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Friday, March 29, 2024

Hydroflasks, expensive water bottles become college necessity

Why students feel costly canteens are all the rage

Spending $30 on a meal is seen as an extravagant purchase, spending $30 on a T-shirt is ridiculous for most, but spending $30 on a water bottle — well, that has become a standard price people are willing to pay.

Most people would agree, water is a basic necessity that everyone needs. Water transporting devices have been around since the beginning of time because humans knew that water was essential. However, with the rise of plastic water bottles in the 40s, what people transport their water in has become a relevant issue. Since learning about the implications of harmful plastic, people now opt to use reusable water bottles, and they are particularly popular on college campuses. Fourth-year human development major Vivian Lei touched on this thought.

“You are expected to have a reusable water bottle,” Lei said.

Recently, the topic of whether water bottles are being used as status symbols has emerged in mainstream conversations between Millennials and Generation Z due to the introduction of fancier water bottles in the market.

Lei explained that peer pressure among teens and young adults is probably what lead to this occurring.

“You see someone else have that brand, and you sorta want it too,” Lei said.

Two students believe that this is also due to the rise of fashion and how important it has become for people to look put together and stylish. First-year computer science and engineering major Zihao Huang explained why he believes that a water bottle can be used to accentuate a look.

“It looks cool, you could put a metallic water bottle in a backpack and it adds something,” Huang said.

Fifth-year clinical nutrition major, Yvonne Lin differed in this opinion, believing that the extravagant colors of many water bottles do not exactly coincide with the common fashion of her peers.

“I feel like some people it doesn’t have to do with using the water bottle per se but like it’s a fashion statement because there are very absurd colors that you don’t really see,” Lin said.

There are many implications to seeing water bottles being used as status symbols both positive and negative, but students seem to agree that in this day and age that, “It’s not what you think when you see someone with a reusable water bottle but what you think see someone who doesn’t have one,” Lei said.

Written by: Isabella Beristain — features@theaggie.org

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