Did you know that approximately a quarter of all soda bought in the US is eventually poured down the drain? It’s true. Think about all those party guests who never finish the soda you serve them. Or people in restaurants who only drink half of the soda in their glass and others who leave their partially drunk soda cans on window ledges, fences and elsewhere. Yeah, soda waste is a legit issue considering all the resources that go into producing all that wasted soda. And because we at Rocky Mountain Natural Soda are fond of the environment and fond of coming up with ways to prevent waste we’ve brought together this list of creative uses for leftover soda. Enjoy.
About That Waste…
When people finish only half a soda they’re not just throwing money away, they’re also contributing to waste that extends way beyond the boundaries of the can. When 1/4 of all soda is wasted that means 1/4 of all the gasoline or diesel fuel used to transport the soda from factory to retailer was wasted, 1/4 of the resources used by the factory to produce the soda were also wasted and so on and so on. And since tens of billions of cans and bottles of soda are sold each year in the US, that’s a lot of waste. Here are 6 ways to make use of that leftover soda.
6 Ways to Put Leftover Soda to Good Use
The following are some of our favorite ways to put leftover soda to good use instead of tossing it down the drain.
Note: Most of these work better if there is still at least a little bit of life in the soda.
1: Use it to make ice cubes
Tired of melting ice turning your glass of soda into a glass of yuck? Well, the next time you have soda left in a can or bottle make ice cubes with it. Use these ice cubes the next time you’re drinking soda from a glass and your drink will retain its full, refreshing taste. Just make sure you use Coke ice cubes with Coke, Sprite ice cubes with Sprite and so forth.
2: Use it to make Jell-O
Instead of using water, use leftover soda to create Jell-O. It’s a 1 for 1 swap out where you substitute soda for the cold water called for in the recipe. Whenever possible the flavor of the soda should be the same as the flavor of the Jell-O. So Rocky Mountain Black Cherry natural soda for cherry Jell-O, orange soda for orange Jell-O and so on.
3: Use it with cut flowers
Just about everyone is familiar with the trick of adding sugar to the water in a vase to prolong the life of cut flowers. But you can achieve a similar effect by adding a bit of leftover soda to the water instead. The only way this won’t work is if the soda uses Nutrasweet or some other artificial sweetener.
4: Use it to bake a cake
You can call this a hack if you like, we just call it a delicious idea. If you want to bake a cake that will open eyes and tickle taste buds just add leftover soda instead of water to a boxed cake mix. The resulting cake will be super moist with flavor to beat the band.
5: Fun with fruit
If you are a fan of fruit salad but you don’t like it when the fruit turns brown after you cut it up, soak the fruit in some citrus flavored soda instead. This will prevent the fruit from turning brown while it sits on the table waiting to be eaten.
If one of your guests didn’t finish their can or bottle of Rocky Mountain Soda Company soda, there's a couple of things you can do. First, never invite them back (just kidding, sort of), and second pour the leftover soda over apples, sprinkle them with cinnamon and bake them to make the best baked apples you've ever had.
6: Glaze a ham
If you’re into baked ham you know that the glaze is as important as the quality of the meat. So next time you’re fixing to prepare a baked ham for family and friends don’t forget the cola glaze. Cola glaze? That’s right. Just place a couple of spoons of brown sugar in a bowl and then pour in a few ounces of leftover cola. Whisk it together until it forms a thick glaze, then brush it or pour it over the ham before popping it in the oven.
Order Some All-Natural Soda Today
Leftover soda constitutes a significant waste problem that rarely gets talked about. But if you’re serving your guests Rocky Mountain kosher, natural soda with no GMOs the odds of having any leftovers is slim.
