During college I developed a nasty Coke habit. Yes, that’s Coke with a capital C because I’m referring to the carbonated beverage, not the illegal drug. It became my go-to drink at home, during class, while driving, you name it. It had the caffeine to keep me awake during those reeeaaalllyyy long nights when I was studying (or chair-racing down the hallways with my friends, whatever) and was more portable than coffee.

After college, I continued to drink Coke every day until deciding I consumed entirely too much sugar in my life, and so I switched to Diet Coke. I weaned myself off regular Coke by drinking Diet Coke with lime, which is sweeter than regular Diet Coke, but eventually I became a Diet Coke purist and remained so for about three years. I can’t even drink regular Coke anymore because it tastes like I’m pouring 12 ounces of pure sugar directly into my mouth.

But then I read a book called Green Chic (sent to me by Allie). The book has a lot of useful information, but the passage that most stuck with me is this:

“Soda tends to come in either plastic bottles or aluminum cans. The production of both plastic and aluminum requires truckloads of energy. Or it would if energy came in trucks. Anyway, making a pound of aluminum emits about 12 pounds of CO2, even more than making a pound of plastic. Making recycled aluminum requires only about 5 percent of that energy, but in the United States we waste more than 5o billion aluminum cans per year. …. Then there’s the energy required to make the actual soda. If you drink full-strength sugary soda, all that sweetness comes from high-fructose corn syrup, one of the more energy-intensive ingredients to make. And then the fizzy, chemical soda has to be made, which is among the most energy-intensive food-making processes there is. … So my advice regarding soda is simple. Stop drinking it.”

It comforts me a little to think I wasn’t causing as big an impact as I could have during all those years of Coke-drinking, since I was of course recycling all the cans. But really, that’s a lot of crap we go through just to make some carbonated sugar water.

So, after reading about the evils of both plastic bottles and aluminum cans and then the frankly horrifying truths behind artificial sweeteners, I decided it was time to say goodbye to Diet Coke, or at least take a big step back from it. Even though I only drank one can per day, it started to weigh heavily on my conscience. So I did a little experiment.

Even though I already had a full 12-pack in the fridge, I decided to go a whole week without drinking a single can. I was surprised at how easy it was. It’s not that I was addicted to the caffeine, but more like something I was in the habit of doing every day. Sure, there were times when I craved a Diet Coke, but when that happened I just drank some water or juice in its place. Before I knew it, one week had turned into two and two had turned into a month. I eventually caved a couple of times and had a can, but it took a long time for that 12-pack to dwindle down and I never bought one to replace it. It felt good.

I’m not saying I’ll never drink another soda ever again. I’ll still order one sometimes in restaurants, and I bet I’ll buy another 12-pack at some point. But by cutting way back, I feel I’ve done something good for both myself and the planet. If you’re a soda addict, I encourage you to consider doing the same thing. It’s not as hard as you think it will be.