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July 11, 2008

Green Gadgets: Soda-Club Home Soda Makers

This is the second article in our new column, Green Gadgets, written by guest blogger, Shane Conder.

Do you like drinking soda? Do you like drinking sparkling water? Do you hate lugging it home by the case? Do you find your recycling bin fills up quickly with soda cans and water bottles? If you answered yes to any of the above, you might be interested in a home soda maker from Soda-Club.

These devices make great tasting sparkling water (also called fizzy water, or seltzer water) from your own tap water. You simply fill the provided bottle, press the button at the top a few times, and you have ready-to-drink soda water. Add your own flavoring or one of the many flavors Soda-Club provides to make flavored soda water or even soda similar to many big name brands. (Laurie finds the taste of their diet soda very similar, if not better, to that from the name-brand sodas and it still provides the caffeine she wants.)

What's green about this? First, the bottles Soda-Club provides are reusable. That means you have less waste, even if it is recyclable waste. Second, the full cans and bottles don't have to be transported to your store and then to you. Nor do the companies have to truck water and supplies to their factories for you. These costs should not be underestimated.

Speaking of cost, these soda makers can actually reduce your spending on sparkling water and soda. For the initial package, you'll likely spend around $120 to get a kit that can make 220 liters of soda. That comes out to 55 cents per liter. Soda cans have about a third of a liter in them. At 25 cents each, you're already saving 20 cents a liter. Over the course of your first 220 liters, that's $44. Now factor in that you won't need to drive to the store to buy your soda nor will you (nor your trash guy) need to drive your recycling to the recycling center and your savings may be substantially more. That savings is just with the starter kit. 

The incremental cost for your next 220 liters is going to be around $40 to get refill carbonators, which arrive at your doorstep by mail. That's now only 18 cents per liter. At that minor expense, you'll see $125 in additional savings, for a total of $169 in savings over the same quantity of name-brand soda. You've now saved more than you spent on your new soda maker, reduced waste in landfills, and eliminated some fuel used by industrial transportation costs and your own.

(Note: I haven't included the costs of the flavoring syrup or some shipping costs. I've also assumed a price of 75 cents per liter for either sparkling water or canned soda. Your costs may vary.)

These types of soda makers are convenient, quick, cheap, and green. We highly recommend a soda maker of the type Soda-Club sells. We've had one of these for over a year now. We create 3-4 liters a day and have not had any problems.

Posted by shane at July 11, 2008 12:37 PM