"Our beautiful city skyline as seen from Ōrākei," writes Peter of Titirangi. "Not quite as picturesque as Sydney with their Opera House and bridge. Another idea floated - a stadium on our waterfront, we need to sink this one."
Time to let machines take over ...
In a list of tips on how to save the planet a Guardian reader includes: "Get rid of your dishwasher - it wastes energy and water" ... What? Back up the truck. Another reader replies: "A dishwasher uses much less energy and water (as little as one-sixth, with modern machines) than washing by hand. The belief that anything that makes life easier must be worse for the environment is built on unfortunate moralistic foundations." And he's right. You would have to use a small sink-full of tepid water to be as green as a modern dishwasher. But what about all that pre-rinsing carry-on? Totally unnecessary with modern dishwashers which can "spray highly controlled jets of water upwards of 60C at the dishes, something our human hands can't handle," explains Science Alert. If you're still feeling a little guilty, make sure it's fully loaded, use a friendly detergent and the economy setting ... and for maximum green points, The Guardian's Green Living blog suggests "use the timer setting to run the dishwasher in the middle of the night. This way, you'll be using the grid at a time of low demand, which means the least efficient and dirtiest power stations won't be running and, as a result, each unit of power will have a slightly lower carbon footprint." The most compelling reason to have a dishwasher is this: According to the Energy Star programme, delegating dishwashing to a machine saves you 230 hours, or nearly 10 days, each year.
Not so special
