How To Make A SodaStream More Cost-Effective

The SodaStream machine is fantastic and certainly saves a lot of plastic bottles from the recycling heap, but if you’re drinking soda instead of sparkling water and using the SodaStream syrup mixes, you’re not saving much per litre of pop you drink. For the SodaStream machine to be truly cost effective, you need to be drinking a lot of soda—or love sparkling water.

You can change that and make your SodaStream machine much more cost effective by making a number of changes in how you use the machine. Even better, people are finding new ways to make their SodaStream machine more cost effective all the time.

1. Stop Using SodaStream Brand Syrups

SodaStream syrups certainly aren’t ridiculously expensive, but there are cheaper–and tastier–options out there. Many options, such as powdered drink mixes, have limited flavor options but you certainly don’t have to go without a great soda taste to enjoy extremely cost effective soda.

One great option is to purchase Snow Cone syrup. These syrups come in many different flavors, including fruit flavors and commercial pop flavors. You’ll have to do some poking around to find the best retailer near you but they’re not too hard to find.

To make Snow Cone syrup a cheaper option you’ll need to buy it in bulk, but you can keep the stuff for quite some time so that’s not much of a problem. You’ll also need to learn how to dilute the syrup to make a drink with the ideal flavor. You can find step-by-step instructions here.

Of course, you can also make your own syrup. For some pops this is pretty cost effective but in general it’s not the cheapest way to go unless you’re purchasing all your ingredients in bulk. Most of these recipes call for natural ingredients that don’t last too long, so unless you drink a lot of soda and have guests over frequently, you won’t want to be buying ingredients in bulk.

2. Stop Using SodaStream Brand CO2 Canisters

One drawback of the SodaStream machine is that it’s made to work with a very specific CO2 canister. These canisters are designed by SodaStream and in order to get a new one you have to order it from their headquarters in Israel. You can also recycle your old CO2 canister by sending it in, but that’s a long way for these canisters to travel and they’re pretty expensive.

Depending on the SodaStream machine you might have a slightly larger canister, but either way if you drink a lot of soda you have to recycle these canisters pretty frequently.

One of the easiest ways to get around this problem is by purchasing a special adapter which will allow you to hook a CO2 tank used for paintball up to your SodaStream instead. The tank isn’t much bigger than your regular SodaStream tank and should still fit inside your SodaStream machine.

Switching to paintball tanks saves a lot of money because it only costs a few dollars to refill the tank every time it runs out. This dramatically reduces the cost of using your SodaStream so you can have more fun with it.

Even better, you can find a place to fill up a paintball tank in most towns. It might take a little bit of looking around, but you’re sure to find a place nearby. This allows you to further reduce your impact on the environment. After all, the less distance your CO2 travels, the less damage you’re doing to our environment.

A SodaStream is a great investment if you want to have some fun, try new soda flavors, avoid using so much plastic and save money all at once. Every day people are coming up with new SodaStream recipes and experimenting with their SodaStream machines.

With these alterations, your SodaStream will save you and your family a lot of money for years to come. It doesn’t get much better than that.

And if you don’t have a SodaStream yet, check out our comparison guide here!