Here's a crazy stat for you: In 2009, Americans spent over $10 billion on bottled water. $10 billion!! And they paid up to 1000 times the cost of tap water. On top of that, Americans drink roughly 50 gallons of soda per person per year. Now that's a huge amount of money and a huge amount of plastic bottles and cans ending up in the landfill - because remember, the recycling rate is still only 25 - 30%.
As daunting as that sounds, most people still aren't willing to give up their water & soda habit completely. Fortunately there is a way to clean that habit up quite a bit....
Enter the SodaStream. With a SodaStream, you can make your own fizzy water and soda using tap water in reusable bottles. Low cost, no waste....what's not to love? Sure, there's the initial cost for the machine. But with the basic model starting at $80 bucks, it wouldn't take long for a regular soda buyer to recoup their cost.
We don't drink much soda around here but hubby and I are big fans of sparkling water. We typically buy it in cans which we dutifully recycle but still, it's a use of resources that would be nice to avoid. When SodaStream approached me about doing a review, I was more than happy to oblige - with the goal of kicking my cans for good!! And my boys were ecstatic about having a soda-maker in their own home!!
The SodaStream is surprisingly simple to use. Fill a bottle with tap water, screw it into the machine and press the button on top 3 times to carbonate. Done! If you want to add flavor you do it after the water is carbonated. For those not interested in traditional soda flavors, SodaStream developed a new line of Sparkling Naturals flavors - which are free of preservatives and artificial flavors, colors and sweeteners. They also carry a line of flavor essences which are all-natural and unsweetened (personally, I love these the best!) While we've had a lot of fun making soda - it's still a special occasion thing. I don't want my kids drinking the stuff every day!
Want to win a SodaStream and give up the cans and bottles?
SodaStream has generously offered to give away a Penguin starter kit to one super lucky Mindful Momma reader (a $200 value)!! The cool thing about the Penguin model is that it comes with glass bottles instead of plastic. Super-durable glass bottles - so there's very little concern about breakage. I wish I could say that I've tried the Penguin but the company sent me a regular model by mistake and I didn't want to raise a fuss. (The plastic bottles in the basic model are BPA-free and I really think they're safe to use - I just would have preferred the glass)
For a chance to win, leave a comment letting me know why you would like your very own SodaStream Penguin. Extra entries for subscribing to Mindful Momma by RSS feed or email and following me on Twitter (three chances total per person - leave a separate comment for each). The giveaway will run through midnight, central time on Monday, February 7th. Good Luck!!
{full disclosure: I received a free SodaStream machine for review purposes. The opinions are my own.}
And the winner is....Stacey who said "I would love one - we actually don't drink soda but we fizz up fresh squeezed fruit juice a lot and I have been trying to talk my husband into letting me get one so we don't have to recycle all the water bottles (fizzy - not regular bottled). I feel like next to a water filter this would eliminate about the last of the bottles that come into the house - plus it would be fun to come up with new drinks to try."