This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s spring editorial intern Alexandrea Ciardella. Find her on Instagram at @a6ysma1. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
I’ll be the one to say it; there are too many reusable water bottles in the world. I know, it’s supposed to be better for the environment and all, but at the rate that people are buying and “using” water bottles, it’s slowly becoming wasteful and may actually harm the environment in the long run.
In the last few decades, our plastic usage and disposal have worsened. In the US, people buy about 50 billion plastic water bottles a year! It also doesn’t help that despite some people’s efforts to reduce, reuse, and recycle, the convenience of plastic water bottles sometimes outweighs our desire for global change. Not to mention that *ahem* some corporations pledge to go green but just say it to make us all feel better. But, if everyone switched to using reusable water bottles, the US as a whole could save upwards of 150 plastic water bottles every year! It’s been said for years that reusable water bottles are always a better alternative to disposable ones.
It’s always great to see people who use reusable water bottles and who want to help the environment. However, certain “trendy” water bottle brands take the idea of reusable so far that it circles back to being wasteful. Now, I’m not blaming the companies or even the water bottles themselves for the issue. If anything, the blame should fall on the marketing for these water bottles, and to be completely honest, some of the blame could fall on the consumer as well.
Water bottle trends are nothing new. Remember the Hydroflask? What about the Yeti? These trends seem to come and go, and with every new water bottle craze, there’s just a little less space in your cabinets. Think about it; how many unused reusable water bottles do you have in your kitchen, pantry, in storage right now? Do you need all of those water bottles now, or in the future?
We’ll focus on the most recent water bottle trend; the Stanley Cup. Starting somewhere in 2023, Stanley Cups have been the new “trendy” water bottle that everyone needs to have. But they weren’t always the stylish, fancy drink tumblers we know and love. The Stanley company is over 110 years old, with their first thermos design marketed towards outdoorsy and working people who needed to keep their drinks hot or cool for long periods. But in 2020, the “Quencher” (the specific name of the type of cup), got a whole rebrand and slowly began to climb into the ranks of the public eye. Between influencers who promoted the cup and #WaterTok on TikTok, the Stanley Cup soon became a household name, whether famously or infamously.
Even myself, who knows nothing about popular water bottle brands, was aware of this trend. I was first exposed to the Stanley Cup through memes, but when I realized it was just another water bottle craze, I rolled my eyes and moved on. I knew it would pass soon.
The problem is though, people collect these water bottles like crazy. There are dozens of images and videos of people showing off their collections; some have enough to match their outfits! The point of the water bottle is that you need one, maybe two at the most, to prevent plastic from going into the oceans. The overproduction and overconsumption of water bottles may lead to environmental issues that are just as bad as throwing a shipping container’s worth of plastic into the ocean (I may be exaggerating, but you get the idea).
But, you may be thinking, I thought that reusable water bottles were supposed to be better for the environment. How can they make it worse? The issue lies with the reusable bottle’s carbon footprint. Like plastic bottles, most reusable bottles take energy and resources to make. The difference between the two is that reusable bottles can “pay back” the debt they created with their carbon footprint, while plastic bottles cannot. Not only are you saving water and plastic, but you’re also saving an uncountable amount of energy and resources. But, if you buy more than one reusable water bottle, then never use it, or only use one at a time, resources and energy are essentially getting wasted, making it as bad as using a plastic bottle.
What should we do? For one, only buy as many reusable water bottles as you need. Maybe one for the home, and another for work or the gym. Consider buying bottles out of recycled material. But don’t give in to buying trendy items just because they are cool.
Do you think there are too many reusable water bottles? Let us know in the comments below!
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