraps up to the ceiling as well. It’s not for everyone, but it works for me. When I see white interiors I an understand why people really like them, but large white areas make me feel bad if I’m in them for very long.
They do need the soap! lol!!