I try to be as ecologically sound as I can, and have always thought about the indirect cost of things, so the only dishwasher I ever had was my husband! The amount of water used in a dishwasher seems too great for the job it does, especially as the water then just goes down the drain. In my previous house I had a good sink with a smaller side sink to rinse things in.
Here it is just the basic sink, so my version, now I am on my own, is to have a washing up bowl for the soapy part and then have a plastic bowl, probably a mixing bowl size, which I fill with fresh water. Then I have to sit usually to do the washing up, so wash in the bowl, take plate out, dunk it in clean water to rinse, and put in the rack to dry. At the end of the session, soapy water allowed to go down the drain, and rinsing water added to my bucket,to go out on the garden, I am very fussy about my coffee, and use fresh water every time (would not fancy the boiling water thing) so I actually have a jug of just the right size to fill the kettle with, so that water is not wasted, and the very small amount left in the kettle after I have made my coffee is allowed to cool down and then added to the watering bucket. Whilst I can see how useful a dishwasher is if you have a large family and a lot to wash up, I do feel that after washing machines they use a lot of good drinking water, and when we are in this drought period contribute to using a lot of water somewhat unnecessarily. I stick to only washing a full load etc., and save what water I can. This not only saves precious drinking water for everyone, but I actually keep my water bills down by this sort of economy, so its a win/win situation as far as I can see.