Posted by Snow in 
I take exception to the growing trend of urging folks to use their dishwasher to perform services or render effects the machine was not built for. Dishwashers, electric or not, conservational or not, are the lazy man’s luxury as it is. But why would you go to the trouble of loading a dishwasher with something other than dishes?
Dishwashers were invented for housewives who were too shy of getting their manicures ruined to wash their own dishes. A dishwasher was a consumer status symbol. A throwback to the advertising age that sold messages, and few of them green, dishwashers were meant to save manicures, not power plants.
The dishwasher uses a lot of power and water, and it’s difficult to imagine what process would be worth expending those same resources on not dishwashing. heating water, powering it through the machine, and heating the “items” after washing for drying takes a considerable amnount of energy.
1. Cooking or steaming fish.
Hard to know why a simple boiling pan or double boiler wouldn’t work here, while cooking up some greens in the heated water. Steaming fish can be wholly green when done on a bonfire or barbecue. Borrow some space on your neighbor’s grill next time they set out the charcoal.
2. Cleaning computer keyboards
The wiring will probably get ruined if you try to wash your keyboard in the dishwasher. If the heat and smoke pressure don’t warp the keyboard, plugging the electric item into the (dish)washed item with water inside it could wreck your computer.
3. Disinfecting sponges.
I know that keeping sponges cleaner is a priority. But these are all things better done (and perhaps more efficently done) by hand. Sponges are frankly cheap enough that throwing one out is more humane than dispensing water and detergent on a load of dishwasher suds and power.
4. Wash baseball caps
How can washing a baseball cap be better done in a dishwasher than in a clothes washer or rinsed in a bowl or tub? Baseball caps can go into a cold water wash or be pre-soaked to rinse stains and perspiration.
5. Poaching Salmon
Foud a recipe that itentionally uses a whole dishwasher cycle to cook salmon. How can having to clean it afterwards be grueling, and the smell probably doesn;t go away.
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Compare with the Sierra Club advice:
Tip #4: Wash Less, Rinse Less
Newer dishwasher models are powerful enough to get the gunk off, so save water by skipping the pre-rinse. Also, Energy Star dishwashers consume one-third less water than older machines. Try to reuse the same glass several times before washing it, and always run the dishwasher when it’s full.
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