How to Be a Conscious Eater

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HOLDING WATER

I

t’s funny how many of the same people who go to great

lengths to tote their reusable water bottles to meetings or

drink 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

164 how to be a Conscious Eater

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