Looking around classrooms, the number of Stanley cups on desks seem to have decreased. Students are tossing out the now controversial Stanley and instead sipping on an Owala Free Sip bottle. The Owala bottle was created in March 2020 when the company’s CEO, Steve Sorensen, thought that society’s bottles were oversized and not practical for everyday life.
According to the “About Us” page on the Owala website, “We took a long hard look and found that most water bottles are either overkill or underwhelming. For starters, do you really need a water bottle built for climbing Mt. Everest for your desk at work? Or when you’re just out and about? […] You need a water bottle designed to be your sidekick, not your sherpa.”
Students see the practicality of the bottle because of its dual drinking opportunities.
“I love my Owala because it has two drinking spots. One of the spouts is a big hole that you can chug out of and the other one is a hidden straw that allows you to sip,” junior McKenna Phipps said.
English teacher Ashley Khimani believes that the Owala bottle’s triple-layer insulation features has caused some of the growth of the bottle.
“I adore my Owala bottles because I am very particular. I like my water to be very cold and it keeps my water cold all day. Plus, I also don’t like to chug my water; I prefer to sip through a straw, and it lets me do both,” Khimani said.
According to students, the fall of the Stanley cup has multiple reasons.
“I used to have a Stanley cup, but I recently switched to the Owala bottle. The Stanley is very big and bulky; it’s hard to carry around. It also leaks a lot, and I can’t fit the big handle into the side pocket of my backpack. I can fit my Owala into the side pocket,” sophomore Amelie Cox said.
The Owala is claims to be completely leak-free.
“The Stanley is always leaking, but I can throw my Owala into the back of my car with zero concern that it’ll leak everywhere,” Khimani said.
The Owala Free Sip bottle secured a spot on the Time Magazine Best Inventions of 2023, in part because of the features students and staff have come to love.
“The Owala FreeSip is leakproof and offers two drinking methods—a straw and a larger opening for guzzling that conforms to the shape of the user’s mouth. ‘We took boring,’ says inventor Steve Sorensen, co-founder and CEO of Trove Brands, ‘and added a little magic,’” Time reported about the trending product.
The Owala Free Sip bottle is growing and some believe it will continue to take the place of the once-popular Stanley cup.
“Over half of my class has an Owala, and I think it’ll become the new Stanley,” Cox said.
No matter the brand, it seems tumblers will continue to dominate classroom desktops.
