One baffled shopper just discovered an expensive new trend for a product that's already raising some controversy: Stanley cups.
Normally, investing in a quality water bottle is a financially smart, eco-friendly idea. A single reusable water bottle can replace dozens or hundreds of disposable ones, saving users $1,300 a year and sharply reducing the amount of unrecycled plastic waste that users put into the environment.
However, those benefits vanish when the water bottle itself becomes the focus as a collectible or a fashion item, encouraging users to buy endless variations that will one day sit in a landfill just like any disposable water bottle would. That's why so many people were outraged by one TikToker's massive collection of Stanley cups.
Now the members of r/Anticonsumption have identified another potentially wasteful trend in the form of accessories for those cups.
"Amazon Stanley must-have? Whaaat?" the Redditor titled the post, sharing photos of several products.
🗣️ When you're choosing health and beauty products, which of these factors is most important to you?
🔘 Cost 💰
🔘 Brand name 💅
🔘 Ingredients 🧪
🔘 Packaging 📦
🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind
The photos include multiple straw toppers in cute shapes, a custom pouch with a strap for carrying a Stanley cup, a charm that clips onto the handle, and a round snack tray that fits around the rim of the cup.
"I'm not from [a] western country so I didn't know about Stanley bottles at all," said the original poster. "But yesterday I saw that people from my country started [to] discuss this viral trend on the Internet. Today I see this and I am shocked. Water bottle accessories?"
On one hand, there's nothing wrong with decorating a personal item like a water bottle. However, these accessories seem needlessly expensive. For example, one of the straw toppers pictured — shaped like a shooting star against a cloud — is only available in a set of six toppers, found on the Walmart website for $10.99.
Meanwhile, many of these items are made of plastic, which doesn't break down in the environment and can spend decades or centuries in a landfill.
One person commented: "This is the tackiest thing I've ever seen…"
"I'm exactly the type to put jewelry on my cups because why not, life is depressing, but I don't understand why you can't just put a keychain on it?" another commenter said. "Or double up a bracelet? It doesn't have to be a single-use item. It's like they're trying to create waste out of nothing."
Other easy and less wasteful options include paint, stickers, stencils, yarn, ribbon, or simply choosing a reusable water bottle that suits your style as-is.
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