You Are What You Drink

Years ago in my punk rock years when I stopped eating meat, stopped eating fast food, and generally questioned everything, I also stopped drinking soda. Switching to water seemed so much easier, cheaper, and healthier. The wretched effects of so much corn syrup on obesity rates speak for themselves, and why would I want to give my money to the Coca Cola Company? At the same time, as bottled water became more and more popular and socially acceptable, I was suspicious of the marketing of bottled water (remember Evian?) and tended to stick with tap water. I figured we are lucky to have clean water in this country, and my gut told me that bottled water just didn't make that much sense. Use a Nalgene! Now, 20 years later, it looks like several restaurants in San Francisco and New York have made the break-through decision not to serve bottled water. They cite the futility of using so many fossil fuels to transport water from as far away as France and Italy, when perfectly clean water is coming out of the tap. Some restaurants are further filtering and carbonating the water on their own. What a revolutionary idea! I think it's great. Now I don't often buy seltzer water, but I do like it. So I am considering buying one of these to carbonate water at home. These nifty dispensers from the collections of barware from the 50's and 60's were actually better for the environment. Who knew they were so cutting edge?