Can someone explain to me why this is consumerism? I'm not going into YouTube to watch, due to the ads, but I have one of these (not a Stanley but very similar) and it has actually helped me buy less drinks and drink more water.
this post was submitted on 25 Jan 2024
1 points (100.0% liked)
Green - An environmentalist community
5284 readers
1 users here now
This is the place to discuss environmentalism, preservation, direct action and anything related to it!
RULES:
1- Remember the human
2- Link posts should come from a reputable source
3- All opinions are allowed but discussion must be in good faith
Related communities:
- /c/collapse
- /c/antreefa
- /c/gardening
- /c/[email protected]
- /c/biology
- /c/criseciv
- /c/eco
- /c/[email protected]
- SLRPNK
Unofficial Chat rooms:
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
Summary: White women once again being a blight on the planet and human history.
Blaming a gender or ethnicity for something that was clearly a result of consumerism culture, and a marketing tactic that exploited this manufactured culture. You're missing the point here entirely.
You can look at the massive pickup trucks that are so common in North America and say "men once again being a blight on this planet", and it will be the same type of problem.
Yes, white men are a huge blight on the planet and human history. No problems here.
They're both extremely shitty in their own special ways.
Think of stamp-collecting, but instead, you start collecting algorithmically controlled limited-edition thermos flask. The goal of these bottles were to be reusable, but people have started buying them as status symbols, just like Nike - they're not going to be used, they'll "rot" on the shelves. People are not buying them because they care about the environment, but because FOMO.
I mean it doesn't rot on their shelves, and that's the whole point of then.
When the current owner gets rid of them, someone else will use them.
Oh.. People actually collect these? Yeah that's kind of against the idea
I don't even have to guess which country, do I?
I just got an insulated bottle from Owala a bit ago because it's a cool NASA themed one and I liked it. Apparently there's kind of a cult behind these too though... I just wanted a water bottle for work lol
Just get what you enjoy, you don't have to follow or reject trends because of others :)
There's nothing wrong with getting an insulated and reusable thermos. In fact, that's probably a great thing to do and should be encouraged. What people are rejecting is the trend of collecting them as status symbols or buying multiple in different colors to match your outfit. That behavior has real and negative consequences.
Ive been collecting stainless steel thermoses for decades. Only because they're shiny and i like shiny things haha. Seriously though i have no fuckin idea why i collect them. My top kitchen cupboard has heaps of all sizes. Maybe one will get used a few times during winter to take hot water for beverages to the football. That's it though they're the worse collection of useless stuff that i possess haha
My household growing up was drowning in thermoses and water bottles. In large part due to having two kids in competitive high school sports and one in competitive highschool arts and sciences.
It's one thing to have a bunch of kids who need and use water bottles on the regular, but it's entirely another thing when all these institutions simultaneously declared, "Trophies? Ribbons? Placards? Those utter wastes of space? We should be giving these kids useful prizes for winning their events!" Cue racking up four or five cheap, flimsy water bottles and other assorted crap per kid per year...
Are you a magpie?
I am a magpie supporter yes...
I would be interested in one of these… but only in the default/traditional Stanley Green. Call me square, but I really do prefer to run unobtrusively stock, at least from a visual perspective. If I get one, it will be purely for the quality of it’s build and it’s functional attributes. I wouldn’t even care to be noticeably seen with one, I would just care that it works and fulfils its functions in an exemplary manner.
45$ is way too expensive - I can't figure out why Stanley and Hydro Flask are on the expensive range. 25$ is more than enough for a high-quality vacuum thermo-flask. I got myself two 1l bottle from Borosil for about 755₹ (9$) per bottle. It's been more than six years, there's a few dents and scratches, but it works just fine.
How much lead?
Apparently, almost all mass-produced bottles have lead-based solder in them, including the expensive ones. Lead-free solder is expensive, so there's not a lot if brand that exists with safe solder. Also, the solder dot is on the outside, at the bottom of the flask, so as long as it is protected from erosion by use of a cap-like structure, you're safe.
I'm talking about the steel in general. There have been many recalls of items made using stainless steel that was contaminated.
Isn't everything (at least domestic stuff) way cheaper in India?
I simply use a cup for my coffee (https://pngimg.com/uploads/mug_coffee/mug_coffee_PNG16835.png)
Looks like a good option for my on the go lifestyle. Mug coffee on a train! On the bus to work! At the gym!
You silly potato.
some of us are (very) slow drinkers but still want hot coffee. i usually make my coffee at 9am and don’t finish it until just before noon.
granted, i don’t have one of these tumblers. i do make my coffee in one of their camping french press thingies though, then move it to a different thermos vessel for drinking.
I've got an hour commute into work. It's nice to have hot coffee throughout the drive and not for just the first 10 minutes.
I watched a similar video this past week by Phil Edwards https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrUWQ56GeyU
Fads and trends and novelties aren't anything new. The speed and prevalence that they spread today has been propelled because of TikTok and YouTubers and other "social media" either specifically promoting things or generating content in order to capitalize on existing trends. So, when you search the internet or YT for "Stanley Tumbler" because you want to know why it's a thing, content creators can make money off of your curiosity.
Consumerism is certainly a big part of this but there's also something driving us to want to belong to (or not be left out of) a group/trend. And Capitalism is right there hovering over us waiting to take advantage of it and spread the story even further for their own gain.
It's an obvious formula. If you're not in favor of it, how do you propose we deal with it?
Edit: I don't want to speak badly against reusable containers though. This particular one isn't my "cup of tea", so to speak, but refilling a container with (filtered) tap water is vastly better than getting a case of single-use plastic water bottles from the grocery store. The thing is, I don't know why but I feel like the same people collecting these tumblers are the same people who buy bottled water. Consumerism / capitalism / marketing have convinced a lot of Americans that tap water is gross or dangerous. Granted, Flint Michigan and articles like this haven't helped tap water's reputation.
See South Park episode about influencers for more info
Yeti 4 Life!
I was super resistant to buying a yeti for years, but was given one in a grab bag from a vendor.
Out of my dozens of vaccum walled containers from no-name brands, it's the only one that hasn't had the vaccum fail on it, and I've been using it daily for 3 years.
I still won't pay for one, but I can't deny that it's better quality than the rest.
How can you tell when the vacuum has failed?
I wash them in the dishwasher. One got water inside the vacuum gap.
I guess that's why hydro flask is pleading with me to hand wash my bottle with all those stickers
In seriousness I've never seen a steel vaccuum water bottle advertise as being dishwasher safe, I just assumed it's one of those things I have to suck it up for like knives? How long do the bottles last in the dishwasher Lol
The one that failed had been machine washed every day for about 5 years. The rest are still fine.
The only reason they say they aren't dishwasher safe is any colored paint will peel off. After the first round of peeled paint 5 years ago, I only buy plain stainless. I put water proof stickers on them for the kids.
Thanks! I like the green on my hydro flask so I'll continue to baby it, but really good to know.
My wife had one (Yeti), and it worked quite well so I bought one and carry it around quite often. I also happen to watch 'Project Farm' on YT and he JUST did a thing on tumblers. Yeti was actually kind of middle of the road compared to the others he tested.
Funny enough, my wife walked in while I was watching it and this is when I found out there was a big Stanley craze happening right now making them hard to get. I do not watch tik tok and I guess that's where it started. At any rate the Stanley ranks pretty high on actual function against the others he tested.
None of them are really bad products, it's just the silly people who make a fad out of buying shit they don't need. I picked up a Yeti years ago for like $40 and when I talked about it people thought I was crazy for spending money like that on a drinking receptacle. Because of it I now drink almost exclusively water because I have ice cold water by me all the time and it doesn't sweat all over my desk. It's saved me so much money and time over the years I wish I got something like it earlier.
The primary reason I got a Yeti over other brands is the wide mouth that makes it much easier to clean.
For real, easy cleaning is so under rated. When I see bottles with super complicated lids and small openings, I think, "that's almost literally only for water or I'm going to struggle keeping it clean"
I rarely ever drink anything but water out of mine but after enough time it still builds up residue from the water and needs a good cleaning. I can only imagine the effort it would take to clean something with a narrow spout.