What's more efficient and less impactful on the planet?  Washing dishes by hand or using a dishwasher? 

Many dishwasher manufacturers claim that their dishwashers use less water than washing the same amount of dishes by hand would.  Is this true? Maybe, I guess it depends on who's hand-washing technique you're comparing the machine to. 

 But who puts that much effort into developping a hand-washing technique?  Well... I do.  But whether you know it or not, you too have a hand-washing technique.  It may not have been concsiously designed, but if you ever hand-wash, you have a technique too. 

Do you leave the water running with the cork out the whole time you wash every dish one-by-one with a soap-dispensing plastic washing wand you got at Dollarama for a buck?  If so then yes, for you my friend, the dishwasher is your better option.  It'll use less water and less soap than your technique (which I hope you hadn't put much effort in developping). 

Do you fill the sink a quarter way and use your rising water to continue filling the sink/  Do you start by washing the small, not-so-dirty items and move up to the larger, dirtier ones?  Then maybe hand-washing is right for you.  Specially if you consider that the dishwasher doesn't always clean everything very well like pots and pans and other dishes that may have been laying around allowing the food bits to dry to a hard-to-remove crust.

The dishwasher definitely has its place in the green home but in some cases, like with crusted-on food, the machine won't clean it off and you'll have to wash it by hand anyway.  So a combination of machine and the occassional,  responsible hand-wash might be the perfect combination.  As with every other lifestyle choice you make, there's no right and wrong answer what matters is caring enough to take the time to ask yourself: "Could I do this any greener?".