Etched into a 1913 newspaper, the scene of a family picnic advertised a revolutionary canteen: a vacuum sealed product that would keep hot things hot and cold things cold. “The first cost is the last cost, and the expense and annoyance of buying new parts are eliminated,” it read, and the Stanley Super Vac soon thereafter became an emblem of durability and longevity. 

Now, a century later, the Stanley company has drifted from its nature-enthusiast, blue collar roots. 

In 2016, they launched their $45 dollar, 40-ounce “Quencher” bottle, and in 2020, expanded its color options from their standard “Hammertone Green”to an array of limited-edition colors—creating consumer competition for every bottle. By 2023, Stanley water bottles shot up in popularity, generating an annual revenue of $750 million. And in recent weeks, viral social media videos and reports have shown consumers building entire shelves for their bottle collection, children being teased in schools for having “knockoff” Stanleys, and eager customers camping outside of Target to get the latest color, and at times, even physically fighting for new bottles. 

But Stanley is just the latest receptacle to get wrapped up in the reusable water bottle trend. Before it came: YETI, Hydroflask, Swell, Nalgene, and more. Constantly buying new reusable bottles casts doubt on just how sustainable these bottles are, and some popular online videos even show users filling their reusables with plastic-bottled water. 

What had been a tool for sustainability has become a trendy status symbol.

Experts argue that’s not necessarily a bad thing—any step toward sustainability may be a good step, even if it’s for aesthetic purposes, so long as consumers are actually using the bottles for their intended purpose: reuse.

The psychological turmoil of portable water

Aja Barber, advocate and author of Consumed: The Need for Collective Change, says social trends that imbue status to objects, like water bottles, can prey on kids’ insecurities. Reusable water bottles in particular appeal to the social anxieties of young girls seeking to fit in with their peers. 

“Kids don’t just get up one day and think, ‘oh, I want this.’ They are being spammed with it,” she says. “They’re being sent the message [by social media] that acquiring certain products will make your life better, and your hair shinier, and people will want to be your friend.” 

Trying to buy less while keeping up with trends is not easy. To avoid this trap, Barber says consumers should try to understand what’s motivating their purchase.

“Ask yourself why you want this particular thing? Do you think it sends a message about who you are? Will you actually use it for 10 plus years?” says Barber.

While acknowledging the hefty climate impacts of consumerism, experts note that, for a few reasons, it’s essential not to mistake them as a worse option than single-use plastic purchases. 

“Every piece of plastic that you have in your life and interact with is going to be on this planet longer than your own body will,” says Barber. 

Comparing the environmental impacts of water bottles

Plastic bottles themselves were once fashionable accessories, promoted as healthy alternatives to tap water in the latter half of the 20th century. But in the past decade, consumers have become increasingly aware of and concerned about the growing plastic pollution crisis. After plastic bags, plastic bottles are the second biggest contributor —making up 14 percent of all littered waste. 

Annually, approximately eight million tons of plastic waste finds its way into the ocean, akin to placing five garbage bags filled with trash along every foot of coastline globally. 

Yet, reusable water bottles are also made from an energy intensive process, and experts note that manufacturing a single reusable bottle can produce more emissions than producing a single-use plastic bottle. 

A 2010 study commissioned by Nestlé—one of the leading plastic polluters of the last five years—found that a new, aluminum reusable bottle had to be used about 10 to 20 times to offset the impact of their sustainably-marketed plastic bottle. But researchers note that these life cycle assessments may not be conducted holistically and are often funded by major corporations. 

“If you’re only looking at the first use, whether it be a plastic bag or a plastic water bottle or any disposable plastic item, it’s always going to have a smaller [carbon] footprint than a reusable item—but the point is reuse,” says Sherri A. Mason, a chemist at Pennsylvania State University, and leading researcher in freshwater plastic pollution.

“There is no question about it, single use plastic is the worst,” says Thanos Bourtsalas, an expert on the circular economy at Columbia University. He notes that while an individual single-use plastic bottle may take less energy to produce, the impact of plastic pollution is a far greater threat to not only marine environments, but even human health.  

A newly published study revealed that on average, a one liter bottle of water contains nearly 250,000 pieces of nano-plastic, a finding with concerning but unclear implications for our health. 

“The whole idea that bottled water is cleaner or safer than tap water in the United States is just not true,” says Mason. “It’s not regulated in the way that tap water is.”

Do water bottle debates miss the point? 

Environmental crises, from climate change to plastic pollution, disproportionately affect marginalized communities—which is why experts say that debates about consumer goods, like water bottles, should not distract from the biggest climate solution of all: policies that will limit and cut off major fossil fuel emissions. 

“Individual actions like choosing reusable bottles are important, but they are not sufficient on their own to address the climate crisis,” says Bourtsalas. 

A recent California law requires producers to guarantee the recyclability or compostability of all packaging materials sold, distributed, or imported in the state by 2032. And in March of 2022, Heads of State, Ministries of Environment, and other UN Member State representatives from 175 nations agreed to construct a legally-binding treaty on plastic pollution by the end of this year. 

Researchers are exploring solutions to make system-wide change a reality. A recent study conducted by OCEANA highlights that if beverage companies increase their reusable packaging by just 10 percent by 2030, they could eliminate over 1 trillion single-use plastic bottles and cups, and prevent up to 153 billion of these containers from entering our world’s oceans and waterways.

“As a society, we have a tendency to focus on specific items, and dismiss or forget the bigger problems," says Bourtsalas. “At some point, we really need to start looking at our world as a whole. Climate change is a global struggle, and we need global solutions.”