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Comment by nulld3v | Hacker News Reader

I've also been dabbling in this recently in an attempt to avoid buying SodaStream syrups (which are on the BDS boycott list).

Tips for working on sugar-free recipes: In some countries (like Canada), soft-drink manufacturers are required to disclose the exact amount of each artificial sweetener they use in the drink. So you can easily grab those numbers from Canadian product listings for use in your own recipes. E.g. 355ml of Diet Coke contains 131 mg aspartame + 15mg ace-K.

Also, aspartame can be difficult/slow to dissolve. It dissolves better in solutions with a low pH and a warmer temperature.

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People are always so laser focussed on the latest trendy thing, but why not just boycott all huge corporations/organisations? It’s a much simpler rule that achieves the same thing and you have the added benefit of boycotting companies that haven’t had their corruption uncovered… yet!

I find it more effective to say, I'm avoiding product X for Y reason.

This starts a conversation more effectively with contacts rather than go full large company avoidance which is difficult for people to imagine, let alone act on.

I sympathise with what you're saying though.

This is actually addressed on the BDS movement website

https://bdsmovement.net/what-bds

Effective boycotts work on companies that are large enough to be noticed but small enough for boycotts to have an effect, while divestments and sanctions can be lobbied for larger institutions and governments.

I think just saying something like "why not just boycott all huge corporations/organisations?" can be a bit disingenuous when I think it's pretty well acknowledged that We Live In A Society that makes completely separating yourself from large corporations essentially isolate you from society as a whole

I Googled the BDS Boycott list at a glance...the top link (https://bdsmovement.net/Guide-to-BDS-Boycott) mentions a bunch of companies, including Sodastream. The immediate issue I see is that Sodastream is owned by PepsiCo, Inc. That immediately makes them complicit as well. PepsiCo was also facing a lawsuit regarding a partnership with Walmart for price fixing (https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2026/01/08/walmart-peps...) until the Trump administration threw it out (https://apnews.com/article/ftc-pepsico-trump-walmart-2cd8b42...).

I bring all this up to say that even if everyone boycotts sodastream, it won't do diddly to the actual folks responsible. I bet the same goes for others on that list. Boycotts also don't usually work in general. Most of the time it takes full on government intervention, lawsuits, etc. to change things.

>Most of the time it takes full on government intervention, lawsuits, etc. to change things.

That's the S.

Boycotts definitely have their limitations, but the Sodastream boycott seems to have had some sort of effect: https://www.timesofisrael.com/victory-for-bds-as-sodastreams..., though whether the intended effect was achieved is debatable...

"West Bank Industrial Zone" lol.

Call it for what it really is (not you, Times Of Israel). A factory inside an illegal West Bank settlement.

We do what we can, where we can, when we can.

Personally, I find it's less about the act (although financially depriving companies of my cash does make me feel good), it's about the conversation the act starts.

And I've seen it work, or help. Some among us will remember the boycott of South African goods during Apartheid.

Isn't this addressed on the same page you linked?

> We must strategically focus on a relatively smaller number of carefully selected companies and products for maximum impact.

My intentionally pick companies that are large enough to be noticable but small enough that they could actually achieve something with the amount of support they have.

If you look the other two letters of "BDS", divestment and sanctions are the strategies for larger institutions and government interventions

https://bdsmovement.net/what-bds

> In some countries (like Canada), soft-drink manufacturers are required to disclose the exact amount of each artificial sweetener they use in the drink

Can you share some links? Neither amazon.ca nor walmart.ca seem to show this.

>BDS boycott list

Looks like a great initiative. Anyone knows about a similar list, but for companies that support Russia and occupation of Ukraine?

BDS has been around since 2005 and organizing on a global scale.

Russia is under heavy sanctions so I doubt there's much more regular consumers can do to boycott if they live in countries compliant with those sanctions.

But there's an app that's (unfortunately) named BoyCat that currently mainly works for BDS. You scan a product and it tells you if it's directly or indirectly tied to a product on the BDS list. I heard they are trying to expand functionality to allow anyone to make and organize around a list

https://www.boycat.io/

TBH this is an idea I've personally wanted to work on for a long time. I think the boycott is an underrated tool for social change and tools that can make it easier to organize around them can be a really powerful force for good

There’s a really simple way that will protect you from any current or future corruptions/profit before people behaviour: don’t buy anything from any large corporations.

If you do this you also benefit from giving your money to real people and not contributing to huge amounts of waste and pollution.

Well done for the BDS attempt ... had to get my Mum to return her Sodastream as she had no idea.

But I have to say, this whole thing is enough to turn me off soft drinks altogether.

Maybe that's the point?

Those bags full of crystals look like something out of Breaking Bad, lol, but I appreciate getting rid of the sugar and caffeine.

Some sparkling water and some cordials or dilutes has to be ~ better!

Thanks for the reminder to switch!

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