Looking for an easy way to go green and save money while at it? Want to hit your daily water intake quota sooner and without much hassle? How about staying on-trend and upgrade your status symbol?
There’s a simple, all-in-one answer: get a reusable water bottle.
A great trend that you don’t want to miss out on
Thanks in part to their eco-friendly, style, and practicality scores, reusable water bottles are all the rage right now. Well, quite frankly, the reusable bottle revolution has been churning for a while, but they’re now more popular than ever before.
Get this: by the close of 2020, the worldwide reusable water bottle market stood at roughly $61.74 billion, a massive leap from an estimated $8 billion in 2018.
Even more exciting, the market is anticipated to be worth well over $82 billion by 2026, experiencing a compound annual growth rate of slightly above eight percent. This beats earlier estimates by a staggering margin.
But let’s not get carried away by big money. The real heroes and heroines are the people behind these eye-popping numbers. And you don’t have to look far.
To get a clearer picture, just sift through recent TV shows, films, news pieces, major world events, or everyday posts on social media. The chances are good that you’ll spot someone with a snazzy reusable water bottle, and it can be anyone, from the construction worker and teacher to the A-list celebrity or a politician.
Instagram is an excellent case in point. As of writing, there are nearly 900K posts on the popular Facebook-owned platform with #waterbottle.
Clearly, everyone is buying into the idea that they need a reusable water bottle within arm’s length wherever they go. And you should too — read on to find out why.
People are saving money and staying healthier
One no-brainer reason why people are buying reusable water bottles is that they can be a tremendous money-saver, both in the short-term and long run. It simply pays to carry your drinks in a reusable bottle.
Buying bottled water and beverages day in day out can rack up pretty fast. A recent study showed that an average person in the US spends approximately $5 on bottled water each week, which totals $200 yearly.
Even funnier, the bottled water you often drink is dramatically cheaper than the single-use plastic bottle. In essence, you’re paying for the single-use plastic.
And that’s not even the most disconcerting thing about bottled water, which itself costs around $9.50 per gallon. Surprisingly, store-bought bottled water costs 2000x more than the same volume of tap water in most municipalities and cities.
That’s hard-earned cash you could be saving if you switched to reusable water bottles. What’s more, if you crunch the numbers, you could save enough money to pay off the reusable water bottle cost in a matter of 4 weeks or sooner.
Let’s not forget drinking enough has proven benefits for your health and well-being. It not only prevents fatigue and dehydration but also cushions your joints, protects your tissues & organs, regulates body temp, and may help perk up your mood.
If you’re a man, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) recommends that you take 3.7 liters (15.5 cups) daily. The recommended daily water intake for women is 2.7 liters (11.5 cups) according to NASEM.
Regardless of age, gender, or health, it can be difficult to consistently hit your daily intake target, which is where a reusable water bottle comes into play. This is especially true now that it’s easier than ever before to get a water refill.
In this respect, a reusable bottle can be a life-saver, health-saver, and money-saver for anyone, but more so for pregnant women, nursing moms, and people who exercise regularly. The bottom line is that if you find yourself needing to drink more water throughout the day, having a water bottle is indispensable to your health.
A reusable water bottle may be, in and of itself, good for your health, ditto if it’s made from stainless steel or glass.
Some credible studies have found that some bottles made from PTEs and plastic materials may leach harmful chemicals like styrene, DiNP (Diisononyl phthalate), antimony, or Bisphenol-A (BPA).
Consider the highly talk-about BPA, for instance. The synthetic compound is thought to play a role in destroying brain cells and triggering asthma attacks.
Worse still, a growing body of research seems to suggest that BPA may increase one’s risk of developing thyroid disease, liver failure, preterm delivery, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and even infertility.
Antimony, which is to blame for the stale taste of bottled water, may cause or exacerbate nausea, headaches, digestive issues, and migraines. According to some studies, it may cause your hormonal balance to go out of wack, leading to numerous health ills and complications.
Even more concerning, a recent investigation from Consumer Reports seems to reveal that some popular brands of bottled water contain conceivably unsafe amounts of arsenic. This is a metallic chemical that has been linked to increased risk for neuropathy, heart disease, and cancers of the lungs and skin.
To make a long story short, investing in a reusable water bottle is the answer to avoiding these health alarms and staying hydrated without breaking the bank.
Drink your way to a better planet
The truth is, more and more people around the world are switching to reusable water bottles after coming to terms with the eye-watering effects one-use plastic bottles have on our precious planet and the environment.
There’s no other way to put it: single-use plastics are destroying our planet at an apocalyptic pace. Millions of metric tons of plastic waste find their way into our oceans, creating city-sized trash islands.
To add insult to injury, plastics take hundreds of centuries to decay, which means these islands of plastic waste will continue to hurt the ecosystem for millennia.
Reusable water bottles, on the other hand, are far much better for the environment and our planet in general. How so?
They need less energy to make: You see, much of the dependency on fossil fuels lies in the manufacture of single-use plastic bottles. In fact, recent numbers show that the US alone uses 17 million barrels of oil to produce 50 billion single-use plastic bottles each year.
That’s enough fuel to power 190,000 households or gas up 1.3 million cars for a whole year. Far from being negligible, the vast amount of fossil fuel used to create disposable plastic bottles is enough to convince you to buy a reusable water bottle.
Lowers your carbon footprint: The production of disposable plastic bottles not only uses a ton of fossil fuel but also generates a great deal of carbon dioxide and other emissions that destroy the ozone and endanger our environment.
So, by buying a reusable water bottle, you’re not just upping your hydration game. It’s also an effective and cool way to reduce your carbon footprint.
Protects water resources and aquatic life: the link between increased use of single-use plastic bottles and pollution of the ocean, lakes, and other water bodies is well-established. It may come as a big surprise to you that it takes more to produce each disposable plastic bottle than what will end up inside that bottle.
To make matters worse, the vast majority of global bottled water supplies originate from water-poor countries like Pakistan. If that doesn’t sound bizarre enough, bottled water isn’t dramatically safer or healthier than tap water.
Last but not least, reusable water bottles are less likely to end up in landfills. And given that well over 38 billion disposable plastic bottles end up in these gigantic landfills in the US, it’s a smart choice to go with a more eco-friendly option, buy a reusable water bottle. The trick is to choose a stainless steel bottle over a plastic one.
People are using reusable bottles beyond water
Sure, a top-notch reusable stainless steel bottle is a sustainable, convenient, and quick way to drink more water throughout the day. It’s great for any lifestyle, you can use it to hydrate while working out at the gym, commuting, cycling, hiking, jogging, or even in a boardroom meeting.
But more and more people are also using reusable bottles, especially stainless steel ones, to carry drinks other than water.
Some innovative models like the Kool8 bottle allow you to keep your tea, coffee, or soups warm for longer thanks to double-wall insulation. It even comes with a tea infuser, so you can brew and enjoy your favorite teas at anytime, anywhere.
It’s not just a water bottle … it’s a statement piece
If you are looking for a way to easily spruce up your style and status symbol, you should consider a reusable water bottle. It’s the “it thing” and alpha accessory that you can use to make an Instagram-friendly fashion statement and take your fashion sense to a whole new level.
With so many colors, designs, and material accents, it’s easy to pick one that’ll fit your style and personality. You can think of your reusable water bottle as a stylish watch, pocket square, or tote bag — an environmentally friendly, drop-gorgeous, and health-forward cosmetic accessory.