SodaStream Terra: Is it worth buying?

I mainly bought a Sodastream so I don’t have to carry two-liter bottles of soda or sparkling water home. The Sodastream Terra model appealed to me because it doesn’t need power, so I can set it up and put it away more easily. Although the environmental argument for the reduction of plastic bottles might seem compelling, I remember that I could have opted to just drink water. I already use a system of filters to store water in my fridge, yet I find it mindlessly industrious to transform that inventory into bottled elixirs.

Some key assumptions match my personal preferences:

• I will usually only use three presses for carbonation. 
• I will use the serving size recommended for the mix.

The Sodastream Terra cost $90 with two cylinders included. A six pack of Pepsi Zero mix was about $35, and each can make about 9 L.

 

One-liter sparkling water precursors.

Initial Purchase

The initial purchase doesn’t quite pay for itself. Including the cost of the Sodastream Terra, for $125, I can make about 54 L of Pepsi Zero, or 27 two-liter bottles. In stores in Seattle, a two-liter bottle of Pepsi Zero costs about $3; sales tax is 10.25%., so each bottle is about $3.31, meaning I can get 37 two-liter bottles for $125. That means we don’t break even quite yet. It would take additional orders of mix and CO2 canisters to “get value.”

Discussion

I like it, but I think families would get more value out of it.

 

 

[Draft update.]