Upon arriving to school I started noticing these “fancy” water bottles. As I started to pay more attention I realized about 1/2 of my sorority also had one. I decided to ask my friend about it. She then told me “It’s a S’well bottle…duh” as if I lived under a rock or something. Obviously I HAD to have one, so I went on the website and checked it out. For those of you also living under a rock …….
(Picture found here)
….. this is a s’well bottle. Well ,whats so good about this over priced trendy water bottle? My friends describe it to me as a LIFE SAVER; as if they couldn’t get more dramatic to begin with. Apparently they keep your water ice cold for up to 24 hours, and your hot drinks steamy for up to 12 hours. Sounds legit considering warm water isn’t acceptable anymore! I looked into the dozens of designs, colors, sizes, and types of these bottles- not to mention their sister company Sip by S’well, but thats a whole other story. Finally, I found the one I wanted… kinda resembles 18 Karat gold, I had never seen anyone have this one, so I now own it.
Check it out.. cool right?
Besides the obvious appeal of it being cool, it actually works, extremely well I might add. I am down right obsessed with it. So after being convinced of it actually working, I wondered ; how?
I decided to look more into the technology or science behind it.
According to S’well themselves in an FAQ I found here, these bottles are made out of 18/18 stainless steel. Great, what the hell does that mean?! Basically after a quick google search and a short article I found, 18/18 stainless steel is considered food grade. The grade basically asses the specific products, resistance to temperature and longitivtiy of the temperature being held, as well as the metals durability and overall quality of the meals being used. 18/18 in a nut shell means 18% of all nickel, stainless steel and chromium. Food grade stainless is steel is the most resistant to rust.
Okay, now that we got the meal down S’well says their bottles are produced with ‘thermaS’well’ technology- this basically means they are vacuumed sealed to keep the steam within the bottle for your hot drinks, and your cold drinks COLD at all times. Pretty cool.
For all of you tree huggers, if you still need to be convinced : S’well has a mission to become eco friendly. Not only do these bottles come completely BPA,BPS toxin free- they’re goal is to eliminate the use of a plastic water bottle. According to a fact I found here, the US dumps 50 billon of our normal plastic water bottles into landfills each year- and globally… 200 BILLION.
So yes, I plan on becoming the next S’well bottle ambassador!!! But really, if you are totally into this type of stuff like me, Check this out!
I have a swell bottle too and I love it! I especially got a lot of use out of it at the beach because it doesn’t sweat and it keeps water super cold! My friend really wanted one for their Birthday and I was a little hesitant because of the price. However, I found this great one on amazon that is basically the same thing, but cheaper. It works just as good as a Swell bottle and was cheaper and bigger. https://www.amazon.com/Insulated-Bottle-Double-Vacuum-Stainless/dp/B01EMAXEL0/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1473565829&sr=8-3&keywords=mira+water+bottle. You’re definitely paying for the name brand here, but I still love my Swell!
I LOVE MY SWELL! I got it as a graduation present, and thought I would never use it and that it was frankly too trendy for me to carry. However, it is now my best friend. I was so intrigued in the science behind it, because from firsthand experience the results are spot on. Because I’m a business major, I was also fascinated with the story behind the inventor of swell, Sarah Kauss. This article http://fortune.com/2014/10/09/sarah-kauss-swell-water-bottles/ tells the story of how one simple water bottle created this entire sensation among consumers everywhere. Kauss’ success stems from her ability to pinpoint exactly what her target market values, something efficient, stylish, and ecofriendly. She really hit the nail on the head!
Hi Olivia,
I’m going to be honest, I have never heard or seen these water bottles until I got to Penn State. It seemed like every girl here had one of these water bottles; I didn’t understand it. I mean they’re cute bottles, but I didn’t understand the hype. I now know the benefits to using these bottles and how they can help the environment. I’m very pleased to see that these bottles can keep things cold/hot with its technology. I attached a link about how a woman designed these bottles and is now a millionaire… it’s an interesting read. http://www.cnbc.com/2016/04/04/how-swell-grew-from-a-one-woman-operation-to-50m-in-sales.html
Hey Olivia,
I always wondered if there were actual benefits to these bottles or if it was just a trend. Even though they do have environmental benefits as well as other personal benefits that you have wrote about, I wonder if any of the girls that use them actually know this. I feel like there is an entirely different analysis as to why people ACTUALLY buy them. I would think it’s 49% because they look cool, 49% to follow the trend, and 2% for the actual benefits of the bottle.
You just made me want to put one of these bottles on my Christmas list. I always use reusable water bottles, but one that is extremely environmentally friendly and keeps my drinks at their appropriate temperature? I want one so bad!
I, just like every other girl at Penn State, have a S’well water bottle. Apparently this trend has been around for awhile now because I got mine for a Christmas gift in 2015. When I opened the gift that my best friend had given me I said “what is it…” and she said “the best water bottle out there”. I just went with it and acted very excited about this water bottle that I knew nothing about. I googled what S’well was and they actually did end up being very cool! Most people use the S’well bottle for water because it does a great job at keeping liquids cold but I use it for coffee every morning. In addition to keep liquids cold it also does an amazing job at keeping liquid hot just like a travelers mug would. I have the bright blue bottle, here is a link to which one I am talking about http://www.swellbottle.com/shop-swell-bottle/ #TeamSwell
When I came to campus, I as well noticed the colorful phenomena of these water-bottles. I like to keep up with our generation, so I also was taken back when I hadn’t heard about them. I really like their environmental-friendly and high technology components and I think you definitely explained this very well in your blog. Being on such a large yet environmentally aware campus I think an innovative product like this is such a great way to embrace these qualities and show how important they are. Another conversation although is they should probably address the manufacturing of the product and the possible carbon footprint it leaves. According to the S’well customer service site, they say they are produced in China. If you’re really interested in this brand, it might be a good idea to ask more about this process at http://www.swellbottle.com/customer-service/ .
This was a very neat blog post to read, considering I’ve been seeing these water bottles floating around campus as well. I just never had the energy to look into it. After reading your blog, I have a better understanding of these latest water bottles. It’s pretty crazy that people design these bottles to keep our drinks hot/cold for as long as they do. I think by producing the Swell bottles, the company will achieve their environmental protection goals as well. So brb, going to buy myself a Swell.
I really like the idea of a Swell bottle and after reading your post I considered purchasing one. Often times I go to the gym or a match with an ice cold plastic water bottle, in about twenty minutes it’s lukewarm. I looked up the Swell bottle online and was astonished at the ridiculous price for a nine ounce bottle. 25 dollars really? That’s two sips of water and nowhere near enough room for coffee. I can get a 24 ounce Tervis tumbler for 17 dollars. ( http://www.tervis.com/penn-state-nittany-lions-logo-24oz-tumbler-1007186.html#q=penn%2Bstate&start=5 ) I really like the idea of the product but I feel it isnt very cost effective.
Wow, I honestly haven’t seen these anywhere. Nice article about them, you should definitely become a spokesperson because now I want to buy one! I’m of the same mind that warm water is never acceptable. I think these bottles are a great way to reduce pollution and promote reuse in our country and the world, especially after I saw that one bottle can be equivalent to the use of 3,000 water bottles in one year! A couple other ways to help reduce plastic use in your day-to-day life can be found in this list here.
After reading your article you made me wonder if stainless steel would work better as a food cool-box and why companies do not make plastic cool-box. It also made me think about wethere the color of the bottle affects the efficiency of a S’well bottle. I will definitely do more research about this topic and get some answers for my questions and write a post about them.
Actually, S’well bottles are very popular in Chinese SNS platform. So I’ve heard about it. I just thought that the reason that S’well bottles are very popular was their well-designed and fashionable appearance, color and shape. This is my first time that know about 18/18 stainless steel. Also, that they are vacuumed sealed are really cool. So S’well bottles are beautiful, healthy and useful.
After your introduction, I think that my favorite feature of S’well is its mission. Protecting this planet is the duty for everyone. So S’well designers use their technology to supply their mission. That’s great!
Not going to lie, I’ve been eyeing these Swell bottles for a while. If anything, your post has just made me want to go on Amazon and get one even more. I knew that they had the ability to keep your drinks hot/cold for substantially long periods of time, but I never knew the mechanism behind it! I also think it’s great that they are promoting an eco-friendly environment. After reading thishttp://www.swellbottle.com/product/blonde-wood/, I found that Swell supports the American forest restoration, and has planted countless trees since 2013. That’s one life-changing water bottle!