It’s more than reusable, it’s an emotional support water bottle

Mallory Pace, Reporter
April 7, 2022

The time for using wasteful plastic water bottles is over, and in its place is the emerging era of reusable water bottles. 

According to Healthy Human Life, U.S. landfills are overflowing with two million tons of discarded water bottles. Companies have been seen to completely rid their stock of plastic straws, offering paper straws or ‘sippy cup’ lids as alternatives. Even states, like California, have adopted a statewide ban on most kinds of plastic bags. So, it seems natural for the evolution of plastic water bottles to come to an end.  

To have an ‘emotional support water bottle’ means bringing a designated water bottle with you everywhere you go: school, work, the gym, traveling or anywhere else you might want a sip of water.  

The ‘emotional support’ aspect of it is the idea that by bringing it with you wherever you go, it emotionally supports you, in a way. It can bring a sense of comfort, either in knowing you’ll be able to have water in case you get thirsty or perhaps the emotional feeling of support and attachment it brings. 

A water bottle can’t actually provide a sense of emotional support, in the way an emotional support animal could. However, it can provoke a sense of dependency by carrying it with you everywhere, similar to that of carrying around a particular stuffed animal as a child.  

Spinnaker polled students on Instagram, asking if they know what an “emotional support water bottle” is. Of the 107 who voted, 63 voted they do and 44 voted no.  

Visual of data compiled by Spinnaker poll asking “Do you have an emotional support water bottle?” on Instagram.
Visual of data compiled by Spinnaker poll asking “Do you have an emotional support water bottle?” on Instagram.

Zaria Robins, a junior majoring in mechanical engineering, described the characteristics of an “emotional support water bottle” in their response to the poll. 

“The one water bottle you take everywhere for comfort,” she commented. 

Robins has also used her “emotional support water bottle” to express her interests in the form of stickers.

Photo of Zaria Robin’s decorated water bottle. Courtesy of Zaria Robins.
Photo of Zaria Robin’s decorated water bottle. Courtesy of Zaria Robins.

So, whether it “emotionally supports” you or not, designating a certain reusable water bottle to carry around with you will not only keep you hydrated but will also help keep plastic out of our ecosystems and landfills. Win-Win!

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