Why go through cases and cases of disposable plastic water bottles when you can walk around in style and keep hydrated on the go with your trendy reusable water bottle? Disposable plastic water bottles are so 19th century. Not long ago drinking on the go required water fountains or disposable bottles. But in the last two decades, reusable water bottles have erupted in popularity in conjunction with humanity’s draw to ~wellness. From marathon runners to tech nerds, everyone has a preferred style of hydration transportation that fits their unique lifestyle.
With so many colors, materials, shapes, and styles to choose from, non-disposable bottles are eco-friendly and have exceeded their original purpose to become the ultimate accessory for conscious consumers.
From Forests to Fitness and Fashion
Whether you asked for one or not, here’s a brief history lesson. Most sources trace the genesis of this obsession with reusable water bottles to the mid-2000s when athleisurewear also erupted in popularity (enter the Lululemon era). Up to that point, water bottles were mainly designed for the camping and professional sports world, which left a burgeoning demographic of young professionals and fitness enthusiasts looking for a more stylish alternative. The velour tracksuit of the hydration world, reusable water bottles saw a style upgrade from functional to fashionable in this era.
From the mid-2000s through the early 2010s, the market saw an influx of colorful, graceful, and functional double wall insulated stainless steel alternatives to disposable cups and plastic water bottles. As demand for these trendy reusable bottles increased over the years, many more varieties became available – from BPA-free, shatter-proof plastic to recycled glass and more. The wide range of products caters to a variety of budgets and walks of life. As a result, by 2015 the reusable water bottle industry was valued at $7.4 billion and rising. If you fell off your seat reading that, you’re not alone.
Currently, stainless steel bottles still dominate the market, perhaps because of their unique ability to keep cold drinks cold and hot drinks hot. Besides this, they’re cute and customizable, with many folks decorating their metallic bottles using bumper stickers, logos, and acrylic paint - or nothing, if you’re a minimalism enthusiast.
Sustainability is in Style
After hitting the ground running, the trend really hit its stride in the 2010s, in part due to a rekindled focus on environmentalism. As the world fell out of love with single-use plastics, reusable water bottles became a must-have item for earth-conscious consumers seeking to make more ethical and sustainable choices. Despite this, over 30 million plastic water bottles per year still end up in North American trashcans alone, and only about 12 percent of them ever get recycled. As myths around plastic recycling are exposed on a large scale, the reusable water bottle will only keep gaining popularity, hopefully reducing the impact of single-use plastics.
Self-care & Beauty
Did you think we would forget to talk about everyone’s meticulous skin care routine? To this day celebrities (like Jenny from the Block) and wellness influencers herald hydration as the best-kept secret to health and beauty, converting more fashion-forward consumers to the reusable water-bottle world. Drinking water keeps skin looking younger and more radiant, while also supporting a healthy metabolism, cleansing the kidneys, and encouraging overall wellbeing. Needless to say, reusable water bottles now dominate the beauty and wellness space as a trendy and convenient hydration solution. Drinking water can lead to impeccable skin – drinking it out of something reusable can lead to an impeccable reduction in our carbon footprint.
A Thirst for More
Today’s trendsetters carry reusable water bottles everywhere. Celebrities have even partnered with their preferred brands, sharing the good word of bottle bliss in workout selfies and travel logs. Athletes and social media influencers demonstrate the convenience of carrying cold, clean water anywhere you go. Meanwhile, manufacturers and retailers continue to up the ante on high-end, luxury water by adorning their products with crystals and green initiatives. Searching for just the right balance of form and function, designers continue to improve on the concept of what a water bottle can be, by including technical advances like built-in filters and temperature sensors. What could capture the zeitgeist of the early 2020s better than these sought-after, high-end bottles that cross sustainability and self-care with stylish innovation?
