Stanley’s sustainability practices go against its encouragement of consumer culture
Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox.
Subscribe to our newsletter here.
The reusable water bottle perfectly embodies how one can “reduce, reuse and recycle” in their own lives. Fortunately, the colorful accessory and seemingly forever-cold water add to the appeal of making this sustainable switch.
The global reusable water bottle industry is worth $9 billion and does an impressive job at constantly reinventing the water bottle. Whether that is through new designs, new functions or simply new trends, marketers always have a reason to sell you their new and improved water vessel.
We’ve seen the shifts in trends from Nalgene, to Camelbak, to S’well, to Hydro Flask, to Yeti, to current star Stanley and soon to take the spotlight, Owala.
The Stanley company has grown immensely over the past few years with its influence from social media platforms, notably TikTok. The brand first gained popularity on the platform in 2022 while the company was bringing in just under $200 million; in 2023 the company’s total revenue climbed to roughly $750 million.
As Stanley released two new colors at the start of 2024 as part of their limited-edition collection, customers were sent into a frenzy to get their hands on the precious bottle. At Targets nationwide, lines were formed hours before store opening. In Roseville, California, a 23-year-old woman was charged for theft of over $2,500 worth of Stanley products.
The desire for this particular water bottle may be rooted in the notion of this style being “limited-edition,” suggesting a collecting element to their marketing intentions. “Companies labeling something as ‘limited edition’ or ‘exclusive’ or controlling the number of items that will be available to purchase goes right to a consumer’s psyche,” psychologist Josh Clarkson said to USA Today.
This labeling strategy is used to market a number of products in our daily lives and increases the prevalence of consumer culture within our society. Water bottle trends aren’t the only culprits of excessive consumerism, these societal norms have lengthy ramifications for the environment that tend to increase as trends spread. This applies to kitchen gadgets, beauty products, winter outerwear and other essentially functional items that are being marketed excessively.
But as it pertains to the water bottle industry specifically, the irony is in the name of the product itself. While it’s widely understood that the reusable water bottle’s intentions are to limit the need to ever purchase another water bottle again, there is a new trend to keep up with on a yearly — sometimes even monthly — basis.
Considering Stanley cups are “built for life,” there is a suggestion that only purchasing one is necessary, but the brand’s marketing and influence on social media suggest otherwise. The company is using marketing tactics contradictory to their own mission of being sustainable.
The concept of reinventing the water bottle can be similarly applied to other products we are consistently being told we “need” in our life. Instead of purchasing without prior thought, take time to assess your motives behind your purchase. The following questions help assess these motives:
1. Is this a need or a want?
2. Can the function I’m looking for be fulfilled by something I already own?
3. What do I gain from buying this?
Cindy Zhang | Digital Design Director
As the Stanley Cup fizzles out and the Owala bottle takes its place, recognize that both achieve the same task and function as the same tool. Water is the necessity, not the vessel!
After 20 uses of any reusable water bottle, it produces fewer emissions than a single-use plastic bottle. That being said, if you are in the market for a new water bottle, consider the lifetime of your purchase in your decisions. The longer you use the bottle, the less emissions intensive the product. To further reduce emissions, new studies have proven the impact of the specific material of the water bottle matters, too.
Reusable plastic water bottles are the least emissions intensive (1.3 kg of CO2 equivalent for one use) as they take the least amount of heat to produce in comparison to aluminum and steel reusable water bottles, which produce around 1.5 kg CO2 equivalents for one use of the bottle.
Overall, the most sustainable option is to love your water bottle and use it to the fullest extent. Wash it regularly. Cover it in stickers. Don’t fret at the sight of a dent or a scratch. Most importantly, stay hydrated, SU!
Izzy Kaufman is a sophomore International Relations and Environment, Sustainability and Policy major as well as the Co-Director of the Student Association’s Sustainability Forum. Her column appears bi-weekly. She can be reached at akaufm08@syr.edu.
