I swear by ice because, really, when is a drink not made better by being colder. And if you were going to say coffee or cappuccinos, sorry friend but Tim Horton’s has made those better too by adding ice.

Everyone should use ice and I think I can make a pretty convincing argument that anyone who doesn’t use ice on a regular basis is lazy. Yep, I used the L-word. If you don’t use ice then you are most likely a pretty lazy person. I won’t say useless because perhaps you are still contributing something to society with your iceless ways but I can bet that in a pinch you’d be hard-pressed to tell me what that was.

See, ice is great but it requires work as well and those lacking in dedication or a strong Protestant work ethic are least likely to find value in frozen water. These people are wrong and, like I said, simply lazy. Ice, by definition, is frozen and so some regular ice cube tray maintenance is required. You need to fill up that tray, you need to freeze it, and when you use all the ice in the tray, you need to replenish it. I find that for half-hearted ice users—the borderline lazy—the last step is the most difficult but I’d prefer frozen water to frozen air, thank you very much, so don’t put that tray back empty.

So ice requires work which is an immediate turn-off for the lazies among us. Ice is also a work out. Studies have shown that the body is actually forced to do work when drinking colder beverages. Through some process known only to scientists, and certainly not to me, the body has to actually heat up cold beverages in order to process them. So the consumption of cold drinks, cooled via ice, is actually a lot like exercise. What an easy way to shed those pounds! Another reason, of course, that those who do not understand or utilize ice on a regular basis are most likely exercise-hating lazy slugs. I rest my case.

Truly then, unless you hate doing work—in which case you are contributing nothing to society—or hate exercising—in which case you are a lazy bag of bones—then you have no excuse to not love ice. Ice is simply great.

I switched from primarily using an electric razor to a manual one a few years ago after finding that my face was constantly irritating—and shaving was no fun. I guess I have sort of sensitive skin and dry running an electric razor over it was an unpleasant experience bordering on painful, at times. So I switched to manual and with the shaving cream and all that it became a pretty enjoyable experience to shave a couple times a week. But there was still something left to be desired.

I got a Badger Hair Shaving Brush and a bowl of shaving soap for Christmas last year and this, for me, has truly capped off the whole shaving experience.

I didn’t know what kind of difference it would make from using my fingers to rub shaving cream around on my face versus using a brush but, let me tell you, the difference is worth the switch. There’s just such a pleasant feeling of having a warm gentle brush lathering on the shaving soap versus your boring old fingers. Not to mention the brush helps to open up pores on your face to make for a better and closer shave—and it shows. Using the brush, I get a much more comfortable and enjoyable shave, plus a closer shave and I find that with the brush there’s much more control over how much shaving cream I use and where it goes.

And there’s something to be said for shaving soap, too. The kind that I’ve been using since December is very natural and seems to last a really long time. It’s enjoyable even just to lather up the soap in the bowl. It all feels so much more natural and organic versus something that comes shooting out of a cold can.

If you’re on the fence, just try it. Now that I’ve tried it, shaving with a badger hair brush is definitely something that I swear by.

It’s like a little tea pot that you fill up with a saline solution and stick in your nose. This, my friends, is the neti pot.

If you’ve never heard of it before then you must not watch Oprah. For the record, I don’t watch Oprah, but heard about this wonderful instrument from someone that does. The neti pot is something that I absolutely swear by for relief from allergies and nasal congestion.

It works by adding a bit of salt and some warm water, tilting your head, and pouring the solution into one nostril. The result is the water flowing through your nasal cavity and out the other nostril. Then you switch nostrils and repeat. The whole process flushes out lots of stuff from your nose and clears you right up. In allergy season, the neti pot helps to flush out allergens before they have a chance to build up and disrupt your otherwise peaceful existence.

I swear by the neti pot because it works, but it takes a lot of work. During the winter months I use the neti pot at least once a day. I find this helps fight off colds. If I get a cold, I’ll use it twice a day or more because it’s great at flushing out congestion. Sounds awesome, eh? During allergy season I use the neti pot twice a day, in the morning and at night, and the results have been incredible. While in University, I used to get allergy shots because my allergies were pretty bad. Since I started using the neti pot—for the past two summers—I haven’t got shots and haven’t had a lot of problems with my allergies either. The neti pot flushes everything out.

I know it’s weird and kind of gross, but it’s something that I swear by. The neti pot works as long as you’re willing to commit to it; it’s not a one-off solution you have to stick with it. If you do get a neti pot there are a slew of helpful videos on YouTube to guide you through the process. You could also take a look at them if you’re curious to see what kind of weirdos use this thing.

In my profession I talk a lot and, as a result, I drink a lot of water to keep hydrated. I have an 800ml stainless steel water bottle that’s dinged and nicked from lots of use and sports a purple sticker with a unicorn on it that says “Chiropractic is Magic”—a gift from my wife’s workplace. I fill up my water bottle, on average, about three times a day from the tap, a gesture that I didn’t used to think very much of until I started getting comments from my coworkers.

It seems that tap water has got a bad rap.

Frequently, when filling up my water bottle I’ll hear things like, “Ah, slumming it today, are you?” Slumming it? By drinking water out of the tap? And it isn’t because the water isn’t cold because I always add ice from the freezer. It’s the quality that I’m receiving heck for. The quality of tap water.

It’s clear that the bottled water industry—a billion dollar industry—has pulled one over on us, and it’s a shame because there’s nothing wrong with water from the tap.

I don’t know where the impression arose that bottled water is safer or healthier than tap water but it simply isn’t true. The fact that it seems to be widespread enough that educated, intelligent people would believe it is of concern.

After doing digging I found that Health Canada holds water, in the bottle and out of the tap, to relatively the same standards but the situation in the United States, and other countries around the world is very different. In fact, in these places bottled water can be held to a lesser standard then tap water. So drinking tap water can be better for you. What’s more, some argue that by drinking local water you’re building up immunities to local diseases. I don’t know if that argue holds any water scientifically but there certainly is no data, anywhere, to show that water imported from France is any better than the stuff coming out of your kitchen facet.

But it’s the importing that’s the problem, isn’t it? Consider the manufacturing costs, the wastefulness, the unnecessary shipping and transportation when perfectly good water comes right out of the tap. David Suzuki, in an interview for the CBC called our bottle water consumption “absolutely disgusting” highlighting the fact that we pay more for water in a bottle than we do for gasoline.

OK, so this is my tap water rant. I’m constantly surprised though by people who themselves are surprised that I’m drinking unfiltered water out of the tap. Considering that many of the brands of bottle water out there are, themselves, just tap water in a fancy, wasteful bottle I think it’s time for a reality check.