Nothing beats a home-cooked meal, but with dinner comes dishes. Use these five tips to save while cleaning up.

1. Use your dishwasher. Did you know that your dishwasher is more efficient than hand washing — both in time and energy used? So, you'll actually save by doing less work.

2. Scrape dishes. Because you're using the dishwasher, there's no need to rinse ahead of time. Scrape the food off the plate into the garbage and load the dishes into the dishwasher.

3. Always run full loads. Speaking of loading them in, always run full loads for maximum efficiency.

4. Select energy-efficient settings. Because all you have to do now is push a few buttons, why not push the ones that wash at low-energy settings?

5. Switch to ENERGY STAR. ENERGY STAR® dishwashers use 30% less water and 10% less energy than standard models.

So, enjoy your meal and use these tips to save while doing the dishes afterwards.