this post was submitted on 13 Dec 2024
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Mildly Interesting

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[–] [email protected] 139 points 1 week ago (3 children)

It said so on a packaging label so it must be true. What a relief. I was afraid someone was doing genocide, but marketing has proved me wrong.

[–] [email protected] 33 points 1 week ago (8 children)

Do you think the people running the genocide are the same as the people working in the factories to support their loved ones?

At the end of the day, people will always be people, while megalomaniacal leaders are the ones using them to further their own goals.

[–] [email protected] 53 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Sodastream is located in settled territory, and therefore an active participant in the settler-colonial project.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 week ago

They moved there factory out of the west bank, after heavy protest. Unless your referring to "Israel proper" as settled territory, which it is, but so is the u.s.

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[–] [email protected] 118 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Gives me similar vibes to a southern plantation owner saying ‘my slaves are all happy; they’ve never complained to me!’

[–] [email protected] 38 points 1 week ago (5 children)

"Shit, they even sing while they work, they love it!"

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[–] [email protected] 31 points 1 week ago

This cotton was produced by whites and blacks working side by side in peace and harmony.

[–] [email protected] 108 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Fuck soda stream, not only because there Israeli and had a factory in the occupied territories until backlash forced them out, they're also anti-repair.

I have one and one time I pumped it a bit too much and heard a pop and it would no longer work. I opened it up and found that a piece of foil had been ruptured, and found a video online of someone replacing it by unscrewing a plastic bit and replacing the foil. I eventually stripped the screw trying to get it out only to find in the comments of the video that they glue that screw in now . They don't sell a replacement part for it either so I eventually just had to use hot glue to seal it, which doesn't feel safe.

The foil seems designed to pop as a safety pressure release mechanism, but it basically bricks the unit afterwards and you have to buy a new one.

[–] [email protected] 31 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (3 children)

LPT: go get

  • a real CO~2~ cylinder with a CGA 320 valve (the 10lb size is plenty)
  • a CGA-320 CO~2~ regulator
  • some 1/4" ID reinforced PVC tubing
  • a carbonation cap + 1/4" barb ball lock disconnect (mentioned together because they're often sold as a set), and
  • a plain old empty 2-liter soda bottle.

That's everything you need to carbonate soda yourself without some proprietary bullshit device.

(I found the best price for the gas cylinder from a local company that resupplies restaurants etc. with soda dispensers, which is convenient because they can also refill it for you. The rest of the stuff can be found easily enough from Amazon or whatnot. I wouldn't buy the cylinder from Amazon unless I wanted aluminum instead of steel, for no good reason.)

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Works if you have space to put a 10lb CO2 cylinder

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago (2 children)

There's also smaller 5# tanks

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[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 week ago (11 children)
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[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 week ago

If you get a working one again you can get a 10lb CO2 tank from a local homebrew supply and an adapter from the Amazon and never have to worry about their shitty bottle exchange ecosystem ever again

[–] [email protected] 67 points 1 week ago (13 children)

Aww man, I like using sodastream. Is there an alternative that isn't directly tied to an apartheid state committing genocide?

[–] [email protected] 44 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I'd assume that most other carbonators aren't made by Sodastream 👍

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 week ago

Seconding Drinkmate. I replaced my soda stream a while ago and have been very happy.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Unfortunately a great many of them use Sodastream's gas cylinders - after their patent expired and anyone could build a compatible unit - so you might not be able to escape them getting your money when buying CO2 refills, if there isn't another brand of gas cylinder available where you shop.

Sodastream have released a new cylinder design (with a bayonet rather than screw fitting), presumably to again attempt to kill off the market for home refilling from a larger CO2 cylinder, or use in other brands of machines.

All of that said, I do like my Aarke machine.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 week ago

Where I live (Germany), most bigger Supermarket chains offer in house brand sodastream compatible gas cylinders. There usually even cheaper. I also have an ALDI in house sodastream dupe called soda star. Never saw a reason to buy sodastream, even before I knew about their political/moral questionability, when there are cheaper alternatives that literally do the exact same thing.

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Drinkmate is solid idk where they are produced tho just that they are based in Michigan.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Love my drinkmate that I hook up to 5 Lb C02 tanks swapped locally!

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (3 children)

I use a "Spärkel" carbonator. Instead of CO2 canisters, it uses packets of citric acid and baking soda to generate CO2 and uses a compressor to infuse the liquid.

Pros:

  • You can either use their pre-measured packets if that's convenient for you, or do what I do and just buy a bulk amount of both the citric acid and baking soda.
  • You can carbonate pretty much any liquid. Water, wine, flat soda, mixed drinks, you name it. The sodastream will explode and cause a huge mess if you try to carbonate anything besides water.
  • They don't appear to be Israeli.

Cons:

  • Because it uses a compressor, it needs to be plugged in to operate. It's pretty loud too!
  • It takes longer than a sodastream. While a sodastream is almost instant, this will take 1-3 minutes depending on the level of carbonation you desire.
[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I suddenly find myself wondering if I could make carbonated water by mixing citric acid baking soda directly in a 2-liter bottle, and pressurize it by screwing the cap back on quickly. It's probably a really bad idea due to the risk of explosion if you add too much reagent, and also because you'd end up with a bunch of sodium citrate in your carbonated water, which seems like it would be safe to drink but might not taste good.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago

You can just get a cap that will fit on any bottle and attach to a traditional c02 tank. Added benefit that if you use this with any regularity it will cost you much less over time.

You can also get corny kegs like the other person posted but those can be pricey. You can get them cheap at restaurant auctions sometimes (I basically got mine for free but they were gross). These take up a decent amount of space but you can make a lot of stuff at once

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Buy a used tank & mix machine as found in most restaurants. Register a business with your state. Sign the exclusivity deal with Coke or Pepsi. Buy the syrup. If you're using this every day it'll be cheaper than sodastream in a relatively short period of time.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago

Drinkmate. Better anyway because the removable/cleanable carbonator head allows you to carbonate any drink and also premix drinks. You'll lose a lot of carbonation the SodaStream way of mixing after carbonating.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago

Is there an alternative that isn't directly tied to an apartheid state committing genocide?

Yeah there are countless alternatives (at least here in Germany, but Germans are obsessed with sparkling water so YMMV depending on where you are). A soda maker ain't some crazy technology, it's a CO₂ cylinder, a valve, and something that holds the bottle, in fact, it's so simple, other comments suggest to just build one yourself: https://lemmy.world/comment/13959890

Just make a couple of Google (or preferably DuckDuckGo) searches for "soda maker" or "sodastream alternative" and I'm sure you'll find something that suits your needs.

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[–] [email protected] 36 points 1 week ago (2 children)

The Palestinian workers have to wear different color clothes so security knows to not let them use certain hallways.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

That's the main idea, but in practice, they're all infrareds.

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[–] [email protected] 30 points 1 week ago

Arab is the allowed word for "Palestinian"

[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 week ago (7 children)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought I read that their factory is actually built in occupied territory.

It's the reason I've always refused to but one.

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 week ago

Isn't soda stream also very pro trump?

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Which group was the one working in peace and harmony? Because it sure as shit wasn't both.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago

Oh so the people who made it have rights? Thats cool i guess

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