Page 175 - How to Be a Conscious Eater - Making Food Choices That Are Good for You

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HOLDING WATER

t’s funny how many of the same people who go to great
lengths to tote their reusable water bottles to meetings or
Idrink their coffees from reusable thermos mugs will churn
through three cans of LaCroix in a day. I know because I’ve
been one of these people!
When possible, buy in bulk and store in your own containers.
This extends well beyond food products to cleaning products,
beauty products, and pretty much anything you can put in your
shopping cart (whether that cart be physical or digital). That’s
because disposable and single-serving containers have a high
environmental footprint. Someone has to mine or collect the
raw packaging material, which often disrupts surrounding
habitat. Then someone has to transport and process the pack-
aging material to factories, which involves transportation fuel
and energy at the processing plant. Then there’s the environ-
mental cost of recycling and turning the source material into
other products. Whether it’s an aluminum can, plastic jug, glass
bottle, or cardboard box, you’re better off with the alternative:
a reusable container from home. Inconvenient? Sometimes,
but if you can develop the habit (as millions of us have already
been trained to do with reusable grocery bags), there’s financial
reward. What’s good for the planet can be good for your pocket.
If it’s fizzy water you’re after, consider a home bubble maker.
SodaStream is a popular choice, and the infinitely reusable glass
carafe makes it an even better investment, since other mod-
els’ large plastic bottles can degrade over time. There are other
options as well, both more and less expensive. Some quick nap-
kin arithmetic suggests that after the up-front investment of

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