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Conventional Wisdom in the American Society

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Conventional Wisdom in the American Society

The Irony of Hydro Flasks

Hydro flasks frenzy has hit the United States (U.S.) in full swing. The first item on

everybody's shopping basket at Walmart is a hydro flask. Most of the people in the queue are

amused that the flask can keep liquids cold or hot for infinity. Its price makes the shoppers more

excited. How much is it? It is "only" 30 dollars, and it is not disposable. The flasks are glittery

and lying elegantly inside people's shopping baskets like the royalties they are. I can see people

drinking from the fashionable hydro flasks outside the mall while side-eyeing the disposable

water bottles. The hydro flasks are like gems; there is some level of prestige owning one.

How did people become obsessed with hydro flaskS? The typical response will be that

they are eco-friendly. I cannot help but wonder which environment people are trying to protect

while still ordering everything from Amazon. The company virtually ships everything, which

contributes to pollution worldwide. People rather spend $30 on a hydro flask that they feel is

environmentally-friendly and still justify ordering all their items from Amazon. Does drinking

from an energy-efficient bottle more appropriate than the pollution effects of products that

Amazon ships?

Firstly, people believe that the items they order from Amazon contribute less to pollution

but do not collectively cause significant environmental impacts. Ordering commodities from

online retailers like Amazon requires shipping and delivery. Amazon is likely to outsource its

delivery services from contracted van drivers. Vans carry fewer packages to and fro its

warehouse, increasing the carbon footprint (Nguyen, 2019). Shipping worldwide also leads to

pollution by using non-renewable fuel for the ships causing carbon emissions and waste disposal
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into the environment. Besides, the shipping and delivery services have to meet the high day-to-

day customer demands.

Secondly, Americans perceive that the hydro flasks' appearance and durability make them

an exceptional choice (Burkhardt, 2019). Thus, most millenials prefer the bottles since they are

unique and incomparable to items from Amazon based on their ecological-friendly

characteristics. For example, the bottles come in beautiful colors of yellow, blue, green, etc.

Even though the hydro flasks have high temperature retention capabilities that will save on

energy, persons will still dispose packaging wastes from their Amazon items. Most grocery bags

from Amazon are often delivered using non-recycle able bags that end up in the environmental

enthusiasts' dustbins (Nguyen, 2018). Despite Americans making a step towards environmental

conservation by using hydro flask, they make two steps backward when they order shipped items

from Amazon and dispose of their non-reusable packages.

From a counterargument perspective, persons are likely to argue that personal purchases

are likely to cause more harm to the environment. In this regard, people are likely to use their

vehicles to go to physical stores to get fewer items. Free shipping accounts for 55% of American

households' total deliveries; therefore, persons do not have to use their vehicles (Nguyen, 2019).

Therefore, this phenomenon is likely to contribute to more severe pollution than Amazon's

ordering, which delivers more products to multiple people using a single van.

Conclusively, what is most problematic about hydro flasks is that they create a false

notion since we tend to think that we are promoting environmental conservation while still

ordering pollution-oriented items from Amazon. Americans need to wake up from the deep

slumber they are in and realize that their obsession for hydro flask is out of social pressure. No
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matter how many hydro flasks we buy, we are still enemies to the environment if we continue

purchasing items from Amazon.

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References

Burkhardt, K. (2019, October 24). The Hydro Flask is a Gen Z trend we can get behind. CNN

Underscored. https://us.cnn.com/2019/10/24/cnn-underscored/hydro-flask-

review/index.html

Nguyen, N. (2018). The Hidden Environmental Cost of Amazon Prime’s Free, Fast Shipping |

Supply Chain Transportation and Logistics Center at the University of Washington.

Washington.Edu. https://depts.washington.edu/sctlctr/news-events/in-the-news/hidden-

environmental-cost-amazon-prime%E2%80%99s-free-fast-shipping

Nguyen, T. (2019, October 16). Amazon’s 1-day shipping is convenient — and terrible for the

environment. Vox. https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/10/16/20917467/amazon-one-

day-shipping-bad-for-environment