Mildly Interesting

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.

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

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

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.)

they're*

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.