Tiktok #emotionalsupportwaterbottle trend on campus

By Sol Ayala

Online Editor

It was at the Atlanta Botanical Garden gift shop where Maria Pimentel’s boyfriend bought her a water bottle. Since then, the $50, 18.6 ounce water bottle has officially become her “emotional support water bottle.”

“It’s a beige metal water bottle. All around the water bottle, it has different succulents and like the name of the succulents next to it in really tiny handwriting,” said Pimentel, a senior psychology major. “I love it.”

Pimentel is part of a growing number of people who refer to their water bottle as “an emotional support water bottle,” a term that can be traced back to TikTok under the hashtag #emotionalsuportwaterbottle with 303.2 million views and counting. The reusable water bottle industry is a $1.37 billion industry, and students say they get attached to an object they carry around all day. 

Under the hashtag on TikTok, influencers and users post videos with content like, “describe what your emotional support water bottle says about you.” Other videos show people unboxing their new water bottles, adding stickers for a more personal look, reviewing the water bottle they just got, and how to clean a water bottle.

Water bottle trends became popular in early 2019 with Hydro Flask and have progressed into the giant water bottles with hourly goals for a full day of hydration to the Stanley Cup and the Owala water bottles.

Many students say they understand the attachment to a particular style of water bottle.  

“I think I’m very awkward with my hands. I don’t know what to do with my hands, so if I have a water bottle, it kinda brings me the comfort of at least I’m holding something,” Pimentel said. “I don’t have to think of where I’m gonna put my hands. I just know I have them on my water bottle.”

Object attachment is a possible explanation of emotional support water bottles. Research by the National Library of Medicine found in their object attachment security measure that distinguishes between secure and insecure object attachment. Clinical and consumer behavior can reduce insecure object attachment and potentially encourage secure object attachment. 

The research says that object attachment can be a psychological and emotional connection that unites a person’s sense of self with an object. This does not mean that object attachment is a bad thing. Blankets and teddy bears can help children feel safe, and water bottles can have the same effect.

Leah Argot, graduate intern at Trevecca Counseling Center says that she has caught up with the trend herself as well with her clients.

“For both me and my clients, I notice that we go to grab them during times of silence,” Argot said. “I think some of the main reasons why we carry around bottles have to do with self-regulation, rituals, and relatability.”

The water bottle you chose from the large water bottle market can reveal some personality traits.

“I see a lot of outdoorsy peers with Nalgene’s and Yetis, creatives with Owala, and social butterflies with their Stanley cups,” Argot said.

Having fun with a water bottle encourages you to drink more water. According to the National Library of Medicine, drinking water drinking was associated with lower prevalence of smoking, anxiety, and depression.

“College is so busy and so crazy. To have something [like a water bottle], it’s almost like a piece of self-care,” said Emily Beckner, a junior music education major. “Keeping yourself hydrated, it’s like a way of keeping you going.”

Beckner has a detailed list of what makes an emotional support water bottle a perfect choice and followed her own rules when she got her second emotional support water bottle this year.

Beckner’s list includes: a water bottle should be big, so you do not have to worry about filling it up constantly. She says that there are places that do not have water fountains, and a big water bottle can give you more hydration during the day. The water bottle has to be one that keeps her water cold or chill. And finally, the water bottle should have two drinking spouts to sip and chug. 

“I’m not a water bottle shamer,” Beckner said. “If it makes you drink water, there is nothing wrong with it truly.”

Beckner’s new emotional support water bottle is an Owala FreeSip, which seems to be the newest “it” water bottle in the market. If she does not have her emotional support water bottle with her, she refuses to drink water out of plastic water bottles or any other water bottle.

“The plastic water bottle is heinous anyway, but also, I can’t do her like that. She’s been so loyal to me. Why would I do her like that?” said Beckner, referring to her Owala.