Reusable water bottles have become an accessory due to convenience, reducing plastic in the environment, saving money, and versatility. While Stanley, a popular water bottle brand, has been a TikTok trend under #StanleyCup, Owala is rapidly growing and catching up, overtaking Stanley’s previous platforms. Both have become popular due to their diverse and fun design, with many colors and sizes. These fun water bottles can be covered with stickers and reflect someone’s personality, making them a great accessory, especially at school.
These water bottles differ in age, demographics, and material. Stanley was founded in 1913, but their well-known tumbler, released in 2016, has been going viral in recent years, mostly due to social media. Owala has been around for 4 years, and has been extremely popular, especially among Gen Z. Stanley has various types of stainless steel, double-wall, vacuum-insulated cups, from 40-oz tumblers to 14-oz cups, and everything in between. Owala also has tumblers and cups that are leakproof, insulated, and BPA free, but what most people get it for is the free sip, 2-in-1 lid. This unique design pulls many people in and makes it a fun way to drink. Most Stanley’s have two colors, one for the logo and detail, and one for the main cup, but Owala has all different mix and match cups that have color combinations for everybody.
On the Owala, the push-button flip-top lid opens to two openings, one of which has a straw for sipping and the other is a wide opening for chugging. This is important because Stanley has had 91 reports of faulty lids, which could be due to their design of a removable, non-locked straw. Another problem that has been revealed is that when a Stanley is filled, it is heavy and inconvenient to bring around; this could be due to their insulating material and steel.
Both of these water bottles are very different in looks but have affected the same demographic: middle and high school students, especially girls. More than this small group of people have one, but overall, water bottles are a big part of people’s lives because many people carry them around all day and can keep them for years. Simple items can turn into trends that make their way into school and affect teachers and students, and Owala is the current trend in school culture at NBW.
