jchan's Profile

We got one of these in May and agree that both the quality and the cost-savings are amazing.

You press down on a button at the top of the SodaStream to shoot carbonated air into a bottle of chilled water. This means you get to adjust exactly how fizzy you want it to be. 3 presses are recommended but we will sometimes press up to 5-6 times to get water so fizzy it hurts!

On the costs: Each carbonator costs about $25 and produces ~120 liters, which brings the total cost to about $0.21 per bottle. Compare this with the cost of store bought sparkling water, priced at about $1/liter. Our family used to average ~12 liters a week. Now instead of spending $12.00/week or $600/year on sparkling water, we're spending $2.50/week or $125/year -- a cost savings of almost $475 over the course of a year.

Finally, the savings for the environment are also unbelievable. Instead of throwing away 600 one liter plastic bottles into the recycling bin -- we reuse the same 4 bottles that were given to us in our initial purchase.

Every responsible soda drinker should run out and buy a SodaStream. This is easily one of the most economical products I've bought in a long time.

I like hers more, but only because the red one looks like its trying so hard and it looks like it was from the eighties.

I have a feeling the writer has already tried talking to his wife in a "respectful and non-judgemental way," but she is not compromising. He sounds like he wants to find a solution and is desperate for help, and I'm not sure the next solution is to have another talk with her to figure out her behavior.

Get a counselor. Even if she does not have a neurotic disorder, this is a good way for both of you to discuss this issue in front of a neutral and non-judgemental observer.

People who rationalize hoarding as "thrifty behavior" need help. If your wife were really "thrifty" she would never even accumulate and consume all those things in the first place. True thrifty behavior is real thrift -- restraint in what we bring into our lives and our homes in the first place.

I own only 5 knives and keep them in a Global knife block, after they are washed and completely dried.

I don't mind the magnetic strips, but I also have an irrational fear that the knife might fall off the strip and pierce my foot or my hands. I know this is completely irrational. I also don't like the blades exposed even though it looks kind of cool.

The idea of keeping knives in a drawer not only seems dangerous, but it's also not a good way to care for expensive knives. When you shuffle through drawers, throw kitchen utensils into the drawers, or otherwise move the knives around, the steel blade can get damaged or chinked. It's better to keep the knife blades away from other utensils.

I agree with Scottie. This stuff is "green" insofar as you don't need to water or fertilize it, and it's made from recycled plastics --- BUT, is it itself recyclable? If it isn't, should we really promote something that's so green-washed?

someone paid for this? the bedroom looks nice, but the kitchen and living space proportions look all off and the walls do nothing for the apartment.

Where can I get the clan of wooden monkeys?

I bought suits for my first business formal job this summer. I stupidly dry cleaned them before I came, but they all got wrinkled on my trip back to law school. I plan to use the steamer for my suit jacket and suit pants ahead of my interviews this month.

I buy new bottles of shampoo, hair products, cleansers, cleaning products, etc. until I'm done with the product I'm using.

My bathroom is completely decluttered and only contains the following necessities:

shampoo
conditioner
body wash
toothpaste
toothbrush
face cleaner
moisturizer
deodorant
contact solution and case

Even my boyfriend uses more products than I do.

I'm also not wasteful about the products that I do use. It takes me almost a year to go through a 10 oz shampoo bottle, whereas my old roommate would need to buy shampoo every 6 months.

looks like an orla kiely print to me