The words “S’well down!!” echo through your 6th grade classroom as a S’well water bottle falls to the floor. The coveted Hydro Flask water bottles were perfect for teens and tweens alike to fit the “VSCO girl” persona of 2019. Now, Stanley cups haunt you, covering the entire harkness table in your English class. With 1.5 billion dollars in sales in 2020 and 2 billion in 2022, the reusable water bottle market is forever growing. Whether it be a S’well, Hydro Flask, or Stanley, there always seems to be a new and trendy water bottle that people just must get their hands on. This raises the question: what is driving this endless water bottle craze?

First came the S’well. The S’well water bottle empire took over the water bottle market in 2015 and 2016. Founded in 2010 by Sarah Krauss, S’well gained popularity because of its unique shape and infinite color and design options. There was an especially strong interest in reusable water bottles at the time due to a rise in environmentalism and the idea that this would create less trash. By 2016, S’well had sold over 100 million bottles. S’well water bottles could be found everywhere, from your mom’s yoga class to the hands of 10-year-olds at recess. Though the bottles were not the most practical, with no straw and a lid not quite wide enough to fit an ice cube through, having a S’well water bottle during this time was all the rage. 

Then came the Hydro Flask. Around 2019, S’well was dethroned by the new, up-and-coming Hydro Flask. This new, wide-mouthed water bottle with multiple lid and bottle shape options reached its height of online popularity r in 2019. The Hydro Flask was the water bottle that everyone was asking for for Christmas, some in hopes of accumulating a collection of every color. The Hydro Flask specifically appealed to young girls trying to fit the “VSCO girl” persona, wanting a Hydro Flask to cover in stickers and store  scrunchies on. 

Then it was Stanley's time to shine. Stanley cups, being the most recent, and debatably most sought-after water bottle of them all, took off in 2022. Stanley’s “40 ounce quencher cup” quickly became popular on social media, with many women, sharing their positive experiences with the cup because of its accessibility due to the straw lid, handle, and ability to fit in the cupholder of your car. It soon reached the TikTok “For You” page and became the go-to water bottle for women and teenagers alike trying to fit the “clean girl” aesthetic. The clean girl aesthetic is a trend that has been popularized on social media recently that is all about a minimalist approach to beauty and fashion and promotes practices like self care, exercise and drinking water. The Stanley quencher was the perfect candidate for this lifestyle because it allows you to stay hydrated in style. However, the Stanley trend quickly expanded, and now Stanleys can also be found in the hands of grandmothers, teenagers, and young kids. The Stanley craze has taken over. You may have seen TikToks of women showing off their Stanley collections or camping outside of Target and racing down the isles to get their hands on the new special edition Valentine’s Day Stanley cup. Thanks to social media, Stanley made over 750 million dollars in 2023, a dramatic increase  from their 70 million dollars in annual sales before 2020. 

From being a VSCO girl to fitting the “clean girl” aesthetic, the vessel that you store your water in has become an integral part of many people's identities in recent years. This is why, especially in this day in age, it is vital to make sure to be more cautious of how much social media is controlling our purchases, even if we think it is just a fun, harmless trend. The massive collections of S’wells, Hydroflash, Stanleys and other reusable water bottles that are being accumulated are starting to defeat the environmental purpose they were originally created for. That being said, within reason, it is not deniable that it is fun to collect different colors and styles of these water bottles. S’well, Hydro Flask, Stanley—time will only tell what the next water bottle will be and how this evolution will continue. How many of these bottles are sitting retired on your shelf?