Pre-Rinsing Dishes Before Loading the Dishwasher
You know that moment when you’re about to load the dishwasher, and you instinctively turn on the faucet to rinse each plate? Most of us have been doing this for years without thinking twice about it. But here’s the thing—an average faucet flows at 2.2 gallons per minute, which means you have about 4.4 seconds of open faucet to wash and rinse each dish.
Modern dishwashers are designed to handle food particles and debris without pre-rinsing. Simply scrape off large food scraps and load your dishes directly. According to the study by the University of Bonn, a full dishwasher can use 3 gallons of water to clean a full load (144 items). Washing the same number of items by hand uses around 27 gallons. The water savings are staggering when you skip the pre-rinse step entirely.
Running Half-Empty Dishwashers
Running your dishwasher when it’s only half full is like taking a taxi by yourself to work every day—it gets the job done, but it’s wasteful. Running the dishwasher only when it’s full can eliminate one load of dishes per week and save the average family nearly 320 gallons of water annually. That’s equivalent to about 21 full bathtubs of water wasted every year just from impatience.
Instead, wait until your dishwasher is completely full before starting a cycle. If you’re worried about dishes sitting too long, rinse only the items that might develop odors or stuck-on food—but even then, just a quick scrape will usually do the trick. Your water bill will thank you, and you’ll actually save time by running fewer loads overall.
Leaving the Tap Running While Washing Dishes by Hand
This one hits close to home for many of us. We turn on the faucet and let it run while we scrub away, thinking we’re being efficient. Letting your faucet run for five minutes while washing dishes can waste 10 gallons of water and uses enough energy to power a 60-watt light bulb for 18 hours. Think about it—that’s two gallons of water per minute just flowing down the drain.
The fix is simple but requires breaking an old habit. Fill one side of your sink with soapy water for washing and the other side with clean water for rinsing. Or better yet, use a basin for washing and only turn on the faucet when you need to rinse. You use up to 27 gallons of water per load by hand versus as little as 3 gallons with an ENERGY STAR-rated dishwasher.
Using the Garbage Disposal as a Catch-All
Your garbage disposal might seem like a convenient way to get rid of food scraps, but it’s actually one of the biggest water wasters in your kitchen. Every time you run the disposal, you need to let the water run for several minutes to flush everything through your pipes properly. The biggest contributor to food waste in restaurants is in the kitchen prep stage where overproduction, peeling, cutting, and expired food end up in the garbage.
Instead of using your disposal for everything, scrape food scraps into your compost bin or trash. Reserve the disposal only for small particles that accidentally go down the drain. Up to 33% of water used in farming is also wasted when we throw away food, so composting also helps reduce the broader water footprint of our food system.
Ignoring Small Leaks and Drips
That tiny drip from your kitchen faucet might seem harmless, but it’s like having a small hole in your wallet—the money just keeps trickling out. The average family can waste 180 gallons per week, or 9,400 gallons of water annually, from household leaks. That’s equivalent to the amount of water needed to wash more than 300 loads of laundry. A single dripping faucet can waste thousands of gallons per year.
A 1/16-inch opening in your faucet could waste 100 gallons a day. The solution is surprisingly simple—most faucet drips can be fixed by replacing a worn-out washer, which costs less than a dollar and takes just a few minutes. Check your faucets monthly and address any leaks immediately before they become bigger problems.
Overusing Water for Food Prep
We’ve all been there—washing vegetables under a strong stream of water, thinking we’re being thorough. But you don’t need Niagara Falls to clean your produce. Food waste exacerbates global water scarcity, with about 24% of all water used for agriculture ultimately wasted due to discarded food. This means we should be extra mindful about how we use water when preparing the food we have.
Fill a bowl with water to wash your fruits and vegetables instead of letting the tap run. You can reuse this water for your plants when you’re done. For leafy greens, fill a salad spinner with water and swish them around—it’s more effective than running water and uses far less. The key is being intentional about every drop.
Running Water While Waiting for It to Heat Up
We’ve all stood at the sink, hand under the faucet, waiting for the water to warm up while gallons literally go down the drain. This is especially common in kitchens where the water heater is far from the sink. You could save five gallons of water per minute by being more strategic about when and how you use hot water.
Keep a pitcher or large container near your sink to catch the cold water while you’re waiting for it to heat up. You can use this water for drinking, cooking, or watering plants. Better yet, plan ahead—if you know you’ll need hot water for cooking, start heating it in a kettle or pot on the stove instead of running the tap indefinitely. It’s a simple change that can save hundreds of gallons per month.
