Walking through the halls of Tisch, desperate to find a study spot, my eyes can’t help but dart to what rests on everyone’s desk. No, it’s not books that my peepers are gazing at, but the vast array of colorful Owala water bottles that have taken over campus. I don’t think I’ve gone a single day this school year without seeing one of those brightly-colored vessels shoved into the side pocket of a backpack or standing tall on a desk. Even the Tufts Bookstore has caught on to the epidemic, now selling a variety of Owala bottles for students to hydrate with. Yet, as I sip on microplastic-infused water from my deteriorating bottle, I find myself struggling to understand this trend. Wasn’t it just last year that everyone was clenching their Stanley cups? And what about those insulated Hydro Flasks that would thunder when they hit the floor?
Though I’m not au courant when it comes to trends, I predict that water bottle fads will go down as one of the most dumbfounding cultural phenomena of all time. For a generation that preaches about the woes of capitalism and climate change, our obsession with buying a new reusable water bottle every year is laughable. Truly, how can we expect anyone to take our concerns seriously when we’re sipping on our own poison?
But reusable water bottles weren’t always treated like Chanel handbags. In fact, they were initially only popular among hikers and environmentalists, early adopters of the mantra “reduce, reuse, recycle.” With the dawn of the new millennium, however, reusable water bottles began making their way out of the woods and into the general public's shopping carts. Consumers started to see them as more than just eco-friendly cylinders but instead as glamorous accessories. They came in all colors, shapes and sizes, growing into a $7.04 billion market by 2015. Of course, it wasn’t just their aesthetic appeal that was raking in the big bucks: Much of the newfound craze for reusable water bottles can be attributed to the rise of health trends that preached a gospel of glugging water. I mean, why drink the recommended eight cups of water a day when you could instead sip in style from your Stanley x Barbie 1959 Original 40 Oz Quencher?
Maybe I see the cup as half empty, but I can’t help but judge this fad. Don’t get me wrong, I think the glorified sippy cups that are Owala water bottles are cute, but the $40 price tag and environmental damage aren’t. It takes a whopping 103.4 liters of water to make just one insulated steel water bottle. To put that in perspective, people typically fill up their bathtub with 100 liters of water. Likewise, manufacturing a single reusable water bottle can result in more emissions than a plastic bottle. For a reusable water bottle to offset the environmental impact of single-use plastic, it has to be used 500 times.
Still, reusable water bottles are the best way to go if you want to be environmentally friendly. Stainless steel bottles like Hydro Flasks and Owalas can last an average of 10 to 12 years, far longer than any flimsy plastic you may sip from. They can also be a major money saver: A $20 reusable water bottle can save an estimated $6,180 a year.
But the value of these steel bottles as eco-friendly alternatives diminishes with each new TikTok trend that summons Generation Z to their nearest Target to obtain the latest jeweled jug of the season. These fads defeat the point of reusable water bottles by turning them into collectibles, encouraging people to buy a new one even if they don’t need to. Reusable water bottles aren't meant to be single-use — your current bottle can keep your water cold regardless of what the latest water bottle trend is.
So, when the next water bottle makes a splash, consider if you really need to buy one before you prematurely retire your old canister. If your current bottle has dents bigger than craters on the moon, then purchasing a new one is reasonable. But if you're tempted to splurge simply to join in on the latest trend, maybe reevaluate your approach to staying hydrated.
Here's to more eco-friendly shopping habits — cheers.
