How to Make Your Own Sparkling Water (or Soda!)

What covers 70.9% of the Earth's surface, is fundamental to photosynthesis and respiration, and is required to sustain human life? No, it's not Kool-Aid you silly little minx, it's water. Agua. The wet stuff. H2 the izzo. 

I love water for many reasons. It keeps me smelling fresh and dainty, it assists me in boiling lasagna noodles and provides the perfect dunking liquid for my heart-shaped jacuzzi tub. But mostly, I appreciate water for keeping me well-hydrated and running on all four cylinders, biologically speaking.

For a long time I drank exclusively bottled water, believing that the freshness and safety were unparalleled. A few years ago, I stopped drinking it, simply because it became such a hassle to carry and store it and quickly realized that tap water really didn't taste as bad as I thought it did. Watching a documentary about bottled water called Tapped really put the lid on my bottled water drinking habits. I learned that not only is bottled water drawn from the same exact water source as municipal tap water, but the safety measures and regulations for tap water are far more rigorous than for bottled water. And, ahem...tap water is free!

While we haven't bought bottled water in years, Vin and I are super-fans of sparkling water and would lug home a 2-liter every other day. After a while, we began to feel really uncomfortable with the amount of plastic we were dragging out to the recycling bin every week. Because even though recycling is great, it's always better to reduce your plastic usage from the jump as breaking it down requires a lot of energy.

Enter the Soda Stream...aka, our new best pal! 

We have been eyeing this guy for a month or two, trying to find the best deal for the receptacle that could quench our thirst for unlimited sparkling water. We finally found one this weekend for only $80 at a kitchen outlet store. Right now a few of you are thinking, "80 bucks? You just told me bottled water was too expensive and you go and spend $80 on tap water? You so crazy, girl."

And I'd retort: "But guys; you have to look at it as a long-term investment. If we buy four $2 bottles of bottled sparkling water per week, by the end of 10 weeks we'll have burned through $80 and FORTY plastic 2-liter bottles." Saving money + avoiding excess plastic purchases= BIG WINNER!

To use the Soda Stream, you pop a CO2 cartridge in the back of the gadget, and screw in one of the liter bottles that comes with it. We'll have to replace the cartridge after about 90 uses.

A few quick pumps of a button, and you've got sparkling water or homemade soda!

But here comes the real test...sounds like sparkling soda water...

And tastes EXACTLY like the sparkling water we've been sucking back everyday! Victory is mine!

Has anyone else bought this trendy little device? Do you love it?