Campus Takeover: S'well Water Bottles

Flowers are not the only pops of color sprouting up around colleges this spring: S’well water bottles are dotting campuses just as seasonal blooms reappear. 

These fun and stylish vessels have become a staple on almost every college campus. Not only do they look good, but they do good. S’well strives to entice its customers with a beautiful, effective product in order to reduce waste with its BPA-free, non-toxic and non-leaching bottles.  

A S’well water bottle is a small step you can take to help reduce plastic waste. Sarah Kauss, S’well’s CEO and founder, recently blogged a Earth Day message that read, “An Earth Day, Every Day mindset can be our ticket to positive change.” 

S’well was started with the mission to reduce plastic waste. Kauss listed a daunting statistic on her blog, writing posts with facts such as, “We use 50 billion water bottles a year in the U.S. and less than half are recycled.” Although this statistic seems overwhelming, drinking out of a S’well is a simple way to reduce this number. 

S’well also just released the Terra bottle, an exclusive design to celebrate Earth Day. The Terra bottle’s bright colors and natural images represent all things beautiful about our planet.

Fellow Richmond students gave their takes on the latest water bottle trend. Sophie Pilkington, WC '19, a long-time S'well user, said why she loved her S'well.

“A water bottle is a definite necessity when living on a college campus," Pilkington said. "It is very crucial to have when you don’t always have a kitchen on hand for water. I got mine as a gift before starting my freshman year of college, now I am ending my sophomore year and I still use it." 

Kathleen Skelly, WC '19, also raved about the brand.

“I love my S’well!" she said. "They keep water cold for 24 hours and hot for 12!" 

Tilly Burzynski, a sophomore at Providence College in Rhode Island, agreed that the bottles are a trend there too. "Everyone has a S’well," she said. "They keep water so cold and have such cool designs and fun patterns."

S’well water bottles have made water fashionable with their ever-changing collection of over 20 colors, prints and patterns. The company takes personalizing a step further with its chalk ink pen collection, allowing owners to draw and customize their S’well.

S’well also collaborates with notable designers. Most recently, it debuted its collaboration with Lilly Pulitzer this spring, featuring four new patterns exclusively sold at Starbucks. These water bottles are both super cute and are eco-friendly, reducing plastic waste.

This water bottle may seem that it has it all, however, some current S’well users said they have struggled to keep them clean. For those who also struggle, it is advised to stick to mostly water and to order one of the cleaning tools online for easier washing.

The S’well trend has come at the perfect time because people are really advocating for using less plastic to protect the environment. As of now, no competitors appear to be on S’well’s horizon. 

If you do not already have one (or a few), the next time you sit in class, look around and see how many people around you are sipping out of a S’well. Once you take the plunge, you won’t want to go back!

Contact lifestyle writer Addie Kline at addie.kline@richmond.edu