I just wondered about it, since everyone I've met had a different dish washing technique -- and rarely changed it. I got mine from my mom: have the dishes in the sink and, as I wash the first (usually the less dirty glasses or plates), let the rinsing water fall on the next dishes so that they will be more clean when I get to them. It always worked fine for me and, I believe, it does not use too much water. It also drives me crazy when friends who invite me for dinner wash the dishes with a constant stream of water running -- even as they stubbornly scrub just the one soap and I can see how much water is being wasted meanwhile! What's your washing technique? Do the techniques of others bother you?
That's cool! I come from Canada, the water was basically free in most cases, but somehow, I never liked wasting it. Maybe the European side of me? Also, the environmentalist mentality!
I've tried that method where you fill both sinks & wash this way but I've never stuck to it. I guess I've felt that running water gets a cleaner dish. I know this is likely based on my dish washing liquid & not my washing method but it's hard to break bad habits.
For me it doesn't matter how cheap the water is; because of the scarcity of water I always ensure that I preserve it to the best of my ability and do my bit for the environment. We have an ongoing drought in my country, so my technique is very much like yours.
I have to admit since I currently don't pay for water I don't really bother to conserve it. Even when we paid I didn't really conserve it. I'm not purposefully wasteful, but at the same time I am not frugal with it. It is the same for heat and a/c with me. I am not luxuriously wasteful but I am not going to skimp on my comfort level in my home by not heating or cooling it enough. I was raised to be very frugal and conservative with everything, including water and heat. Now that I am grown and I am not poor, I really refuse to live like I am on welfare. To me water and heat are basic comforts and I want to feel comfortable using them as I need.
I think everyone who has washed dishes for years now eventually learns a trick or two and becomes more efficient. My relatives back in the province use a basin where they place all the dirty dishes. They consume only two sets of water: one for soaking the dishes and two for rinsing. The method saves time and water. My personal technique is similar to yours (letting rinse water fall on the next dish) but also incorporates the technique I learned from my relatives.
