Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Dishwashers etc

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

On 13 Nov 2010, at 10:31 AM, Naomi Anderegg wrote:

> Are there any communities out there where 
> each individual just washes his dishes & utensils when he's done eating, and 
> once the meal and all that post-meal discussion is done, only the pots and 
> pans 
> are left?

This is the method used in Zen centers where I've done retreats. There is a big 
wall of shelves where each person has a small plate, bowl, and cup stacked, 
wrapped in a large cloth napkin (remember those?), and tied knapsack style with 
chopsticks tucked into the knot. After each meal each person washes their own 
dishes and returns them to the shelf. Since eating utensils are not shared, 
there are no germs being passed around. And it's a lovely wall — like an art 
project.

I think that is the most environmentally responsible method of them all. And 
they have used it for many, many decades. BUT each person is cleaning and 
eating off their own dishes — no sharing of unsanitized dishes.

How clean the dishes are is up to each person as long as they are clean enough 
to avoid ants, etc. Users can launder their own napkins and take dishes home 
for cleaning as desired.

> Is there evidence that the dishwashers & sanitizers are a more 
> environmentally responsible option? 

I think there is about 200 years of evidence that sanitizing is important — 
perhaps sterilizing eating utensils is not as vital if there are no unusual 
diseases around but one never knows when there will be. While washing dishes 
with hot soapy water and a bit of chlorine bleach in the rinse, is effective, 
how many people washing up on the CH actually do this? 

The water gets cold, they don't believe in using chlorine bleach, or they don't 
think they have any viruses. Or they use their home experience as their 
standard —we do it at home and no one dies. 

But in the CH there are many more people and they are returning daily from 
environments where they contact many more people. The exposure is much greater. 
Particularly if your community has international travelers.

Sharon
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Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org