Continuing on my theme from yesterday about drinking water, let’s talk about water filters. There are many ways to filter water, depending on WHY you want to filter it.
Life Saver
If you are worried about contaminants in your drinking water, there is Life Straw. Life Straw removes anything larger than .2 microns from your water, which includes bacteria and parasites. In updated versions, the filters also trap chemicals (like chlorine and pesiticides) and lead. If you are worried about the Apocalypse, this is the filter for you.
Berkey, If You Please
Some people filter water because they don’t like the taste. Nothing WRONG with the water, it just doesn’t “taste” right. I know. Water doesn’t have a taste, but I get where these ideas come from. Moving to Whidbey Island, the water just didn’t sit right with me. So, we bought a home water filter.
No, not a Brita. I’m not adamantly against Brita filters, but most of them are made of plastic, and don’t last for an extended period of time.
We went all out and got ourselves a Berkey. Berkey is just a terrific investment. It purifies our water, and removes the weird taste that I can’t put my finger on. Filling up our large unit (we got the Royal Berkey) once a day keeps both me and my husband hydrated all day.
For me, the best part about the Berkey is its environmental impact. The only plastic on our entire Berkey unit is the spigot. The rest is metal, which is highly recyclable (if it comes down to a time we don’t need a Berkey and it is unsalvageable), or worse comes to worse, being metal, it will eventually break down. It’ll take a while, but it will break down.
Sweet and Bubbly
For others who prefer their water bubbly and sweet (aka, soda, which isn’t water, but that’s a whole other topic), I have a few more suggestions.
If it’s truly just the sweetness or flavor of your beverage, I highly recommend using different types of fruits to infuse your water. My personal favorites are strawberries, cucumber, citrus, and even herbs like rosemary and thyme. Mix and match flavors to find one which works for you. For most fruit, cut into slices and let sit in pitcher of water for a couple hours. I place whole twigs of rosemary or thyme in my water (usually paired with orange, lemon, or cucumber). Drinking infused water makes me feel like a socialite at a spa. Very trendy, and reaping the benefits of infused water.
But if it’s the SODA aspect, especially the bubbly, Soda Stream might be just what you need. I recommend them absolutely last because they use A LOT of plastic. But they assure their customers it is all 100% recyclable, BPA-free plastics. Which, I agree, is better than nothing.
Soda Stream is affordable, about $150 for a medium unit. You do have to reorder pieces now and then, like the carbonator and flavors. But man, if you are a soda fanatic, then I do highly recommend something like this. Soda bottles aren’t much better than water bottles. And with the high fructose corn syrup in sodas, and other ingredients we can’t even pronounce, getting naturally flavored sodas might be a great progressive step.
Whatever your needs are, you’ve got options to make water a part of your wellness, while having a better impact on the planet.
I love our Berkey!