Zero Stress and Zero Waste with the Philips GoZero Soda Maker
I’ve been drinking sparkling water ever since I lived in Italy, way back in 1998. For me, millions of Italians, and hundreds of millions of people worldwide, there’s nothing quite as thirst quenching as a glass of sparkling water on a hot day.
It’s not just thirst quenching either, studies have shown that drinking carbonated drinks fools the body into feeling fuller than drinking still drinks, which is great news for people who constantly feel hungry, as long as they’re drinking carbonated water, of course, and not sparkling sugary drinks.
The benefits of water itself are countless, it’s the most important compound for life on earth after air. That’s why our kitchen has always had a ready supply of sparkling mineral water for myself and my wife to enjoy (the kids aren’t big fans yet, just as I wasn’t at their age).
Unfortunately, bottled water has been hitting the headlines recently and scientists have found that more than 100 times the amount of micro plastics and nano plastics that they originally thought in bottled water. They tested three brands – without actually naming them – and were shocked by the results. Indeed, many scientists have since stated that tap water might actually be safer to drink.
We already own a Brita water filter, that we use for making squash for the kids. I’ve always found it an efficient enough way of filtering tap water so I figured this might be the time to also invest in a Philips GoZero water carbonator. I haven’t looked back since, and both my wife and I find the carbonated water to be better than the supermarket brand we were previously drinking.
I’d write an in-depth review, but there really isn’t that much to say, such is the simplicity of the GoZero. You merely fill the bottle with water to the level marked on the side and then screw the bottle into the GoZero dispenser. Press the button on the top for two to three seconds (you’ll hear it make a noise once it’s full) and then unscrew the bottle again. What could be simpler than that? Fresh, carbonated water without any worries about all those microplastics. And since the included bottle is BPA (Bisphenol-A) free, there’s no worries about any leaching of a potentially harmful chemical into the water.
The gas cylinder itself is also very easy to install and remove, you simply turn the GoZero on its side and unscrew it. The canister makes up to 60 litres of refreshing sparkling water, which means that 120 single-use plastic bottles aren’t going to landfill also, so I get to feel better about my footprint as well as less worried about what I might be drinking.
We’ve also started carbonating a few squash drinks for our 11-year-old son, Harrison. This means he gets to enjoy carbonated drinks occasionally but with us being able to control the amount of sugar that he has in them, rather than drinking Coke, Tango or Pepsi like many children his age.
The GoZero has been a great addition to our kitchen, it’s sleek and stylish enough, coming in black, white or red. It’s versatile enough to tailor the amount of fizz. I prefer lightly carbonated water rather than masses of bubbles, so I just stick to a two second blast, but for those – like Harrison – that love their drink heavily carbonated then it’s also possible to repeat the three second press and really sparkle up the drink. It’s also reasonably priced, at £69.99 on Amazon – including enough CO2 to carbonate sixty litres of water.
I have one of these that I combine with a water filter too (though I have my water filter on my tap). So refreshing to have freshly carbonated water with a slice of cucumber on hot days. Shame we aren’t having many hot days this year!