Best Eco-Friendly Dishwashers From Consumer Reports' Tests
Our Green Choice designation will help you find a dishwasher that's easier on the environment
When you shop through retailer links on our site, we may earn affiliate commissions. 100% of the fees we collect are used to support our nonprofit mission. Learn more.
Dishwashers are fantastically efficient. Today, more than 700 individual dishwasher models carry the Energy Star badge for superior water and energy savings. Even the dishwashers that don’t qualify for Energy Star still use far less water and energy than all but the most disciplined hand-washing techniques. So using a modern dishwasher—preferably without pre-rinsing—is a big win for the environment.
But if you want a dishwasher that makes the smallest possible negative environmental impact, consider a dishwasher with the Consumer Reports Green Choice label. These models are marked by a green leaf icon in our dishwasher ratings.
We award this mark to dishwashers not only for their water and energy efficiency (as measured in our extensive lab tests) but also for a host of other bigger-picture factors.
“Sustainability is about minimizing the impact on the environment for any product from cradle to grave—all that is required to make it, use it, and dispose of it,” says Shanika Whitehurst, CR’s associate director of product sustainability.
What Makes a Dishwasher a Green Choice?
To earn CR’s Green Choice designation, dishwashers must stand out in a variety of key environmental assessments, including:
Water efficiency: In our labs, we measure a dishwasher’s water consumption on our intentionally difficult washing performance test. The vast majority of models we’ve tested, including our Green Choice winners, use between 4 and 5 gallons per load, though a few models use a bit less. Notably, that’s more than the 3.5 gallons that the Energy Star certification requires.
Green Choices at CR
• In autos, we ID the vehicles that produce the fewest pollutants.
• Only the top tier of efficient washers earn our green leaf.
• It’s part of our efforts to build a more sustainable future for all.
For more, see CR’s Guide to Sustainable Living.
Since our dishwasher ratings already account for reliability, water use, and energy use, it should be no surprise that many of our Green Choice dishwashers are also among our top-rated models overall. CR members can read on for a list of dishwashers that not only ace our performance tests and rate highly in our member surveys but are also a Green Choice. Consult our dishwasher buying guide as you shop. CR members can also see CR’s complete dishwasher ratings for even more options.
Best Eco-Friendly Dishwashers
Here are four of the most noteworthy Green Choice models, with strong scores on our performance tests, sold by brands that received great feedback on member surveys.